Questions and Answers

Comment

Joke's on you!

A thermograph is used to study the circulation and BLOOD flow within.

So, to say a shod hoof is 'cooler' vs a barefoot hoof is completely ridiculous.

You seriously just proved a point. A healthy hoof on a thermograph scan SHOULD show a lot of red, signifying good blood flow.

I laughed out loud when I saw how much circulation there was in the barefoot hoof vs the shod. You're just going to have horses with numb feet.

Proud owner of WINNING BAREFOOT reiners & cutters.

Reply

Thanks for the reply. I'm glad to see you are still winning and still proud.  A thermo graphic image does not only track and monitor blood flow within, it also can show inflammation in soft tissue and surrounding areas, and good blood flow is essential to any part of the body whether that is a horse or a human. If you actually knew anything about thermal imaging you would realize that we are looking for even circulation and hot spots or cold spots for that matter are areas of concern. Considering that a barefoot impacting the ground heats up quicker than a shod foot striking the ground and the barefoot heats up unevenly, common sense would dictate that an even blood flow would be a good thing while a sudden increase in heat or an erratic heat pattern would show stresses or a very unsupported hoof and bony column of the lower limb.

Studies done by the FNRC, U.C. Davis and Cornell University show that an unsupported bony column has more stress on it than a well shod supported bony column and it has also been proven through our research here at the FNRC and at ShurShod Horseshoeing School that the metal shoe helps to dissipate heat from the foot, not unlike the fins on an air cooled engine.  Now, if you were to wear a pair of cheap tennis shoes and run for five miles would you be comfortable and at your peak performance or would your hot sweaty feet and sore legs hinder your performance? I know for a fact that when I run, I wear a good pair of track shoes that help cool my feet and support my body, and I know that when my horses are performing, I prefer them to be as comfortable and supported as possible. That way I get optimum performance from my horse and my riders.

I am very glad that you're winning with a barefoot horse but if you would like to really get up into the high end winnings and increase the life expectancy of your horse, minimize injuries and vet bills I can suggest several very qualified shoers who can help you with that. 

Kelly Case  BWFA CJF II / Certified Thermal Imaging Specialist II

Thank you for your comment. Here at the Farriers' National Research Center, we work with specialists in the human and horse podiatry field, and  Thermal Imaging Specialist. We don't use just one horse but hundreds to back up our research here and have documentation over the last 15 years before we release information to the public.

While we do appreciate all comments, our goal is to assist and provide the most up to date findings unlike any others. We invite horse owners to bring their horses here if needed. Terrain and Environment will play a role in the longevity of a horse.

Ralph Casey, BWFA President, Master Farrier/Master Educator/Tester

Questions

I was watching your show where you were showing thermo graphic imagery of a horse with shoes on a tread mill and one barefoot. You say that the barefoot is hotter on the same tread mill and yet where is the heat coming from?

Answers

The heat is coming from the hoof itself and denotes that there is no or very little support for the foot and the lower limb. The foot will heat up while in motion. When a horse foot is in forward motion blood is entering the foot when the hoof is coming back the blood will leave the hoof, the heat that you are seeing is from the movement or blood flow in the foot.

Certainly the tread mill was not preheated with a torch and is up off the ground and this would make that surface even cooler than the ground.   This also contradicts another show you had on with the Nolan plate where the guy taking the thermo graphic shot wants more circulation and not a blue hoof.  A more colorful hoof is better circulation and does not make it hot.

A more colorful hoof does not denote better circulation especially when the thermal pattern is not even. A normal well trimmed well balanced hoof will show white from the coronary band down which shows the circulation within the hoof. But it will show the white in an EVEN pattern  where as varied colors show inconsistencies in the blood flow, for instance if you put a pebble in your shoe and irritate only one spot of your foot that spot will appear hotter that would denote inflammation  or pressure, on the same token if you had a toe on your foot that had say an old injury (like frostbite) that particular toe would show a blue spot or a lack of circulation, the thermal image would be quite colorful, but the color would be showing problem areas within the foot.

If your show where truly scientific you would know that the hoof has a temperature of 100.7 degrees ,the same as the horse's body and that the hoof when healthy protects it from the temperature outside whether it  is 105 degrees or -36 degrees .

A horses body temperature is on average 101 degrees however the external temperature will vary dependent on outside conditions for instance  heat runs to cold (scientific fact) so if the surface of the hoof capsule may appear hotter or colder again dependant on the conditions. For instance if you went out on a hot day and let the sun shine on your hand  the external skin temp will rise but if you were to take your temperature orally with a thermometer your body temperature would be at 98.6 even though the external temperature of your hand is hotter than 98.6  so unless emissivity, density and atmospheric conditions are factored in the actual temperature can vary that’s why thermal imaging in sports medicine is not based on the actual external temperatures but on the thermal pattern that is shown by the imaging equipment. Bearing these facts in mind is why we always do an at-rest image, and an active image and a cool down image, thus establishing a base line for each individual horse.

Unless the horses were standing on hot pavement without ever moving for very long time, this would not change.  The actual scientific truth is that the bare foot has better circulation and will produce a better quality and quantity of hoof .  

The actual scientific truth is that the unshod poorly trimmed hoof has pressure spots of heat and cold which show a very unbalanced and unsupported foot and leg, while the properly trimmed and shod horse shows a more even thermal pattern better blood flow and support for the horse which will in turn help keep the whole skeletal system in line thereby stopping problems before they become problems. 

If you were concerned about the wellness of a horse you would be looking into this and perhaps see that in the last 20 years there have been new discoveries with scientific research.

Being concerned about the wellness of the horse is what prompted us to bring thermal imaging into the Shoer’s realm as an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

I had been a farrier for 34 yrs and for the last 7 yrs I have never been so compelled to helping horses in a way that I did not know existed. As a farrier it was about the removal of the symptoms and now it is about getting to the core of the problem.

Do we always get there, no.  We are not happy with just making it look like the symptom is gone i.e. Nolan plate.  That tread mill episode is misleading your horse owners.  Get some facts from the scientific research vets?

What our research is showing is that we need to treat the whole horse and not just the symptomatic problems that are seen by the naked eye.

Kelly Case  BWFA CJF II / Certified Thermal Imaging Specialist II

P.S. from Ralph Casey:

Research by Vets is not the solution for Farriers, who should be the leaders in the field of Farrier Science. This is the reason for the Farriers' National Research Center. If only Farriers could understand this.