Farrier Product Distribution Blog

By Dave Farley, CF APF-I

In this article, I will show you how I shoe a horse with a mild heel shear. In future articles, we will deal with the two severe stages that I call sheared heels. I will not attempt to diagnose the cause of this condition, which is explained in several great textbooks. Instead, I will shoe the horse just as I do in my everyday practice.

Most textbooks describe this condition as one heel being higher than the other, when viewed from the back of the foot. If you are a farrier, you see this condition often and each of us have our own way of dealing with sheared heals. In my business, I try to deal with the heel shear before it becomes a sheared heel. I personally believe that there are three stages of this condition. I approach each stage of this foot fault a little differently.

This case is what I call a mild heel shear. Notice that the inside heel is higher than the outside (see photo above). I consider this mild because the frog is still attached. If you hold the foot with both hands the heels will not separate and move independently. Also, notice that the bulb has little deformity when the foot is bearing weight and viewed from the rear. Most feet with this mild condition will not show any lameness or gait fault. I believe that feet should be as close as possible to the center of the limb above it. Notice that the wall of the high heel is straighter and does not have a normal angle. I take this into consideration when I fit the shoe.

I trim to the highest, widest part of the frog. I use a #2 Kerckhaert Grand Prix shoe. This shoe has a wide outside branch that helps horses with stiff and/or rotating hocks that need more lateral support. Using this shoe, I hammer and/or grind the inside branch. This takes away more medial ground surface of the shoe allowing the affected heel to sink more than the outside or lateral heel.

Notice the inside (medial) fit of the shoe. If you have a horse with this mild condition, and your approach is similar, this heel shear probably will never become a sheared heel. This horse is sound, happy and a ten mover.

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This article is from The Natural Angle Volume 11, Issue 3 . For more Natural Angle articles and tips, click here.

By Roy Bloom, CJF APF-I

The following is a method for knife sharpening that I have been using for some years. You may be able to use this method to improve your knife’s cutting ability.

It is important that you maintain a thin blade. The thicker the blade, the larger the bevel at the cutting edge. If the blade is thick, you have to use too much pressure to pull the blade through the cut; the thinner the better. A fine bevel is easier to maintain and offers less resistance, allowing the knife to cut easily. Pay attention to the size of the bevel on a brand new knife and try to maintain that size throughout the life of the knife. As you sharpen and use your knife, the width will decrease and as it decreases the edge will thicken. The blade will need to be thinned.

In the photo to the right, I am thinning the blade. I have taken a belt and cut it about 1/2″ in width. You can do this with any belt. Cut the back with a razor blade about 4″ and carefully

tear the rest. With the edge pointing up, so you can see the bevel and not get too thin, grind the knife to the desired thickness. Don’t let the blade get hot. If you see any color you have gone too far, too hot. Keep the blade cool by dipping in water after every couple passes. Use a new belt if possible, 100 or 120 grit. A new belt will cut quickly and the dipping of the knife in water will not allow the blade to heat up.

If your blade’s width gets down to 1/4″ throw it away. When the blade gets that thin it can break easily and that’s when you find it in your leg or wrist.

Now that I’ve thinned down the blade I need to establish the bevel. Photo (2) shows different makes of diamond hones. You want one that fits the hook size of your knife. Work the bevel into the hook (photo 3) and then the blade (photo 4). Some knives are made of a soft enough material that a small rat tail or triangle file can be used. Using files is good for serious roughing in but it produces a serrated edge, which is not desirable. If you start with a diamond hone you may never need a file.

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Now that the bevel is established I go to the Scotchbrite wheel. This is a medium grit Scotchbrite. I have found this to be best for cutting quality. In photo (5) I am cutting a groove in the edge of the wheel. I have braced a rat tail file to cut the groove. The groove will allow me to thin and sharpen the hook. Using the Scotchbrite wheel, I can polish the whole blade and the bevel. You want to maintain the angle of the bevel through all the stages so pay particular attention to how you hold the blade to the wheel. Make sure the edge is down, otherwise your knife may become a permanent fixture in your forehead. Start with the hook (photo 6) and sweep through the blade (photo 7), always maintaining the angle of the bevel.

