What To Do With Big Brown’s Bad Hooves?
Triple Crown hopeful Big Brown experienced a supposedly minor setback this weekend when he developed a slight quarter crack on the inside of his front left foot. It has since been treated, and his farrier and trainer are confident that he will be in shape to run in the upcoming Belmont Stakes.
And he might even win it.
But there are two big questions that need to be asked:
- should Big Brown be raced with recurring hoof problems?
- should he be sent to stud, where he could pass on those problems?
Over the winter months, Big Brown had some pretty serious issues with cracks, heels collapsing, and hoof wall separation (I don’t have a clue what that means either. For details, pictures and videos of all of Big Brown’s hoof issues and treatments, check out Fran Jurga’s Hoof Blog). He also had some pretty creative shoeing to address those problems.
Big Brown and Eight Belles: A Merging of the Thoroughbred Story
Big Brown’s win in the second leg of the Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing effectively pulled him into the spotlight and knocked Eight Belles and racing reforms out of it. But the stories of these two horses are more alike than one might think, and certainly deserve some consideration and comparison.
After Eight Belles death, there was a lot of chatter about breeding reforms, particularly the fact that thoroughbreds are being bred for speed rather than soundness. As a result, they are becoming increasingly more fragile.
But Eight Belles didn’t show any signs of fragility until it was already too late. She was a large, strong, sound horse up until she broke both front ankles on the track at Churchhill Downs. She wasn’t on steroids. She hadn’t been lame. Her xrays were clean. Yet, she suffered an injury too great to handle.
Big Brown on the other hand has never been the picture of soundness. He’s had recurring issues with his hooves that are pretty serious. But he’s been treated by expert farriers, had shoes glued on and heels rebuilt, and galloped to impressive wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.
One horse, the picture of soundness, dies from leg injuries. One horse, always coming up lame, is treated and could be the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years.
Nature vs. Nurture: Should they be raced and bred?
Is it ethical to race a horse with chronic hoof problems like those of Big Brown? Every time he has a new problem, it’s treated. And he is very quickly sound again. He is capable of running with his fancy shoes and glued together hooves. It doesn’t seem to bother him in the least. But should he be run in that condition? What are the chances those hooves could break down in the middle of a race?
We can rebuild the hooves and make a horse sound. But with serious issues, I’m not sure that we should ask them to compete. At the same time, if we can remedy the problem there’s no harm done either. It’s like my chronic bad ankle; I had a bad sprain once and now I have problems when stressing that joint (not good for a huntseat rider who needs it for shock absorption). But I put on a brace and ride anyway. As long as I treat it, I’m fine.
And then, Big Brown’s offspring are going to be a hot commodity even if he doesn’t win the Belmont. But if he does, and he’s the first Triple Crown winner in eons, there will be no stopping the stud fees for him and his kids for the next century. But should a horse be bred with chronic hoof problems? Are his hoof issues even genetic, or are they a product of his environment and work schedule?
I don’t really know the answers to any of these questions.
What I do know is that they are worth asking.
What I also know is that these questions apply to the general population of horse owners, not just to Big Brown and other successful racehorses. How far can we push our horses? How far is it acceptable to patch them up and go on with the show? Do we breed a successful, well-conformed horse with a history of lameness? It’s a fine line to walk, and one we need to be incredibly aware of for the well-being of all our horses.
What do you think?
All of the points and questions you bring up are good and worth asking about. It seems there is probably no perfect answer to anything. There are too many variables to consider.
I hear the message of this post loud and clear. X was a very hot hunter for a while and was at a big time fancy barn. He has scars on his neck from all the injections and IVs they used to give him. When I asked the hunters at the barn about these bumps they told me what they were from but finished the statement with “But he always makes sure it is legal”. So it is okay to give a horse some drugs as long as they are within the rule book? This raises other questions for me abut breeding as well such as breeding horse with bad temperment. Gennyral comes from the War Admiral line and it is hard for us to find horses that can go out with him and come back without injury. That is not a quality I would want to breed for and even though I love my pony to bits I cannot imagine why having “fire in his eyes” is a good thing, even when racing. In dressage horses are being bred for big movement at the detriment of ridability. I wish people would think of the whole horse picture when breeding, not just the dollar signs (not that all breeders are like that, but enough are to make is an issue).
There are too many unanswered questions here to know specifically about Big Brown but even with answers I’m sure there would be different opinions with different people.
