Equishox horse shoes have an aluminum core covered with vulcanized rubber and reduce impact from each footfall

by Natalie Voss // Feb 6, 2024

When the National Steeplechase Association season begins here in the States later this year, some of the runners may be wearing a new type of horse shoe. The product’s developers hope that it will soon be coming to a flat racetrack near you, too.

Equishox horse shoes were designed with the goal of marrying the benefits of a bare hoof with the needs of a racetrack farrier, along with a new safety element. The shoes have the same aluminum core already popular for racehorse shoes, surrounded by a vulcanized rubber that has been engineered by an industrial manufacturer in Sweden specifically for use on horseshoes. The shoe’s engineers say the rubber has been calibrated to be hard to the touch, but have enough give that it allows the foot to spread out as it hits the ground, giving the heel greater freedom.

Its greatest selling point for flat racing in America? Testing has shown the rubber reduces the impact of each footfall traveling up the horse’s leg as compared to iron shoes. The firmer the surface gets, the greater the shoe’s impact.

A 2022 study at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences used an Orono Biomechanical Surface Tester to mimic loads and velocities of a horse on different surfaces using an Equishox shoe versus as standard iron shoe. The tests showed Equishox lowered impact by 70 percent on pavement compared to iron shoes, 63 percent on gravel, and 12 percent on turf, and 8 percent lowering of maximum load on sand/fiber surfaces. (It was not tested on dirt racing surfaces, which are uncommon there.)

The shoe was developed by former National Hunt jockey Robert “Choc” Thornton, who became the racing/stud manager at Apple Tree Stud, together with farrier Aron Tyler. Both are hopeful that Equishox can reduce injuries – both fractures and chronic interference injuries.

“We’ve had horses over here that have made a huge mess of their joints, knocking side to side or from behind,” said Thornton. “It’s very, very difficult to train with that … it’s a lot of stop/start, stop/start.”

Two horses with chronic interference problems have been in the shoes for six weeks and Thornton said their trainer reports they’ve seemed more comfortable and been able to train more consistently because of the lowered interference impact.

Thornton and Tyler say the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is in the process of evaluating the shoes to determine whether they could be legal for flat racing, should trainers and farriers opt to try them.

The challenge for the shoes under HISA’s reign could be the treads on their surface, which have been shown to provide grip, but which have a uniformly flat surface hitting the ground. “Traction devices” in the form of toe grabs have been banned or severely restricted (depending on their length and placement) by HISA regulations because of research that shows they can change the angle at which the leg interacts with the ground and cause excessive strain. Thornton and Tyler say that because the face of Equishox is flat, their shoes don’t elevate any one part of the hoof over another.

They’re also aware that the treads could put trainers on alert about whether the rubber would eliminate the “slide” phase that occurs when a hoof hits the ground. Thornton says the team has modified the shoe before going to market to ensure there is still enough slide to help dissipate the forces of a footfall horizontally.

Equishox are applied with nails and can be shaped similarly to an iron shoe as needed. One barrier to acceptance may be cost. The price for a pair of Equishox in the States will be about $65 – significantly more than a set of aluminum or iron shoes. But, Tyler said, they’re designed to be light enough for use in racing (125 grams per shoe) and tough enough for training, so trainers could save themselves the cost of swapping shoes ahead of and following a race. Their lifespan depends on the surface they’re used on (as is true with conventional shoes); the company says that in the UK, horses who get most of their exercise hacking several miles each day on roads and tracks have seen the shoes wear down in three weeks, but those in training on softer surfaces like turf or synthetics have had the shoes last the typical four- to six-week shoe cycle.

“We do have horses in Chantilly that they’ve taken the shoe off [for trimming] and put it back on, but everywhere they go is sand or turf,” said Thornton.

Tyler says that over a period of time, he’s seen improvement in hoof quality using Equishox, too.

“We’ve aimed to have Equishox as near as you can to an unshod foot,” said Tyler. “Every part of that foot has a function, and needs to be able to move as it’s intended to function when the horse is moving and stood still. With the softness of the material, it still allows the absorption of the heels, it still allows the sole to flex and convex, it still allows the frog to touch the ground.”

Thornton points out that the rubber also makes this shoe less abrasive on the heels than full aluminum or iron shoes, which can irritate heel bulbs with time.

So far, Thornton said the shoes have been put on 50 horses in England and France. The majority of runners thus far have been steeplechase horses, because that’s what’s in season there right now, but Thornton said the shoes have been on 12 winners from 25 runners since they went into use last fall.

Thornton and Tyler say the company has set aside significant funds for ongoing research into the shoes and their impact. They already have one user in Turkey undertaking a closer look at the slide phase of Equishox compared to other shoes.

One thing that remains to be quantified is the shoes’ ability to reduce injuries on American dirt racing surfaces. Tyler said he does not expect the shoes would remove so much impact to the limb that they would disrupt the concussion feedback process that’s key for good bone remodeling, since it is intended to allow the foot to behave as though it were unshod. Until American trainers and farriers get the chance to try it and decide if they’re worth the cost, its potential remains on the horizon.

“We want to work with HISA and with other governing bodies for a better world,” said Thornton. “We want to make life better for racehorses, and for other horses. If we can expand into other things, that’s fantastic, too.”