The rolled toe shoe - Its dynamic effect on the front foot of the horse

By Peter N Baker

The 1980s saw a great leap forwards in farriery awareness and an increased understanding of balance and anatomy. Balance as it is thought of today was not considered in any depth in the 80s. The forces that are transmitted through, around and into the equine foot were only then beginning to be thought about. Little attempt had been made to write or talk about them.

Some years ago, an ongoing study was undertaken of the effect of the rolled toe upon the structure of the equine athlete's foot. Some quite interesting observations were noted and supported by Duckett (Newmarket 2nd International Farriery and Lameness seminar, 15 - 16 September 1990), although a somewhat different interpretation is placed upon their meaning.

Firstly, this study was undertaken in an attempt to find a sequel to the run forwards heel syndrome. At the time, this was a serious problem with high-performance horses.

The author changed his style of shoeing and converted 200 horses in his care to rolled toe front shoes. The response was dramatic. Within a month, the heels of 95 % of the horses’ feet stabilised, and the run forwards heel was no longer seen as a problem. Traditionally defined corns ceased to be present in 100% of the horses, acute angled bar buckles were no longer seen, and the lameness associated with this condition was no longer evident. Linear bruising of the solar junction of the bars completely disappeared and "Baileys dorsal depression" in 95% of the horses so affected went away. The horses were generally sounder, tracked up in a far straighter line, and they undoubtedly began to move more freely. Posterior third lameness became a thing of the past, except in those horses that suffered attributable physical injury, disease to their feet or those suspected of having surgical intervention in their pre-training lives.

The type of rolled toe used was the "Charlie Double" toe, as recommended and demonstrated by Colin Smith, FWCF. The roll is produced by rolling the toe of the shoe over the beck of the anvil. The toes of the first shoes used were rolled to the first toenail hole to the opposing first nail hole on the other side of the shoe. The shoes were made of wide section,

light steel and were fitted long and full at the heels. This type of shoe and toe immediately stabilised the animal’s run-forwards feet.

There were, however, four quite serious complications:

A black spot of necrotic matter formed under the shoe at the centre of the toe in the white zone.

A ridge of solar horn developed, which corresponded with the widest part of the foot. This ridge sometimes bridged the lateral clefts between the frog and the bars.

3. These observations are most probably related to the second complication, but the dorsal wall appeared to shunt backwards and two shallow grooves (Duckett's Dimples) appeared proximo/distally in the dorsal wall—one on either side of the common digital extensor tendon, starting just proximal to its insertion on the extensor process the distal phalanx.

These grooves did not seem to be formed as the horn grew downwards from the coronary band. One must conclude that they formed as a result of horn shunting.

The second and third complications are possibly linked by the fact that the dorsal wall shunts backwards. This dorsal wall shunting descends the wall only as far as the upper solar plate wall junction, as the wall below this point is held in place by the horny sole. Such action causes the distal 3/4 of an inch of the dorsal wall to turn upwards and exaggerate the

formation of the dip in the dorsal wall. The wall expands medially and laterally, and unless care is taken, this bilateral flaring will develop to a point of sole wall cavitation and wall laminae shearing. The minor posterior displacement of the sole causes the ridge and bridging effect previously indicated. It appears the horse's physiology is forming the bridge to stabilise and strengthen the solar plate in an attempt to counteract weakness.

4. Another problem is seen when using this type of shoe on horses with flattish feet, when in order to remove sufficient horn to allow the rolled toe to seat properly, the blood line can easily be breached.

As can be seen from the above, the removal of one set of problems by fitting a rolled toe shoe from first toe nail hole to first toe nail hole was immediately replaced by a second set of problems which were potentially just as injurious as the first.

Four months into the trial, the amount of toe roll used was reduced. The production method remained the same, but the amount rolled was reduced to half. Great care was taken to relieve the pressure on the sole directly behind the centre of the toe.

The complications ceased, and nothing detrimental was seen afterwards. The feet remained stable.

In 1990, a similar trial was carried out by a fellow farrier in my area, with equally dramatic results. Three of the horses in his care won two European Derbys, French and Epsom—the third horse only just got beaten into second place in the Irish Derby by Salsibil—probably the filly of that decade, a Triple Crown winner herself. …

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Developing the young foot

First published in European Trainer issue 58 - July - September 2017

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I remember my first yearling and two-year-old-in-training sales at Keeneland, Woodbine, and Tattersalls.To my untrained eye, and despite tracing backwards through the bloodlines, each and every horse appeared sound and fit, looking like a million bucks.

Although few horses ever actually sold for that amount, every inch of those young racehorse wannabes was gleaming from nose to toes. Even their feet were buffed and polished as perfectly as a pair of Usher’s coveted shoes.

Possibly because young horses for sale are primped and preened to the gills, few potential buyers actually ever pick their feet up to inspect them. Instead, buyers tend to focus on joints and throats, using the extensive repository to review joint radiographs (X-rays) and scoping prospects’ throats. “The horses in the September (yearling) sales are simply glamorous, including their feet. I would estimate that only 10% of buyers ever actually pick up at foot at those sales,” remarks Sam Christian, a Kentucky-based farrier servicing several top-level operations such as Shadwell Farm.

In general, the expectation appears to be that if the throat and joints are clear and the young horse appears straight, their feet must also be in good condition. While some horses may have hidden surprises once their party shoes are removed (indicating that some of those fancy feet are in fact simply mutton dressed as lamb), Mark Dewey, a highly sought-after racing farrier, attests this is not generally the case.

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Shunted heels - Avoiding cracks with proactive management

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To shoe or not to shoe, that is the question

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THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN - EUROPEAN TRAINER - ISSUE 43

Hoof Matters - concentrating on the foot rather than the shoe

In 1889, for the fourth edition of his book “The Racehorse in Training with Hints on Racing and Racing Reforms”, the English jockey turned horse trainer William Day added a chapter on shoeing, his preface stating “…one topic, highly important to all owners of horses, ‘Shoeing’…might advantageously be added…the aim to deal with facts and to avoid speculation.” Day wraps up by adding that he hopes “it will be found…that the best method of shoeing and of the treatment of the foot has been not only discussed but actually verified… that the prevention which, in the diseases of the feet…is better than cure and has been placed nearer the reach of all.”

If only. Nearly 120 years after Day and his book, the “cure” for many horsemen plagued regularly by a variety of hoof ailments and issues seems as far out of reach as ever. With quarter cracks as common as quarter poles, horsemen particularly in North America continue to play out a modern day version of Cinderella, looking for the shoe that leads to happily ever after, or at the very least, to happy and sound on the racetrack.

