Everyone has questions about the shoeless Swedish showjumpers that have been so successful at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Sweden won the Team Gold Medal Saturday, as a follow-up to rider Peder Fredricson’s Individual Silver Medal for jumping earlier this week.

To learn more, Fran Jurga went straight to the source. Peter Glimberg is the farrier at Peder Fredricson’s training farm and oversees the hoofcare of some of the world’s most elite show jumpers, many of whom now train and compete without shoes on carefully groomed arena surfaces.

Peter’s article on her website hoofcare.com about what he does for these horses, and why he does it has attracted huge interest across social media where this article has been shared. 

“The hoofcare program for these top horses centers on the balance between the positive and the negative effects of both shod and unshod hooves,” Peter writes. “I believe that the unshod hoof interacts better with the modern fiber-sand arena surfaces, where these horses train and compete.”

Glimberg goes into depth in discussing the potential problems of excessive stress on the hoof, especially on the coffin joint, with fiber-sand surfaces that don’t allow one side to sink while turning.

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