For me the idea of working, showing, racing a patched up horse has a lot to do with the horse and the extent of the patching and the effects on the horse. I’ve been in the situation where I treated a horse to the tune of $2500 at the national show and showed the horse because the vet said the best thing for him was to ride him. I’ve also been in the situation where others would have worked my horse and I laid him off for six weeks to be sure an injury didn’t get worse. For me, the only answer is doing best for the horse.
As for breeding a horse like Big Brown even if the hoof problems are genetic, I would probably consider breeding to such a magnificent animal but I would pay very close attention to finding a suitable mare with great feet in her pedigree. Since the goal of breeding is to improve the individuals, the possibility of getting a horse with Big Brown’s good traits and feet corrected by the dam would be worth trying for me.
However, I would not consider breeding to a horse with bad feet who was not overall far more outstanding than other individuals available on all or most other traits. For me it would not be worth the risk.
I’d also add that I am not a fad breeder. I do not breed to the current hot horse, national champion or totally on a horse’s pedigree or show record. To me the decision needs to be based on the individual and what I am trying to accomplish.
I personally don’t think he should be raced, and I’d want to see how his feet do if allowed to grow out and heal completely with good trimming before making a statement about breeding.
I don’t know enough to write at length about the hoof issues, but have been trying to learn more about feet and their problems and solutions over the past year. From the limited amount I’ve managed to learn, I have to wonder with the ongoing cracking and the hoof wall separation if the way his feet are being trimmed is not working for him structurally.
Obviously his farriers are doing a good job patching everything up after the fact, but has anyone looked at the source of the problems? I don’t know.
The sad thing to me is that the feet are not being allowed to fully grow and heal, and I would wonder what the running on patched up feet that appear to me to be unbalanced in some way since they continue to crack and separate is doing to his joint/musculature structure on up the leg and into the shoulder.
GreyHorseMatters – true, there are a lot of variables to consider. And when it comes to our own horses, there are different variables. I doubt there’s just one answer to each of these questions; it comes down to what’s best for each individual horse.
On the Bit – that’s an excellent point about breeding horses with bad temperaments. Horses are big, strong animals, and we need to ensure our safety by focusing on horses that are willing, teachable, and ridable. You can’t always control personality, but it seems that in animals anyway temperament of the parents is oftentimes a good indicator of what the foal will be like.
RisingRainbow – you’ve done a lot breeding, what do you think about On The Bit’s question about breeding for temperament? Do your foals often have personalities like one of their parents? Thanks for sharing from a breeders perspective, everything you said makes a whole lot of sense, and comes from a perspective of doing what’s best for the horses.
Billie – I agree, I’d like to know what Big Brown’s feet would be like if they were allowed to grow out and heal. Once he’s done racing, maybe they will and he will be sound for the rest of his life. I’m sure that running on patched up feet isn’t helping him to get better, and is the reason his problems keep coming back. He may not have bad feet genetically. But if they had a problem once from an abscess or something, they’re going to continue to have problems with the stress he’s under. Time will tell.
I talked with Dear Husband about this post yesterday at length, and while we DO have some very different viewpoints on it, we both agreed on a few points. One being genetics DO NOT come into play as much as people would like to say they do. Number Two being the work done. Not just on Big Brown- but on the majority of horses we have seen off the track.
Dear Husband considers the horse sound with the application of the patch and shoes. I said it is an artifical soundness, created BY the application of devices which without the horse would be lame.
We agreed to disagree on that. He says I am too picky about my lameness “issues”
What it all boiled down to was watching the video available on Fran’s site, of Ian’s explanation on patching. Neither of us were impressed with the TRIM that had been done on the horse in the video. At all. When Ian stated he has seen injuries like this on the rise since he started shoeing at Belmont in 1998, all we could both see was the Poor Quality Of The Initial Trims Being Applies Prior To Shoeing. Period.
I know.. .a book here… Sorry Jackie, I did not mean to high-jack your post!!!
One Other thought for you:
Let’s say Big Brown had perfect hooves. At the lenghts and speeds he is winning at now, what do you think he would be like THEN?
Can you just imagine that? Talk about a horse of a lifetime… good golly he might have rivaled NASCAR!
(OK OK, so maybe not NASCAR…)
Mrs Mom – hey, feel free to write a book on here whenever you want! I was looking for perspectives like yours since you have such an intimate knowledge of the hoof and trimming. I do agree with you, though, that genetics don’t play into hoof soundness as much as many people might think.