Among farriers, veterinarians and trainers there appears to be little agreement and much speculation when it comes to the shoeing of Thoroughbreds. With no “best method” at hand, everyone can, in theory, agree with the familiar adage “no foot, no horse”. But there is great controversy surrounding how to go about improving horse hooves and preventing injury, or even why horses have so many hoof-related problems in the first place. When it comes down to the sole of the matter, at the end of the day, hoof care may well turn out to be the Achilles Heel of the Thoroughbred racing industry.

Most recently, the break-down and subsequent death of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro brought the topic of equine injuries, and, more specifically, laminitis, to the forefront. Since Barbaro, American racetracks have spent millions installing synthetic surfaces, all espoused to be safer and more cushioned for horses. A record $1.1 million distributed this year by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to numerous equine research projects may also be a direct result of the late champion’s demise. Last autumn, the foundation designated a Hoof Care and Shoeing Task Force, another possible throw-back to Barbaro and the subsequent focus on equine injuries.

In the task force’s first official report this past April, prominent owner and breeder Bill Casner outlined one possible cause of injuries in “The Detrimental Effects of Toe Grabs: Thoroughbred Racehorses at Risk”. Endorsed by the Jockey Club, the Grayson Foundation and the Kentucky Horseshoeing School, the report placed the lion’s share of the blame for catastrophic injuries - and hoof-related issues - on the use of toe grabs in horse shoeing. Thoroughbred anatomy plays a role, according to the report: the fact that bone structure and hoof walls aren’t matured in the average racehorse; also the length of pastern or the type of hoof.

The report also briefly mentions harder racetrack surfaces. But the overwhelming research revolved around the link between injuries and toe grabs. Such thinking, according to at least one long-time farrier, may be what’s keeping the industry from finding Cinderella’s shoe. A self-proclaimed maverick, “as far out there as I can be,” North Carolina-based farrier David Richards believes rather than looking at the shoe, researchers should look at the foot. Richards has been shoeing horses for the last 30 years. When asked what type or breed of horse he specializes in, the farrier replies “lame ones”. According to Richards, around 20 to 30 percent of the horses he works on annually are Thoroughbreds. Seventy to 90 percent of all the lameness problems he sees, according to Richards, are related to the hoof wall. “We need to look more at hoof wall as a site of failure,” the farrier says, a principal which has become the backbone of “Equicast,” a product Richards has been developing and marketing for nearly 20 years. The cast, a tape-like, fiber-glass blend, covers the hoof, extending up to the hairline at the coronet band, with a shoe attached either on top of, or beneath, the cast. Its creator likens it to a walking cast in humans, with the event that Thoroughbreds are able to exercise while wearing it, although “there’s a big difference between hoof and human bone.” “The key is managing lateral expansion,” Richards elaborates, “to prevent an overload of the hoof wall, causing hoof problems and pain. The hoof wall is the point of least resistance.” The cast “provides additional support and relieves pressure on the hoof wall,” he says, adding that his product minimizes heat and moisture, factors that also play a role in weakening hoof walls. “When you adhere a shoe to a foot, you are frequently encapsulating bacterial materials,” the farrier offers. “Also, most apoxies are heat generating, and the hoof wall is already a great conductor of heat.”

Common solutions such as vitamin or feed supplements have a minimal effect at best, according to Richards. “The huge problem with any of that is that horses have very poor circulation to their feet.” Circulation issues cause problems all of their own in terms of growth and healing, but they also minimize the effect of anything ingested making a difference. Richards believes a host of factors contribute to a general weakening of the structure of the hoof wall, “a complex and sometimes contradictory” situation that covers nearly everything wrong with feet, from quarter cracks to long toe-low heel to medial lateral imbalances and White Line Disease. “There’s actually no problem in growing feet,” he offers. “The problem is in growing strong feet. “We definitely see a more volatile foot today,” he concedes, citing feeding programs that cause quicker growth, synthetic surfaces that don’t stress the feet enough, and trends in commercial breeding as just a few of the possible contributing factors. “One of the things we’re doing wrong, we’re not stressing the feet enough,” he says. “From the day that they’re born we’re coddling the foot.” “I’ve never heard of a breeder breeding for feet,” Richards adds. “I can think of one really prominent sire that’s a classic example. I have four young horses by the same sire. Four babies right now that already have conformational issues. The sire has a great mind, tremendous ability. But his foals aren’t known for their feet.” “You can’t knock it,” he continues. “But you have to accept the ramifications.” And figure out how to deal with them. Richards looks to external factors as much as internal as a source of the problems.

“Horses who run almost exclusively on turf don’t have half the problems as horses who run on sand,” he says. “They don’t have the shock factor. It’s unfortunate, but if something doesn’t stimulate feet to get harder, they get softer.” Another factor Richards feels may contribute to weaker hoof walls is moisture. “Feet problems are something plaguing all horses evenly, from coast to coast,” he says. “Very little else is constant. Feed differs East to West, other things are different. One thing that’s constant, moisture. And variables of moisture.” Richards laments the fact that little has been done to research the effect of moisture on feet, or whether different parts of the hoof, or different types of hooves, absorb water differently. He’s currently doing his own research on white hooves to see how they react to moisture and believes it may lead to some answers for common problems. “The industry is very grand-fathered in mentality,” he says. “It’s ‘my father did it that way, and his father did it that way.’ There’s a resistance to new products,” he continues. “The diagnostics now have surpassed the treatment. We’re always working with the result of the cause, rather than looking for the cause itself. We’re looking through the answer, for the answer.” Looking down, rather than up, is another part of the problem according to Richards, “The goal is to balance the horse,” he offers. “It doesn’t matter what the sport, you’re ultimately judged on symmetry. There are times when I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with a horse’s feet, instead of looking down at the foot, I look up to see which shoulder is higher. I’m one of a very few who are cognizant of the whole foot - not just the heel and the toe,” and just as important, how the whole foot fits with the rest of the horse. Richards explains that the majority of the horses he looks at have one leg longer than the other, either from birth or wear and tear.

He goes on to explain that the average 1,000 lb horse exerts 54 lb’s per square inch on the hoof wall with every stride. When that horse is shod, Richards says, the weight on the hoof wall is nearly doubled, to 95 lb per square inch. A typical racing plate exacerbates the problem even more. “We need to transition out of the conventional shoe,” he says. “We are overloading the coronary band.” “One of my criticisms of the industry,” he continues, “there is a total misunderstanding of what foot issues really are. Feet are no man’s land.” “Shoes haven’t changed much over the years,” he adds. “They’re prettier, but they’re going the wrong way. They mask the problems rather than reverse them. The horse may have a longer life on the track, but not a more productive or sounder one.” “It’s a horrible misnomer to say shoes are corrective,” Richards continues. “They’re not corrective. They are totally protective,” a line of thinking which supports the barefoot practitioners, who believe in eliminating shoes entirely at least part of the time. “I’m a huge proponent of it,” he says. “A horse should be totally comfortable doing his respective sport barefoot. The foot is much better at managing us than we are at managing the foot with conventional methods.”

