Big feet on soft ground

[Seasider]

I’m curious to know what beneficial effects, if any, accrue to a chaser or hurdler with large feet jumping round a track which has plenty of juice in the ground.

My inspiration for this query comes from an article written in 1859, in which the author discusses the snowshoe effect. He reminds us that a man wearing snowshoes will not sink into the snow very far, if at all, whereas someone shod in ordinary shoes would find it more difficult to get his feet out of the ground. He is clearly right, as I have found to my cost on a couple of occasions.

However, the author suggests that any benefit gained by a large-footed horse racing on the flat on soft or heavy ground is so infinitesimal as to be unworthy of serious consideration. He is not quite so dismissive of jumpers blessed with large feet, and proposes that the anti-sinking effects of such feet could be advantageous.

(I do not suggest that horses should be equipped with snowshoes, although I can think of several horses that could not but improve if fitted with them.)

Many thanks.

[Steeplechasing]

I’ve heard arguments on both sides over the years. The other is that small feet can easily be pulled out of gluey ground.

Were the feet shaped and built like snowshoes then that one might hold some water (or, rather, no water), but a horse’s foot, especially with a plate on, is effectively a sucker and I’d have thought it very hard work to keep pulling it out of deep going.

[Seasider]

Thanks for the response, Joe.

Perhaps the BHA could think about enforcing the pre-race publication of horseshoe sizes alongside headgear and tongue-ties, and what have you. Only then will the punter have sufficient information to ascertain whether or not foot size is a telling factor on soft ground.

Alas, I don’t think this is going to happen any time soon.

[robnorth]

I reckon a round action is more of an indicator for acting in soft or heavy ground than hoof size. For as round a round action as you can get look at the replay of today’s Carlisle 2.50 and watch winner Never Up! Now there is a horse that needs soft ground!

[robert99]

If the bearing pressure of soft soil is 1/4 ton per square foot then when the horse foot impact is 2 tons it would mean the size of the foot would need to be 8 square feet to avoid sinking into the soil. As the foot contact area is about 1/10th of a square foot it is too small by a factor of 80 to have nay “floating” effect.

As others have stated, it is a round action – not placing the foot at an angle to the ground (digging a larger divot) – and the suction action to overcome as the foot is pulled out that counts. A bigger horse (with bigger feet) would be at an advantage solely because it has greater muscle power to pull the foot out.

[befair]

I remember The Brockshee winning a soft-ground Arkle, and his trainer Arthur Moore describing him afterwards as having “hooves the size of soup-plates.”

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