HoofSearch

02/12/2026

Does Shoeing Method Matter? Inside the Horse’s Physiological Response

Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects how the autonomic nervous system responds to stimuli and stress in horses. This study compared HRV in horses undergoing cold (n=25) and hot (n=26) shoeing. Researchers measured time, frequency, and HRV variables before, during, and for two hours after shoeing.

Several HRV measures changed depending on whether the horse was hot or cold shod, and also on when the measurements were taken. Increases in these indicators were seen 30 minutes after hot shoeing, suggesting greater autonomic (sympathovagal) activity than in cold-shoed horses.

These findings show that shoeing method influences cardiovascular responses, with hot shoeing producing stronger physiological activation compared to cold shoeing. However, since behavioural data were not collected and shoeing duration varied between horses, these results should be interpreted cautiously and confirmed under more controlled conditions.

Read this paper here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0305031

11/25/2025

11/19/2025

Have you worked on a project that lead to improved clinical practice? Then we want to hear from you! 📣

Submissions to present a clinical abstract at open on Thursday 15 January.

We'll be accepting abstracts in three formats:
👉 clinical research abstracts (CRA)
👉 clinical descriptive abstracts (CDA)
👉 clinical audit abstracts

If you're selected to present your abstract at BEVA Congress, you'll be given free registration for the day of your presentation and discounted rates for any additional days you wish to attend.

Find out more and read our submission guidelines here - https://bit.ly/43oewIu

10/06/2025

That moment when you think you don't have time to scroll your Facebook feed and then you see a reel from a favorite HoofSearch subscriber. Meet Dr. Erik Bergman from the Sporthorse Medical Diagnostic Centre SMDC in The Netherlands...but you probably already know him!

09/13/2025

Laminitis research includes the study of horses with PPID ("Cushings disease") and insulin dysregulation conditions commonly described as equine metabolic syndrome. Pergolide, marketed in the USA under the name "Prascend" by Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health USA Inc. has been available to these horses but is still being researched to unlock the fine points of which horses benefit most, and where future challenges lie to help more horses live with these conditions without the complications of accompanying .

Congratulations to The University of Melbourne 's Nicolas Galinelli for his achievement in winning the Peter Rossdale Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ) Open Award at this week's BEVA - The British Equine Veterinary Association in the UK.

Here are the details: Effect of pergolide treatment on insulin dysregulation in horses and ponies with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction by Nicolas C. Galinelli, Nicholas J. Bamford, Madison L. Erdody, A. Mackenzie, Tobias Warnken, Patricia A. Harris, Martin N. Sillence and Simon R. Bailey, published in the February 2025 issue of Equine Veterinary Journal.

The article was published under an Open Access license and may be read online or downloaded by all from this link:
https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/evj.14468

As shown in this photo, the award was presented to Galinelli by Great Britain's Princess Anne, who is the royal patron of BEVA.