And while at least a few trainers are known to place blame on farriers, Richards holds veterinarians just as accountable, as they are generally the ones who actually diagnose the problems. “They know what’s wrong, but they often don’t know how to treat it,” he says. But in defense of the vets, “there’s a lot of misinformation and a lack of communication.” Perhaps the biggest culprit, from Richards perspective, is a close-mindedness and lack of commitment to the finding the cause of the problem and fixing it. “There are a lot of things we need to do as an industry,” he says. “As an industry, we need to set a standard. There should be an orthopedic certification program, for example, that’s taught to both vets and to farriers. The vets will have to dummy down a little and the farriers will have to bone up.” “But a lot of this is just common sense. A horse with a foot bothering him is like having a tire with too little air in. You wouldn’t drive a car with less air in one tire, you’d fix the tire. You wouldn’t sit in a chair with one leg shorter than the others.” Richards believes we ask our horses to perform that way all the time. He believes at least some of the money for research should be re-allocated, or new money dedicated specifically to hoof issues.

“What we need is to fix a flat.” “How much more does New Bolton really need?” he asks referring to the clinic that treated Barbaro through his final days and has since received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for research. “Problems evolve for a reason,” says Richards, who believes the reason almost always rests in the hoof wall. “If we find an effective way to address the problem, it will make a difference that could be revolutionary.” A difference hundreds of years in the making.

Hoof Matters - concentrating on the foot rather than the shoe

By Caton Bredar

In 1889, for the fourth edition of his book “The Racehorse in Training with Hints on Racing and Racing Reforms”, the English jockey turned horse trainer William Day added a chapter on shoeing, his preface stating 
“…one topic, highly important to all owners of horses, ‘Shoeing’…might advantageously be added…the aim to deal with facts and to avoid speculation.”

Day wraps up by adding that he hopes “it will be found…that the best method of shoeing and of the treatment of the foot has been not only discussed but actually verified… that the prevention which, in the diseases of the feet…is better than cure and has been placed nearer the reach of all.”
If only.

Nearly 120 years after Day and his book, the “cure” for many horsemen plagued regularly by a variety of hoof ailments and issues seems as far out of reach as ever. With quarter cracks as common as quarter poles, horsemen particularly in North America continue to play out a modern day version of Cinderella, looking for the shoe that leads to happily ever after, or at the very least, to happy and sound on the racetrack.   Among farriers, veterinarians and trainers there appears to be little agreement and much speculation when it comes to the shoeing of Thoroughbreds.

With no “best method” at hand, everyone can, in theory, agree with the familiar adage “no foot, no horse”.  But there is great controversy surrounding how to go about improving horse hooves and preventing injury, or even why horses have so many hoof-related problems in the first place.  When it comes down to the sole of the matter, at the end of the day, hoof care may well turn out to be the Achilles Heel of the Thoroughbred racing industry.

Most recently, the break-down and subsequent death of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro brought the topic of equine injuries, and, more specifically, laminitis, to the forefront.  Since Barbaro, American racetracks have spent millions installing synthetic surfaces, all espoused to be safer and more cushioned for horses.  A record $1.1 million distributed this year by the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation to numerous equine research projects may also be a direct result of the late champion’s demise.
Last autumn, the foundation designated a Hoof Care and Shoeing Task Force, another possible throw-back to Barbaro and the subsequent focus on equine injuries. In the task force’s first official report this past April, prominent owner and breeder Bill Casner outlined one possible cause of injuries in “The Detrimental Effects of Toe Grabs: Thoroughbred Racehorses at Risk”.  Endorsed by the Jockey Club, the Grayson Foundation and the Kentucky Horseshoeing School, the report placed the lion’s share of the blame for catastrophic injuries - and hoof-related issues - on the use of toe grabs in horse shoeing. Thoroughbred anatomy plays a role, according to the report: the fact that bone structure and hoof walls aren’t matured in the average racehorse; also the length of pastern or the type of hoof. The report also briefly mentions harder racetrack surfaces. But the overwhelming research revolved around the link between injuries and toe grabs.

Such thinking, according to at least one long-time farrier, may be what’s keeping the industry from finding Cinderella’s shoe. A self-proclaimed maverick, “as far out there as I can be,” North Carolina-based farrier David Richards believes rather than looking at the shoe, researchers should look at the foot.
Richards has been shoeing horses for the last 30 years.  When asked what type or breed of horse he specializes in, the farrier replies “lame ones”. According to Richards, around 20 to 30 percent of the horses he works on annually are Thoroughbreds.  Seventy to 90 percent of all the lameness problems he sees, according to Richards, are related to the hoof wall.
“We need to look more at hoof wall as a site of failure,” the farrier says, a principal which has become the backbone of “Equicast,” a product Richards has been developing and marketing for nearly 20 years. The cast, a tape-like, fiber-glass blend, covers the hoof, extending up to the hairline at the coronet band, with a shoe attached either on top of, or beneath, the cast.  Its creator likens it to a walking cast in humans, with the event that Thoroughbreds are able to exercise while wearing it, although “there’s a big difference between hoof and human bone.”

“The key is managing lateral expansion,” Richards elaborates, “to prevent an overload of the hoof wall, causing hoof problems and pain. The hoof wall is the point of least resistance.”  The cast “provides additional support and relieves pressure on the hoof wall,” he says, adding that his product minimizes heat and moisture, factors that also play a role in weakening hoof walls.
“When you adhere a shoe to a foot, you are frequently encapsulating bacterial materials,” the farrier offers. “Also, most apoxies are heat generating, and the hoof wall is already a great conductor of heat.”

Common solutions such as vitamin or feed supplements have a minimal effect at best, according to Richards.  “The huge problem with any of that is that horses have very poor circulation to their feet.”  Circulation issues cause problems all of their own in terms of growth and healing, but they also minimize the effect of anything ingested making a difference. 
Richards believes a host of factors contribute to a general weakening of the structure of the hoof wall, “a complex and sometimes contradictory” situation that covers nearly everything wrong with feet, from quarter cracks to long toe-low heel to medial lateral imbalances and White Line Disease.
“There’s actually no problem in growing feet,” he offers.  “The problem is in growing strong feet.
“We definitely see a more volatile foot today,” he concedes, citing feeding programs that cause quicker growth, synthetic surfaces that don’t stress the feet enough, and trends in commercial breeding as just a few of the possible contributing factors.
“One of the things we’re doing wrong, we’re not stressing the feet enough,” he says.  “From the day that they’re born we’re coddling the foot.”

