losing shoes

[Riot]

Originally Posted by richard

I guess it's not uncommon for horses to lose one or more shoes during a race ? What is the effect of losing shoes during a race ? I read somewhere that Sir Barton, i believe used to lose shoes every race, sometimes all of them .

I've never seen comments in the charts indicating a horse lost a shoe .

Depends. Lose the shoe, you lose traction. When the shoe comes off it can take bits - or big hunks - of hoof wall with it, causing damage, significant pain (like ripping back your toenail). It changes the balance thus the efficiency of the stride. With each shoeless stride the sole and frog of that foot now strike the ground a bit differently, that can bruise the sole and cause pain which increases during the race. At the moment the shoe comes off, it can "trip" the horse a bit, cause muscle strain/pull, ligament damage. The shoe itself can rarely bang against an ankle, fetlock (or even another horse) as it comes off. Trailing horses can step on the shoe (and the nails sticking out of it) in the track, be injured by the flying shoe.