Elitskon
An objective kinematic evaluation
Elitskon? is a new type of horseshoe for trotters. It is supposed to give the horse a trot that mimics the movement pattern of a horse trotting unshod. Many horses show a better trot unshod but this can only be used to a limited extent due to the great wear and tear of the hoof.
The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the qualities of Elitskon? are similar to the unshod horse or the traditional aluminium horseshoe.
Three horses were included and they were each filmed trotting once with Elitskon?, once with a traditional aluminium shoe and once unshod. The horses were filmed with a high-speed camera placed parallel to the equipage, consisting of a coachman and a sulky. In order to obtain an objective description of the movement patterns of the horses, seven parameters were analysed. These parameters indicated the degree of balance in the trot of the horses.
Since the trot of each horse has its own qualities, it can be noted that each horse adjusts differently to each specific type of shoeing.
The evaluation has been done on each horse separately as well as on the three horses together for a more general conclusion.
The results indicate that Elitskon? provides the horse with a good grip. This is also obtained when trotting unshod, indicating similarities between this shoe and unshod, as compared to the aluminium shoe where a tendency to slide was noticeable in all the horses.
The parameters describing symmetry showed good results with Elitskon? similar to the unshod horse. The connection between a good grip and a good symmetry is not completely ensured but when analyzing the parameters systematically, it seems like the symmetry is a result of the good grip. This suggests that it would be of interest to do a more extended study of the connection between grip and symmetry.