“I’ve never heard of a breeder breeding for feet,” Richards adds. “I can think of one really prominent sire that’s a classic example.  I have four young horses by the same sire. Four babies right now that already have conformational issues. The sire has a great mind, tremendous ability.  But his foals aren’t known for their feet.”
“You can’t knock it,” he continues.  “But you have to accept the ramifications.”  And figure out how to deal with them.
Richards looks to external factors as much as internal as a source of the problems. “Horses who run almost exclusively on turf don’t have half the problems as horses who run on sand,” he says. “They don’t have the shock factor.  It’s unfortunate, but if something doesn’t stimulate feet to get harder, they get softer.”

Another factor Richards feels may contribute to weaker hoof walls is moisture.  “Feet problems are something plaguing all horses evenly, from coast to coast,” he says.  “Very little else is constant.  Feed differs East to West, other things are different. One thing that’s constant, moisture.  And variables of moisture.” Richards laments the fact that little has been done to research the effect of moisture on feet, or whether different parts of the hoof, or different types of hooves, absorb water differently. He’s currently doing his own research on white hooves to see how they react to moisture and believes it may lead to some answers for common problems.
“The industry is very grand-fathered in mentality,” he says.  “It’s ‘my father did it that way, and his father did it that way.’  There’s a resistance to new products,” he continues. “The diagnostics now have surpassed the treatment. We’re always working with the result of the cause, rather than looking for the cause itself.  We’re looking through the answer, for the answer.” 
Looking down, rather than up, is another part of the problem according to Richards, “The goal is to balance the horse,” he offers.  “It doesn’t matter what the sport, you’re ultimately judged on symmetry.  There are times when I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with a horse’s feet, instead of looking down at the foot, I look up to see which shoulder is higher. I’m one of a very few who are cognizant of the whole foot - not just the heel and the toe,” and just as important, how the whole foot fits with the rest of the horse.


Richards explains that the majority of the horses he looks at have one leg longer than the other, either from birth or wear and tear.  He goes on to explain that the average 1,000 lb horse exerts 54 lb’s per square inch on the hoof wall with every stride.  When that horse is shod, Richards says, the weight on the hoof wall is nearly doubled, to 95 lb per square inch. A typical racing plate exacerbates the problem even more.
“We need to transition out of the conventional shoe,” he says. “We are overloading the coronary band.”
“One of my criticisms of the industry,” he continues, “there is a total misunderstanding of what foot issues really are.  Feet are no man’s land.”
“Shoes haven’t changed much over the years,” he adds. “They’re prettier, but they’re going the wrong way.  They mask the problems rather than reverse them.  The horse may have a longer life on the track, but not a more productive or sounder one.”
“It’s a horrible misnomer to say shoes are corrective,” Richards continues. “They’re not corrective.  They are totally protective,” a line of thinking which supports the barefoot practitioners, who believe in eliminating shoes entirely at least part of the time.
“I’m a huge proponent of it,” he says.  “A horse should be totally comfortable doing his respective sport barefoot. The foot is much better at managing us than we are at managing the foot with conventional methods.”
And while at least a few trainers are known to place blame on farriers, Richards holds veterinarians just as accountable, as they are generally the ones who actually diagnose the problems.
“They know what’s wrong, but they often don’t know how to treat it,” he says.  But in defense of the vets, “there’s a lot of misinformation and a lack of communication.”   
Perhaps the biggest culprit, from Richards perspective, is a close-mindedness and lack of commitment to the finding the cause of the problem and fixing it.

“There are a lot of things we need to do as an industry,” he says.  “As an industry, we need to set a standard.  There should be an orthopedic certification program, for example, that’s taught to both vets and to farriers. The vets will have to dummy down a little and the farriers will have to bone up.” “But a lot of this is just common sense.  A horse with a foot bothering him is like having a tire with too little air in.  You wouldn’t drive a car with less air in one tire, you’d fix the tire.  You wouldn’t sit in a chair with one leg shorter than the others.”
Richards believes we ask our horses to perform that way all the time.  He believes at least some of the money for research should be re-allocated, or new money dedicated specifically to hoof issues.  “What we need is to fix a flat.”
“How much more does New Bolton really need?” he asks referring to the clinic that treated Barbaro through his final days and has since received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations for research.  
“Problems evolve for a reason,” says Richards, who believes the reason almost always rests in the hoof wall.  “If we find an effective way to address the problem, it will make a difference that could be revolutionary.”
A difference hundreds of years in the making.

''Jarred Up'' horses - observations by a racecourse farrier

At the height of the flat racing season how many different terms are used to describe horses that lose their action? The description depends very much upon those that are explaining the condition and what is perceived to be the cause and the effect; the animal simply becomes scratchy and non free flowing in its movements. The exciting cause reveals itself as being “JARRED UP.”

At this early stage no observable foot specific secondary condition is presented. The physical condition I have become aware of horizontal striation of the dorsal wall which is rarely present in two year olds, but as a condition is fairly common in the older three year old plus groups, specifically when the animals have raced the previous season on firm ground. I feel there are several diagnostic constants which mix the primary causes of being “jarred up” with the secondary effects to form the description and source of the discomfort, these can be incorrectly described.

I feel the primary cause of the loss of action often relates to horses’ feet and acute inflammatory changes. The conclusions are drawn from physiological changes noted and only recently considered as being relevant to a loss of action some six to ten months earlier. The early foot changes are demonstrated by irregular growth patterns in the development of the dorsal surface of the hoof wall and related voids within the actual structure of the hoof. The above features progress downward locked in the structure of the hoof wall during normal growth from their area of formation, which was initially located within the tissues of the coronary crown down towards the hoof’s bearing surface. Voids are only revealed physically and visually when the attendant ridging and grooving reach ground level.

Without doubt the observations, when applied to flat racehorses, relate to an incident or repeated incidents of athletic output during the previous racing season on ground conditions unsuitable for the specific animal or its specific physiology. The animal often simply presents as not being free moving without any observable unilateral lameness. Often a few days on “The Walker” at rest and an analgesic course of medication will enable the animal to keep racing throughout the season and without any apparent loss of form, yet the animal’s action is changed and varies from slightly off to quite uncomfortable. To continue to race demonstrates just how adaptable a racehorse is.

