Exploring the Potential of SHS Glued Shoes for Sport Horses
An Innovative Project for Horse Health and Performance
At CJL, we’re always on the lookout for ways to enhance horse health and performance. Our latest project combines a bit of science with a lot of excitement: testing the effects of glued sneakers (SHS glued shoes) on sport horses across various terrains and disciplines. This project is designed to explore not only the immediate performance impacts but also the long-term health benefits that these innovative shoes may offer.
Why Glued Shoes? The Health Benefits
One of the primary motivators behind this project is the undeniable health advantage of glued shoes. Traditional nailed shoes can interfere with what’s known as the “hoof mechanism” – the natural expansion and contraction of the hoof with each stride. This mechanism plays a crucial role in promoting healthy circulation and supporting the horse’s metabolism.
By opting for glued shoes, we avoid nails, preserving the structural integrity of the hoof and allowing it to function as intended. The SHS glued shoes offer a protective layer without compromising the hoof’s natural movement, which can contribute to better overall health and reduced risk of hoof-related issues. For many horses, particularly those in intense sporting environments, this means an added layer of care that may enhance longevity and reduce strain.
The Challenges: A Search for the Right Glued Shoe
Finding the right glued shoe has not been easy. In fact, it has taken over two years of searching. Most available options fell into two main categories, neither of which were suitable for sport horses:
- Barefoot Extremists: While barefoot approaches can be beneficial for some horses, many providers in this space lack a comprehensive understanding of the unique requirements of sport horses. Competitive horses, with their rigorous demands and specialized needs, require footwear that not only protects the hooves but also enhances performance. Unfortunately, many glued shoe options were designed for horses with minimal athletic demands, making them unsuitable for our project.
- Low-Quality Products: When the materials or design of the glued shoes don’t meet high-performance standards, they simply won’t hold up in a competitive setting. We tested numerous products, but found that most couldn’t withstand the demands of various terrains and intense movements.
These challenges made finding a reliable glued shoe provider a long and challenging process. However, persistence has finally led us to SHS, whose products meet both our quality and performance requirements.
Testing on All Terrains and Disciplines
The fun part of this project is putting these shoes to the test across all possible environments and scenarios. Our test horses have tackled everything from wet grass to muddy sand, flat work, cross-country, and even competition-level jumping. Each of these environments presents unique challenges, and we’re carefully observing how the glued shoes impact performance in terms of stride, grip, and stability.
Initial Observations and Promising Results
Our testing has revealed some exciting preliminary findings. Here are a few highlights:
- Stride Characteristics: We’ve observed that stride length remains consistent in canter with a slight increase in stride height when wearing glued shoes, that means that the horse has a more powerful stride meanwhile using the same mount of energy. This sounds like a minor effect, but no – this is a very promising first insight. Especially, as all horses were shoed on irons, we are very excited to see the effect of horses that are usually barefoot.
- Balance and Rhythm: In both trot and canter, the glued shoes have shown an impressive ability to support balance, helping the horse maintain rhythm even across tricky terrains. The stability observed in curves on competition ground translates into confident strides, an essential element for fast times and confident jumping.
- Take-Off and Landing: The glued shoes have also shown promise in maintaining a consistent take-off angle across various surfaces, with faster speeds recorded on the landing stride, which could provide a potential advantage in performance recovery. This is a killer performance indicator – we are very cutrious if we see this effect over a larger group of test horses, and in higher classes. So far, we tested in 1.10 and 1.30 classes.
Looking Ahead: What SHS Shoes Could Mean for Sport Horse Care
The ultimate question remains: Do SHS glued shoes provide a competitive advantage alongside their health benefits? While the health advantages are clear, our testing will continue to focus on whether glued shoes can enhance performance metrics such as acceleration, balance, and agility. The hope is that these findings will open new doors in equine footwear that can both protect and enhance our horses’ natural athleticism.
For any rider or trainer looking to prioritize hoof health without compromising on performance, glued shoes like SHS may present a promising alternative to traditional irons. We look forward to sharing our continued insights and detailed data as this project progresses.
DISCLAIMER
We have no business agenda, but want to support awareness for innovative and promising new products like SHS Sporthorse Shoes- feel free to reach out if you have questions from sport horse rider to sport horse rider!
Find SHS here: https://sporthorseshoes.com/en