My ottb mare has tricky feet, simply because she has thin hoof walls. when we first got her, she didn’t have any heel either. I know how important it is to have a farrier who knows the hoof and can trim her to the proper angles. We’ve worked hard to find good farriers, and they’ve been able to improve her angles and balance and keep her sound for a long time now. There are people who sort of “know” to how to trim a horse. But when I get a horse of my own, I’m going with an experienced professional even if it costs me a lot more. Horses’ feet are too important to be cavalier with.
That’s a great point you make too; if Big Brown was sound without all the patching, would he run faster? Interesting thought.
I am not going to dispute that SOME horses do have thinner walls- we have seent hat. However, when they are trimmed correctly, can withstand to a goo dbit of work. What I really honestly have issue with is everyone yelling that it’s genetics. The first time (several years ago now,) that I heard a high-ranking farrier claim that we have bred the hooves off of our horses, I had to laugh. The reason for my laughter is simple- at that time, early on in my apprenticeship, BEFORE I even really knew the ins and outs here, I had been able to take prime examples (in OTTBs and QHs) and trim them to soundness. These were horses that the person speaking had said that thanks to poor breedng practices, we had bred for genetically bad feet. With in 4 trims, about 3 weeks apart for the TBs, and about 4 to 5 weeks apart for the QHs, they had some of the prettiest feet- hardy, tough, and SOUND over all manner of upstate NY mountain terrain.
A lot of it falls to owners doing thier homework, and following up on what they need to do to CONDITION the hoof. A lot of it though, falls to shoeing practices that are still in the “dark ages” more or less. Too many farriers out there do not take the time for continuing ed, and working on learning the correct physiology of the foot. It IS hard. It IS complicated– but if you truly want to do the best for your clients, it is a professional responsibility to learn as much as you can, and apply what you learn where you see fit. Thats it.
*ahem* I won’t even begin to go into what my feelings are on “angles”… lol
Good grief… lol…. Sorry Jackie- guess this is more of an “issue” with me than I thought…
Mrs Mom – Yah know, that’s one of the wonderful things about the make-up of horses’ hooves; if you do it right, you can fix almost any problem. It may take time and patience, but I agree, pretty much any horse can be sound with proper hoof care.
Really, thanks for investing in this discussion and contributing your thoughtful, educated opinions. I appreciate it!
No problem Jackie. It has been tough at times to NOT jump in on BB discussions, but since we have a bit of history between us talking, it felt comfortable here
All over I see more and more people bemoaning the fact that Thoroughbreds are genetically predispositioned to poor hooves… and it bothers the dickens out of me. You be have a genetic predisposition for crooked legs, goose rumps, roman noses, pig eyes, narrow chests, … and just about any other portion of anatomy that you want to cover. But hooves are pretty “fluid”, meaning that they will conform to whatever the hoof care provider does to them.
Looking at OTTBs, and pics online of their track trimmed-to-shoe hooves, the main issues to me most times are obvious. But who am I to convince what feels like half the planet that 1) locking a hoof into an imbalanced, improper environment will create unhealthy hooves, and 2) if you TRIM and CONDITION the hooves properly, the vast, vast majority of horses can perform SOUNDLY, barefoot.
When you allow the heels to become crushed, and underrun, then dub the toe back, and lock the foot into and unmoving, unchanging environemnt (AKA: a shoe)OF COURSE there are going to be issues. Think about the pressure being induced there, and where the resulting stress has to go. Bingo- quarter cracks. Bingo- poor wall quality. And last but not least, issues with limbs staying sound.
Sorry again Jackie… I could go on and on about this stuff I guess…. lol
(OH— dude— would that be why I BLOG? LOL)
PS- Sorry for the typos… I have a little helper in my lap and providing distraction….
LOL – and we’re so glad you DO blog. The barefoot trimming is new to me, and since I don’t have a horse of my own I haven’t been able to test it yet. But I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and the arguments are very convincing. When I do get a horse, I’ll definitely be looking for a barefoot trimmer in my area. I know the first person I’ll ask for a recommendation too.
I’ve always heard exactly what you said – thoroughbreds have bad feet. But it makes a lot of sense that it’s a product of how they are trimmed/shod for racing rather than genetics, especially seeing how much better Penny got very quickly once we got her off the track. Granted, she’s always had shoes, but we’ve had very few lameness problems in the last 13 years. And her feet are strong. I’d be tempted to try her with a barefoot trim if I could, but she’s technically my mom’s horse so it’s not my call.
i don’t think you should race him because his feet could cause problems and i dont think you should put him to stude either:(
he could be a riding horse or dressarge horse but not a racer or jumper;{sorry