I will attempt to describe the primary action modification most commonly noticed. My peers have long since suggested horses prepare their feet to land by lateral and medial adduction and abduction prior to their foot planting, a flaccid lower limb state, probably seeking out the nature of the ground surface and what adjustment the horse has to make to avoid injury. I have noted that the landing preparation aspect of the stride of sore / jarred up horses is dramatically visually bi-laterally exaggerated and the animal instead of abducting/adducting its feet actually assumes a base wide flight and its feet immediately prior to landing describe circular movements away from its axis, the left foot anti clockwise, the right foot clockwise. The movement described is bi-laterally matched, symmetric, which is felt is abnormal and forwards progress for the animal is somewhat mechanical [not free flowing], yet the animal is not exhibiting any unilateral [single leg] lameness. The above is felt is an outline of the noted condition, but what is actually happening? I feel there is strong evidence of coronary shunting, effected by the concussive forces transmitted through the dorsal wall of the hoof into the sensitive tissues of the coronary cushion due to a firm racing surface. It is these concussive forces that cause the coronary corium to lay down a protective fluid barrier, a “CORONARY SEROMA” [blister] or even in the most severe insults “HAEMATOMA” [blood blister], the fluids protect and buffer the vital horn growth area. It follows that this fluid area effectively becomes locked within the growing structures of the dorsal wall. The lymphatic system fairly rapidly mops up the fluid, a cellular, sometimes bloodstained and often linier void remains [non cellular] within the structure of the wall. The severity of the initial physiological insult determines the extent of the fluid, seroma/haematoma and the resultant defective area/void. The weakened hollow area now below the coronary ring is, I feel another of nature’s ways to effect an additional buffering/flexibility to dissipate any future or ongoing shunting trauma, firstly protected by a hydraulic action then an air buffered flexible space which remains within the horn tissue, a perfect and natural response for concussive protection.

The problems of shoe attachment to defective horn are at this stage are effectively still latent. How it affects the tradesman “Abraded feet” is a fairly loose term to describe the ultimate nightmare for the racetrack farrier. The distal edge of the hoof capsule has become flaky, cracked, underrun with cavities, to a greater degree loose from its underlying and adjacent supporting structures. The sole is consistently doubled, one of nature’s processes to protect the solar surface of the distal phalanx [P3] and its related soft tissues. This thickened sole is often not sufficiently matured to be mechanically exfoliated, yet it hangs below the level of the wall.

Nature takes no account within its physiological blueprint for the need of the farrier to attach a metal shoe as a base plate. The increased thickness of the double sole creates stressing forces of its own, demonstrated by the perfectly natural sideways loading on the weakened wall and to complete natural the separation of the already partly separated base structures prior to rebuilding them, which often is further demonstrated by the presence of a dorsal depression in the wall.

This is saying nothing of the now inflexible nature of the doubled sole constricting the natural processes of the sole connective tissues. It must be remembered in the wild state this horse would be somewhat in a recovery state and acutely in danger of predation. The problem is these feet seldom support a shoe in a satisfactory way. Racing plates tend to become easily detached especially during transit to the racecourse. This is a headache for the racetrack farrier, as in order to reattach a shoe, which he is employed to do, the loose unviable horn and great deal of the remaining poorly integrated glue has to be removed, just as is outlined as one of nature’s processes in the above paragraph in order to get a satisfactory layer to load a shoe onto and re-attach, nail the plate into. The problem here is that often after the defective horn is removed there is left insufficient wall horn, both in quantity and quality, into which a nail can be driven, certainly other than in the most forwards toe area and maybe one nail in each heel area. Otherwise, no viable nail supporting wall horn remains.

The thickened solar plate can in the very short term be used by a farrier to assist with a semi-secure nail attachment, as is demonstrated by the system of very low nailing and close shoe fitting sometimes seen in US stock. With ingenuity, stealth a great deal of luck and some skill a failure to reattach a shoe for the purpose of a single race is extremely rare, in my case twice in twenty six years, once due to the extreme stroppy nature of the patient not permitting re-attachment without displacing the re-attached shoe by immediately kicking it off again. The other occasion the animal was still as lame after re-attachment as it had been with the shoe absent when it arrived at the track!

Just out of interest, occasions have arisen when horses have gone to post with the nailing supported with electrical insulating tape, a very useful tool to have in the van and at other times the shoe and nailing supported in place with multiple layers of vet wrap. What happens after the animal returns to the care of its yard is fortunately another’s worry. I have these problems at home in my own daily practice when time is not of an essence. This is why it has been necessary to attempt to understand the specified racetrack scenario.

I will attempt to suggest how the condition of voids within the horn structure described in part one lead to abraded feet. It is actually a simple matter where the voids represent a wall detachment/lock up cavitation, which when the affected wall area reaches the level of bearing is imperfectly attached so as to have a loss of integrity with the underlying and surrounding horny tissue. The remaining wall structure gradually and simply fractures away from a defective basal connection and then further disintegrates under the loading associated with the stresses of athletic performance and when any attempt is made to nail into it.

There is a complicating factor in feet containing dry seroma cavities which I will attempt to explain. The integrity of feet which are affected in this way remain fine, and SEEM to remain thus until the separated area grows down to a level of the white zone junction, when the farrier’s nails penetrate into the cavity in order to attach a racing plate. The action of nail penetration seems to trigger a secondary effect, an influx of bacteria and yeast infection, associated with loose wall, seedy toe and/or white line disease kick-off, all of which assist the weakening conditions related to shoe loss and separation of the hoof wall from its junction with the solar plate. The author feels infection in itself is an induced condition and secondary to the original insult. The breakdown of the wall sole junction is without doubt related to environment and compaction by the racing/training surfaces.

To identify the onset of the syndrome takes very close observation as the initial indication is masked by the covering racing shoe and is not unusually seen as an extremely thin linier fissure, on many occasions detected by little more that a gut feeling. Having said this, if the fissure is missed at a very early stage, during the course of a full shoeing cycle great horn destruction in the area of the white zone will take place. A seedy toe, yeast-induced wall separation will happen and will unless effectively dealt with, migrate up the bi-sulphide junction more quickly than the wall can grow downwards, creating a chronic and accelerating condition. This horn decay is fortunately something that can be today easily controlled and/or reversed with recently and specifically developed products which condition hoof horn and destroy hoof related infection. I have trialled a conditioning gel product over the past two years with fantastic results.

