A few weeks ago, a video featuring revolutionary horseshoes went viral on the internet. I have never seen that many people sharing a horse related video before, I got curious and found that those are Megasus Horserunners‘ new product.
I thought that just like me, you would have some questions about how these runners work so I have interviewed them for you!
Equestrian Trend (ET): How did you come up with the idea of creating this product?
Megasus Horserunners (MH): If you had the choice between metal shoes and shock absorbing sports shoes to go for a run, which one would you choose?
Horses have the same bones, tendons and ligaments as we have. While we have used modern technology to develop our sports shoes to give us a comfortable run, our horses have been wearing iron horseshoes for more than 2000 years.
Years ago, Charly (one of our founders and Director of R&D at Megasus) could prove the existence of vertical hoof movements by glueing a wedge under one heel of a barefoot horse. The hoof was able to compensate for the wedges with a height of 1.5 cm with no impact on the joint. It therefore has a joint equivalent function to compensate for uneven ground. His research findings disqualify the validity of stiff material „iron” as species-appropriate hoof protection.
Megasus Horserunners are the result of 20 years of research and development. Working for animal welfare, Charly regularly experienced numerous of horses having to be euthanized due to hoof and leg issues. In his investigations, he very often came across this one sentence which he just wouldn’t accept. Science said that „Iron horseshoes are a necessary evil”. We want to change that. That’s why we invented a only-as-needed hoof protection that is easy to take on an off anytime to let walk horses barefoot and strengthen their tendons and ligament and protects their hooves with shock absorbing material when riding.
ET: Your promotional video went viral over the past weeks getting over 140.000.000 views on Facebook. How do you feel about that? Was there a huge impact on your company?
MH: Yes, the crowdfunding campaign and the social media campaign definitely had a huge impact on our company! Thanks to our wonderful backers we can now bring our idea to live and we are currently in the early phase of manufacturing.
The previous weeks have been incredibly exciting and we are very grateful for the heart-warming feedback from horse lovers from so many different nations!
We have received more than 4000 emails and so many messages and phone calls. It’s just so great to see and feel that there are so many people who believe in us and our Megasus Horserunners. It has been a real boost to our motivation! We are working very hard to meet their expectations.
ET: Some horses have health issues – such as the navicular disease – that could be solved or minimized by getting different horseshoes – do you believe that your product could be used as a therapeutic tool?
MH: It always depends on the individual horse and it’s needs. We want to provide a new type of hoof protection and hope that Megasus can help horses with health issues. The advantage of Megasus Horserunners is that they are individually customizable, light weight and shock absorbing, plus you are able to take them off anytime to trim or for treatment. Because of being flexible (under the horse’s weight) they allow all natural hoof movements which leads to a good blood circulation. Step by step, we will provide more information about how to use Megasus Horserunners for horses with health issues.
ET: Could a horse wear Megasus Horserunners twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week? If yes, would it be hard to lose one?
MH: You can take them off after riding or leave them on – just as needed! You can use them 24/7. Some horses just need hoof protection all the time, e.g. when having health issues. However, we highly recommend that you take them off after 1–2 weeks to trim the hooves a little bit so that they won´t lose their shape.
ET: Would they work on showjumping horses? We often ride on grass arenas where we need horseshoe studs, how could we use your product on grass and still be safe?
MH: In principle, yes! We will provide spikes and cleats which can be mounted easily (please watch here).
Megasus Horserunners are designed, first of all, for leisure riders who want to jump in the terrain through some obstacles. This has already tested very positively, but we are still testing. Shear forces during jumping are absorbed by the Side Clips which are extremely stabile. The Mega-Lock connection is mainly demanded in deep ground when the hoof pulls up. It will be task of the next tests to prove in how far the Megasus will go in challenging sports.
Also, we plan to further develop and innovate our product for special purpose like racing, reining and other sports.
ET: Will your product be available on local tack shops in the future or only online?
MH: We are currently developing our distribution concept and we will launch Megasus Horserunners on the market in August of 2017. There will be dealers in various countries as well as an online shop on our website.
I hope that you have enjoyed this interview and thank you Megasus Horserunners for it!
Thanks very much for sharing these, been weighing up metal shoes vs barefoot and think I may have found the solution. Really hit home about going for a run in metal shoes vs sports shoes!
As they're customisable and you're allowed to take them off at anytime they could be perfect for transitioning to barefoot? I'm reading that you can't make the transition overnight – http://www.horsesmad.com/horseshoes-vs-barefoot/
These definitely seem like they will help, especially as they can be worn 24/7. Would love to know how they've been for others.