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WAR EMBLEM'S TRIPLE CROWN STRATEGY INCLUDES THE LATEST HOOFWEAR FROM EUROPE
(May 20, 2002) Lousville, KY-Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner War Emblem looks a champion from the tips of his ears down to his hooves. He's lean, fit, and fast, all right, just like a Triple Crown contender should be. But when you get to the bottom of his story, however, this horse has something no previous Derby and Preakness winner has ever had. It's not visible at first glance.... because he's standing on them. War Emblem was the first winner of the Run for the Roses to wear a new brand of racehorse shoe, newly imported to the USA from Holland. Manufactured by the long-established metalworking firm of Kerckhaert Horseshoes Company in Vogelwaarde, Holland, the aluminum shoes look similar to the shoes manufactured in America.
But to the eye-and feel-of a professional farrier, there is a difference in these shoes. And perhaps, most importantly, there is some difference to the horse. The shoes are shaped more precisely to the natural shape of the Thoroughbred hoof. According to Steve Norman, the man who nailed them onto War Emblem's feet, they have a nail placement that gives plenty of options, sole relief and a slightly wider stock that gives better support. The strength of the shoes practically eliminates spreading or distortion of the shoe.
A number of the horses entered in the Derby wore the new European shoes on either all four feet, or the hind feet only, according to farrier Steve Norman, of Lexington, KY, who has integrated the new shoes quickly into his busy practice. "Shoeing a horse is old news," said Steve Norman as he prepared to check the horse's shoes before his trip to Baltimore to run in Saturday's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. "What I'm looking for is the best shoe for the horse. My goal is to shoe a racehorse twelve times in a row. That means no injuries, and no layups. When I shoe a horse twelve times, I feel like I have really accomplished something. Most horses don't have a chance to prove themselves."
Trying the new shoes on War Emblem wasn't a problem for trainer Bob Baffert, who has a reputation for being independent in his thinking. In Australia last year, New Zealand's Ethereal won the prestigious Melbourne Cup wearing the shoes. "Trainers are accepting the new shoes, which is a little surprising," Norman reported. "I think they are helping to hold the foot together. The added material makes the shoe more stable, maybe. I'd like to do less patching, see fewer layups, and this is one thing to try in that direction."
Norman has been shoeing for 33 years-ever since he failed to make weight as a jockey in his native Colorado and looked for a different job to keep him on the racetrack he loved so much. Today, Norman shoes many of America's top stakes horses, and is assisted by four helpers. War Emblem was the third Kentucky Derby winner to wear his shoes; he also shod Point Given last year for Baffert when the Horse of the Year ran in the Preakness and Belmont. "You're only as good as the last
shoe you nailed on," Norman smirks, in reference to the fate of
farriers whose notoriety was made by horses that pulled shoes on race day
or in the starting gate. "I hope they all stay on." © 1997-2002 Hoofcare & Lameness |
