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Research to Help Racehorses Put Their Best Foot Forward An international research team is working to understand how shoes affect foot skeleton stress in racehorses, in a project that is likely to benefit the racing industry and protect horses from injury. Olga Panagiotopoulou, PhD, head of the Moving Morphology and Functional Mechanics Laboratory at University of Queensland School of Biomedical Sciences, in Brisbane, Australia, said that musculoskeletal injury is one of the main animal welfare concerns in the industry. The Australians, The Royal Veterinary College in the United Kingdom and Brown University in Providence, R.I., are harnessing a new approach that combines threedimensional (3D) radiographic technology with computer simulations and models of the forces exerted on bones. “This novel combination has enabled us to study the effect of a stainless steel horseshoe on skeletal stresses within the forefoot in a live racehorse,” Dr. Panagiotopoulou said. This is the first report of using this combination of techniques in horses. The method was used effectively in a preliminary case study at the Royal Veterinary College in London, but more research was need, according to Professor John Hutchinson, PhD, vertebrate biomechanics and evolutionary anatomy researcher at the college. The research involved walking a Thoroughbred between 3-D radiographs, an imaging technique developed by Professor Stephen Gatesy, PhD, and colleagues at Brown University in Rhode Island, and used previously to view bone interaction in small animals such as fish and birds. Dr. Panagiotopoulou used film industry animation techniques to transform the radiographic data into a lifesize 3-D model. “By combining the 3-D model with other research data we were able to measure the force the horse's foot bones generated when they hit the ground and develop comprehensive simulations,” she said. They hope this work will pave the way for new direc-
Film industry animation techniques transformed the radiographic data into a life-size 3-D model.
By combining the 3-D model with other research data they were able to measure the force the horse's foot bones generated when it hit the ground and develop comprehensive simulations.
tions in research that will minimize foot injuries and improve animal health and welfare. “Future research using more animals will enhance our understanding of what regions of the horses' feet are most at risk of damage,” she said. MeV
For more information: Panagiotopoulou O, Rankin JW, Gatesy SM, Hutchinson JR. A preliminary case study of the effect of shoe-wearing on the biomechanics of a horse’s foot. PeerJ 2016 4:e2164 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2164 10
Issue 8/2016 | ModernEquineVet.com