There is when addressing problem feet today a distinct move towards the early use of hoof rebuilding materials and the attachment of alloy plates with glue products, from my viewpoint somewhat of a cop out and the equivalent of a band-aid exercise, undoubtedly. “Glue destroys the integrity of viable and healthy hoof horn.” This rebuild/attachment method is a nightmare to the racecourse farrier as these rebuilt feet and shoes attached with glue seem to be easily rejected. During the course of a year several reinforced feet / glue-on shoes are lost at the racecourse prior to racing; in fact it is fair to say the majority of front feet presented have evidence of glue/rebuild materials present. The shoes seem predisposed to falling off for many reasons. When this happens most of the lower hoof wall falls away with the polymer and /or acrylic. There is never sufficient time for the racecourse farrier to re-glue or rebuild a foot so the retained farrier has to find a way to replace the glue-reinforced/attached shoe using the traditional nailing method. There is no crisis more critical than getting a horse to the starting gate sound once it is at the racecourse premises. It is a very stressful time for everybody involved, and damaged feet are conditions best avoided wherever it is preventable.

So how can feet be made to regenerate sufficiently after having been subjected to treatment with re-enforcing material? The basic conclusion seems to be getting back to common sense methods, good diet, working on suitable surfaces (sea sand is not one of these), good husbandry, a regular shoeing cycle, sufficient hygiene, suitable bedding, pre-racing foot conditioning and the essential observant farrier. I feel a most important aspect is conditioning of the animal and its limbs in a way to assist sufficient horn keratinisation, which possibly is effected by training on suitable surfaces.

Steeplechase horses subjected to an element of road work in their preparation seem to have less hoof problems, yet this may simply be that they do not race on very firm ground, a seasonal influence. For the future, should we consider fitting a rolled toe shoe when animals are going to be asked the perform on really hard ground? There seems to be no place for the square toe being used on racehorse due to a lack of traction during the acceleration phases, but a very light roll, who knows? We will, in the next couple years no doubt! I feel there will be a niche for the rolled toe during the recovery stage from this condition but as a preventative measure? As a training aid? I will undertake such a study now that it has been suggested.

Bendik Bø - the Swedish trainer and inventor

When he rode his first race, the horse was a year older than him. They did not win. ”I never was a very talented jockey”, he says. He has many other talents though. The Norwegian Bendik Bø (39) is a successful racehorse trainer and inventor, based in Sweden. 

He was never afraid to try his hand at new tasks. He was shoeing his first pony when he was only 14 years old. ”I had been watching the farrier at work and helping a bit”, he remembers, ”one day he did not turn up – so I did it myself, secretly of course, but it was fine.” Some thirteen years later he was a full time farrier himself. ”I had around 200 horses on my list”, he recalls, ”just shuttling between the stables on a three wheel moped. My business was going well, one year my turnover was 1.7 million kronor. It was hard work, but the fine whisky was too easy to come by. Drink nearly ruined my life”. 

 
”So, five years ago I sought professional help, got rid of the drink, began developing my main invention, and went into training”. He now handles one of the biggest strings in Scandinavian racing, training nearly 80 horses at Täby Galopp. At the beginning of last year, he had eight.
 
Bendik Bø’s main invention – it is not the only one – is a vibrating floor for horseboxes, to give the horse massage from the ground. He first got the idea when working for a trainer in Italy in 1992. They had the very useful sprinter Prairie on the team. ”Though he had tendon problems”, Bø recalls, ”and the vets told us his career was over. I felt we could give him a chance, and even had a bet with one of the vets that we would get him back on the track and win a certain amount of prize money with him. We did get him back on the track, and he won five races for us in Sweden the following season. We then took him to Italy, but his problems came back. After some improvement, we could train him though, and entered him in a Listed race in Milan. I was driving the horsebox, doing a trip of 350 kilometres. It was an old horsebox, very stiff, and not a very smooth drive at all. We could feel a lot of vibration on our way to Milan. On arrival, I noticed that the horse was moving, and clearly feeling, so much better than I had ever seen him. He won the race, running 1200 metres in 1:07.and beating a good ex-English horse called Reference Light, who was second in a Group Two the same year.”  
 
”When driving back from winning that Listed event, I remember thinking how convinced I was that the ”vibrating” box ride had something to do with Prairie’s performance that day. And I said to myself, ’I must find a way to get this box into the stable...” he says. Prairie, who had been a champion in Sweden, also ran fourth to Special Power in the Premio Certosa (Gp 3) at San Siro. Bø won the bet with the vet.
 
The idea of a vibrating floor was to be experimented with, and pondered on, for nine years before Bø and members of his family back home in Norway started working seriously on the project five years ago. ”During those years, my life took some twist and turns”, he explains openly, ”I was heading in the wrong direction. I always wanted to return to a life working closely with horses. Alcohol is a very, very dangerous friend, however, and could easily have ended all my ambitions. Admitting himself to a clinic in Norway for seven weeks, he came out a tea-total, and very determined young man. ”Some may have said I was not going to get away from the drink”, he says, ”but I did, and I decided to put my life to better use. The same year we decided to give the vibrating floor a real crack too. My house was tidy and it was time get the drawing board out.”  
 
From starting out as an amateur rider, to be just a run of the mill jockey, then an inventor and very good trainer, Bø strikes us as a man whose strong will has pushed him through storms where many would have turned back and gone back to more conventional life than working with racehorses in Scandinavia. After all, making a decent living from thoroughbreds in Norway, is not much easier than making a living from skiing in England. That was also why he turned his back on the sport when he was 16 years old. He was young but had been involved for years and already saw how tough it would be, financially, to make it.
 
A career in the saddle was always going to be a ride against all odds. Bø is 1.78m tall, and his lowest riding weight was 57 kilograms. ”You just can’t live like that for very long”, he says, ”and after riding about 20 races, and no winners, I left the sport and took an agricultural education instead. When that was completed I was riding out from time to time, and did some farrier work to make extra money – but eventually I left racing to work on a cow farm in Norway. It lasted just a couple of years. I was soon drawn back to the horses, and to racing”.  
 
His ticket back into horseracing came when he was offered an apprenticeship with trainer Trond Hansen, one of the leading trainers in Norway - now based in Germany. ”It was a good time to join his yard”, he says, ”as we had some classy horses, like Salient, who had been bought out of Dick Hern’s team for 110,000 guineas – then a record price - at the 1985 Tattersalls Horses in Training Sales in Newmarket. He was previously owned by the Queen, by the way, and was a top horse in Scandinavia. We also had a 2000 Guineas winner and a champion sprinter the same year.”  The inspiration was back, although it meant riding out in 20 degrees below at wintertime, hardly eating at all, and sometimes travelling about ten hours by horsebox to race meetings in Sweden and Denmark. ”My interest was back, though my race riding was still not going all that well...”
 
