In the unrelenting quest to keep racehorses sound, owners go to many extremes to keep their equine feeling good and performing to the top of their ability. It may not be a cure-all for keeping your charge in tip top shape, but a horseman that worked with 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro believes that a breakthrough has been made.

philly.com has run an article featuring Patrick T. Reilly, a farrier that also teaches and runs a research lab at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Reilly has been trying out new technology that he is hoping will lead to horses becoming sounder. He is in the midst of utilizing a technology that essentially makes orthotics for equine.

As the report explains, the undertaking applies thin sheets of plastic to horse's hooves. The sheets contain rows of semiconductive ink. The plastic is electrically connected to a data logger which measures and records the exertion levels placed on 1,000 of the hoof's pressure points.

The information leads to the creation of customizable shoes for horses, and Reilly is hoping that the shoes in question will lead to sounder horses going forward.

Reilly stated that the information he has received from the process has, in many cases, contradicted his visual assessments of what is causing particular horses' lameness in terms of shoeing.

"A little bit the opposite of what I was expecting to see," Reilly said, when discussing one horse in particular. "This is what makes this stuff fun."

(With files from philly.com)