When I was a kid, I used to ride the train to Boston with my dad to pick up shoe orders because, for a while, he was a shoe salesman. At this time in my life I was also going to the racetrack with my grandfather because he worked on the backstretch exercising and conditioning racehorses. So it’s only natural, if you’re good at connecting two things that have nothing to do with each other, that you expect me to eventually write an article about shoe marks on the racetrack.

Shoe notes are the notes written on the shoe board at the racetrack that indicate what type of shoes the horses wear. I know what many of you are probably thinking: “Don’t horses usually wear horseshoes?” Ha ha, okay, now that we’ve gotten that obvious yuk out of the way, let’s continue.

Here’s a little advice for those of you who still think this article may have something to do with what horses wear on their feet, this article is not about what horses on the track wear on their feet, but rather what you wear on your feet on the race track.

Being a country guy and being around large animals for most of my life, I have usually worn boots with heels. But as I’ve gotten older and wiser, I realize that boots aren’t always the best choice for footwear. If I’m going to be in the barn or in a field, that’s fine, but if I’m going to the track and I plan on walking from the paddock to the betting windows, the snack bar, the betting windows, the snack bar to the bathroom to the snack bar, well, you get the idea.

I’m going to be on my feet for a long time and also try to think and figure out the intricacies of horse racing. So I need to be comfortable and not worry about uncomfortable shoes. My advice is to make yourself as comfortable as possible when you’re thinking deeply and working to pick your next winner. Wear comfortable shoes as often as possible.

Life is too short to wear uncomfortable shoes and handicapped horse racing is more important than making a fashion statement or trying to feel like John Wayne, who had very small feet by the way, that’s another shoe note, right? or is it a footnote?