A winner, at long last
 
Some two years later, a Swedish jockey, of the opposite sex, persuaded Bø to come with her to work at Täby Galopp outside the Swedish capital Stockholm, where racing is considerably bigger than in Norway. ”At long last”, he recalls, ”soon after moving, I rode my first winner. I was 20 years old, my stubborness got be to the winners’ circle – but it had taken some time!” 
 
A few more winners followed, and Bø also began riding over jumps. Working for Olle Stenstrøm, who trained quite a few good hurdlers and chasers, the young Norwegian was now partnering winners on a more regular basis. He moved on to work for Claes Bjørling, who took horses from Sweden to Italy. Bjørling also bought horses out of sellers in England and campaigned them successfully in Italy. Bø rode at many of the Italian courses. He enjoyed success at Capannelle, Pisa and Treviso, and also rode at Cagnes-sur-Mer in France. 
 
”One of our best jumpers was a horse called Obeliski”, Bø tells us, ”Mr Bjørling got him out of a claiming chase at Southwell, when his official hurdle rating in England was just 128. I rode him to be fifth in the Italian Champion Hurdle. I remember being very proud of having beaten the high class English hurdler Staunch Friend and Steve Smith Eccles in the race. Not bad you know, on a cheap claimer. My boss also claimed a horse called Bighayir, who had won ten races for Martin Pipe, but he did not jump well enough when we took him to Cagnes-sur-Mer.”  
 
The French course does, like Bendik’s boyhood city, sit by the seaside. Though that is the only thing Cagnes-sur-Mer and the city Larvik in Norway has in common. 
 
Bø grew up in Larvik. He is by no means the only man with a thinking cap fostered in the small seaside city. Larvik’s most famous son is Thor Heyerdahl, the anthropologist who sailed the raft ”Kon-Tiki”, made of Balsa wood, from Peru across the Pacific Ocean to Tamoto Islands, to prove that ancient Peruvians could have reached Polynesia in this manner. In 1947, Heyerdahl and his five companions made the 8000-kilometre crossing in the primitive vessel, taking 101 days.
 
Growing up in Norway, let alone Larvik, without knowledge of Heyerdahl’s name and work is virtually impossible – but Bendik was not interested in anthropology. He liked horses better. He turned up at Hovland Ridestall, the local riding school, when he was ”seven or eight years old”. He had no money in his pocket for riding lessons of course, so instead he struck up a deal with the owner of the place. Bendik mucked out boxes without being paid, and was given sporadic riding lessons in return. After a few years of this, he and his schoolmates were given responsibilities in the stable, owned by Knut Rimstad, who combined running a riding school with racing a small string of his own horses at Øvrevoll racecourse outside Oslo. The boys also travelled with the horses to the races. ”Some of Rimstad’s racehorses were even used for lessons at the riding school”, Bendik recalls. 
 
The ambition was clear enough; to become a jockey. And the teenage boy was never short on imagination. When a replacement rider was needed for a horse in an amateur race that very evening, at short notice, he got his friend Roy Arne Kvisla out of the classroom at school. Kvisla, who is now a trainer in Lambourn, had never ridden in a race but he was old enough to do so. Bendik was not, so he knocked on his mate’s classroom door. It was a daring move, as behind that door they were having an important test in chemistry. Bendik told the teacher that Roy’s mother was ill, and that he had better come along with him. The teacher agreed. The boys headed off to the stables, from there to the races at Øvrevoll, where Kvisla rode the horse – and won the race. Fortunately, the teacher never bothered with the racing results when browsing the morning papers!
 
Bø himself rode his first race at 15, the minimum age for race riding, partnering a veteran called Federation. The horse was a year older than the rider. ”We finished fifth”, Bø tells us, ”I kept on riding, and over the years I have partnered over 80 winners on the flat and over jumps. But to be honest, I never was very good as a jockey”. 
 
He rode his last race in 1994, when experiencing a bad fall on a hurdler that broke both front legs during a race – on the flat. ”I just heard a solid bang when we went down”, Bendik recalls, ”I took a heavy, heavy fall and that was it. No more race riding for me. I decided to quit while still in one piece.” His riding career, which had began on a 16-year-old plodder at Øvrevoll when he was 15, thus ended with an incredible and nasty fall on a jumper at Täby Galopp when he was 27.
 
To this day, Øvrevoll is the only thoroughbred venue in Norway. Harness racing is dominant, and the country has no more than 380 active thoroughbreds. This season, Bendik Bø has taken over the stable of retiring Michael Kahn, many times champion trainer in Sweden. This move puts him in charge of close to 80 horses, more than a fifth of the racehorse population in his native Norway. And he is still mucking out boxes – ”we’ve got to work”, he smiles. 
 
There is an active exchange of horses, trainers, jockeys and staff in general, between the Scandinavian racing communities. In particular between Norway and Sweden, and Bø has been back and forth between the Oslo region and the Stockholm region a few times. In 1986, when he travelled east to pursue his career in the saddle, it led to a life as a farrier, making good money, but also to a lifestyle that led to too much partying and drinking. The tall, slim and happy Norwegian was never violent when drunk, just having a good time and often playing his violin to entertain the party. 15 years later he was heading back home, to get rid of ”a dangerous friend” as he calls it, to cure his alcoholism. ”I woke up one morning feeling really fed up with my life”, he reflects, ”it was time to take a turn”. 
 
Harness racing
 
After travelling back to Norway to sort out his problems with drinking, which his motivation helped him do in less than two months, Bendik took out a license to train horses there. He was based back in his hometown Larvik, training a small string. ”I wanted to work on the vibrating floor and do more research with active horses”, he says, ”and with other family members I set up the company Vitafloor. My idea was to get horses with problems, treat them, use the floor to give them effective massage, and train them for racing. In order to get enough such horses, and get enough experience with racing horses that had been using the floor, I had to turn to trotting. With only five to six thoroughbreds, I had over 20 trotters in my stable. I had trotters racing at all the big tracks in Norway. It all went relatively well and we even shipped a horse to win a valuable race in Sweden. I am convinced that my years working with trotters is very valuable today.” 
 
Bø trained thoroughbreds side by side with warm blooded trotters, and trotters of Nordic race, often described as ”cold blood horses”. He says that getting as much experience as possible, with a variety of individuals, is how to become a good horseman. As long as you pay attention of course. After five years in Norway, he moved back to Sweden for the 2006 season, to train at Täby Galopp. His initial team there was even smaller. ”I took over from Roy Arne Kvisla as he left for England”, he explains, and I had eight horses to train.” At the turn of the year he had 42. He saddled 26 winners from 118 runners, for a healthy 22% strike rate.
 
It helped him tremendously of course, that he revitalised the 10-year-old sprinter Waquaas to such an extent that the gelding won three races on the bounce early in the season, including a pair of Listed contests; the Taby Vårsprint and the Norsk Jockeyclub Sprint. Bø was off to a good start on his return to Sweden. 
 
Today, he is in charge of the biggest string in the land. There is no spare time, ”We employ ten full time, plus use some freelance work riders”, he explains, ”but I work seven days a week myself, as does my partner Mette Kjelsli. What spare time I get is often dedicated to my inventions. But you know, I can also think through those ideas when on an eight-hour drive to the Danish or Norwegian Derby meeting!” 
 
”We race year round here”, he explains, ”on turf and dirt, and I divide my horses in two groups, the best horses are active through the spring, summer and early autumn, while the lesser lights will be racing mainly at wintertime. Taby Galopp owns a farm close to the track, where I rent some boxes. This is where we send the horses for breaks, though some also go back to their owners’ farms for rests”, he says. His string consists approximately of 60 per cent imports, mainly bought in England, and 40 per cent Scandinavian breds.
 
Simple solution the beginning
 
Returning to the inventions, Bø tells the fascinating story about how he took the first small steps towards what today is the highly sophisticated Vitafloor. 
 
”I took a big board, attached an engine under the board, placed the whole thing of four blocks of wood shavings, and switched the engine on”, he tells us, ”I tried walking on it, lying on it and feeling the massaging effect. This was just my first prototype of course, but other jockeys used this vibrating board too, just to get a relaxing massage after riding. It was obvious that it would not be quite that simple but at least I had discovered that my theory was working, to a certain extent. So, I kept on thinking about solutions for many years.” Today, Bø has sold the Vitafloor to various trainers, both of thoroughbreds and harness horses, and veterinarian clinics in Scandinavia, and recently his company exported the first floor to Dubai.  
 
Bø has also invented elastic reins. ”When the horse breaks into a gallop”, he explains, ”he will always stretch his neck out, and pull for a bit more rein. No rider has a hand quick enough to accomodate the horse during these few strides, to give the horse a smooth communication through the reins. I had noticed how, at the start of many a race, horses and riders were not in full harmony and perfect rhythm – they were not working as a team, and the horse was often tugging sharply against the bit when trying to find his balance. Therefore I made elastic reins. It is very simple, the rein runs in an s-shape, with elastic bands attached straight across. This means that the horse gets a bit more leeway and freedom when gaining his balance as he picks up speed – but when he pulls harder, the reins go to full stretch and take over. The elastic band is only a matter of a four to five centimetres but that is enough to make quite a difference.”
 
He has sold ”a couple of hundred” of these reins, ”I produce them myself”, Bø says. And when he got his first cat, he soon became fed up cleaning the cat case, so he invented a cat case that could be cleaned in 15 seconds. ”I have patented that too”, he explains, ”but it has never been commercially marketed. I am working on more important prototypes for the equestrian industry right now, the cat case was just for fun, really”. 
 
At a track like Täby Galopp everyone knows everyone. ”There are about 20 trainers based here”, Bø tells us, ”and the number of horses stabled at the track is always around 400. The country has about 1400 racehorses. Swedish racing has been struggling, that is no big secret, but there is a positive will to move forward here, and people work well together”, he says. 
 
On the racetrack committee
 
The racecourse management has formed a track committee, with meetings every two weeks. Bø is a member of this committee and he explains; 
 
”I represent the trainers, there is also a jockey on the committee, as well as the general manager, the head groundsman and a veterinarian present. We meet for lunch twice a month, exchange ideas and discuss how best to improve the racecourse – both for training and racing. I enjoy this, we are all learning and it is important to take part”. 
 
Racing takes place on an American style track at Täby, with a turf and dirt course, where they manage to keep racing going in the winter, by adding salt to the dirt track and by harrowing the track 24 hours a day through the winter months. The dirt track is 1742 metres, while the turf course is 1595 metres round. There is also an inner, figure of eight, steeplechase course.
 
”This may not be Newmarket or Chantilly”, Bendik says, ”but the training facilities are good, and remarkably consistent. I rarely feel the need to go to inspect the track in the morning before working my horses. And you know, small as this team is, we have a hard working and dedicated group of people here. But it’s also costly to keep racing going 12 months a year. I know one of the guys working night shifts on the harrowing, and he just told me that he burns around 500 litres of diesel every night. That’s a lot of money you know!” Racing goes ahead in freezing temperatures, as low as 10 to 15 degrees Celcius below zero, when riding weights are put up by a couple of kilograms to allow more clothing for the riders. 
 
When asked about racing horses on dirt and turf, Bø is quick to point out that ”you get surprises all the time, but there are dirt type runners and there are turf type runners. I do not think any horse can be equally effective on both surfaces. I prefer turf, but when I have a horse winning a nice race on dirt, I love the sand”, he smiles, ”and without it – where would we be?” 
 
He took two runners to Lingfield Park in England last November, when his domestic Listed winner Maybach finished tenth in the Churchill Stakes. ”It was an experiment”, he reflects, ”but Maybach ran better than his finishing position may suggest, beaten just 6 lengths behind Nayyir, when carrying just two pounds less. After all, Nayyir used to be a Group One horse. My other horse, the Argentinean bred King Nov, was unplaced in a competitive sprint handicap. We felt that he was given a tough weight bgut he was not disgraced, and I went home believing that we can take horses to England and win. I was very impressed by the Polytrack, it is far less demanding than our conventional dirt track. We will be back but, mind you, taking these two horses from Stockholm to Lingfield did cost 70.000 kronor all told (approximately £5000)”.  
 
When Maybach won the Listed Nicke Memorial at Täby two months earlier, the reward was nearly £11,000, which is half of what Nayyir earned in the Churchill Stakes but more than the runner-up’s share in the Lingfield contest. And for the Nicke Memorial, Maybach was simply walked for about three minutes from his trainer’s stable to the paddock. 
 
”The best races in Scandinavia have good purses”, Bendik explains, ”so it makes little sense for us to ship our best horses abroad during periods when we have opportunities for them at home.”
 
As an example, the Stockholm Cup International and Täby Open Sprint – both Group Three status – were both worth €88,398 to the winner last year. On the same Sunday, Longchamp staged their ”Arc” trails, including the Group Two events Prix Niel and Prix Foy, both worth only €68,400 to the winner. 
 

Still, Bendik Bø hopes to be able to campaign more horses internationally, from his base at Täby Galopp. ”We have the knowledge, we have the horses, and we have the ambition, also among the owners, to do just that”, he says, ”and I certainly have the will”.  We knew that.