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Now for the final polish. I use a medium felt wheel (photo 8) with the same groove cut in its edge as I put in the Scotchbrite. Apply green rouge to the groove edge and face of the wheel (photo 9). Use the same method as on the Scotchbrite so you can maintain the bevel angle and make as many passes as necessary to polish the edge (photos 10, 11).

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Once you have achieved sharpness with the felt wheel the edge should last a long time, assuming you are using your knife carefully and cleaning the hoof. When your knife becomes the least bit dull, touch it up on the felt wheel. You should not have to go through all these steps again until the bevel gets too large. When it does just repeat these steps.

Many of the suppliers carry the various wheels, tools and materials you need for sharpening knives. If your supplier doesn’t carry them have them contact Bloom Forge or FPD for info on where to get them.

This article is from The Natural Angle Volume 5, Issue 4. For more Natural Angle articles and tips, click here.

by Tim Shannon CJF, APF, AWCF, GradDip ELR

Overview
I would like to go over a couple terms we hear a lot. Static and dynamic balance. What do they mean, why are they important to us? Is one more important than the other? Is this something we need to fix? What are they and what do we do with them? Many questions. I would like to use this article to give them some definitions, why they are important, and how an understanding of them can help us come up with a better shoeing plan.

The simple definition is that we are assessing how force courses down the leg and puts load into the hoof. First is static balance, what we are assessing is the direction of force going into the foot as load when a horse is standing. Dynamic balance is an assessment of the change of direction of force going into the hoof as load when the horse moves through the stance phase.

Let’s call this a static and dynamic assessment rather than balance. Static assessment for the most part, gives us information on assessing a trim. Dynamic assessment for the most part, gives us information on shoe placement and shoe mechanics. Let’s take a closer look at each and see what we can do with the information.

Static Assessment
Static assessment is done with the horse standing square. I’m going to use the term vector. A vector is simply a straight line. A force vector has both direction and magnitude. A load is force exerted on a surface or body or in this case, the hoof. When we look at a static horse, we want to visualize the force vector coming down the leg and to see where this vector goes into the hoof. This tells us where the load is. Ideally it should be centered into the foot, medial/laterally (M/L), and dorsal/palmar (D/P). But this will be complicated by various conformations, offset pastern (fig. 1a, b), and normal pastern (fig. 1c).

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For M/L assessment look at the front of the leg, or dorsal view, and determine if the force vector is bisecting the hoof capsule. A T-square sighting method between the cannon bone and bottom of the hoof can also be used, although this will not work on the hind feet and is less accurate as conformational deviations of the limb increase.

For D/P assessment try to visualize the Hoof Pastern Alignment (HPA) (fig. 2). With this method we are trying to assess where P1, P2, and P3 are lined up. Our external markers of the pastern angle going into the hoof capsule can be helpful but are not always reliable. Flexor tension: contraction and laxity, and coffin bone shape can confound this assessment along with hoof capsule conformation/distortions.

When assessing the bony column look for toed-in toed-out, carpus valgus/varus. Base wide/narrow, cow-hocked, offset knees, fetlocks, and coffin joints. Along with various angular and rotational deviations in the long bones from the shoulder on down. This will help you to determine which direction the force vector is coming down the leg and entering the hoof capsule. We will use the information we gather from our static assessment to determine a trim plane. Think of these dotted lines as approximate force vectors, (fig. 3).

Evidence of a proper static load trim can be evaluated with radiographs. Equal joint spacing on the D/P view can be evidence of uniform load across the joints mediolaterally (fig. 4). It can also be subjectively assessed by looking at the hoof. The hoof is viscoelastic. This means it is resilient and shock absorbing, but it deforms over time. We see this in flares and dishing. We can use this information to assess how load goes into the foot over time. We can look at growth rings, the direction of the horn tubules, flaring, and heel growth and direction to help us fine tune our trim. Less distortion is usually letting you know you are on the right track to a proper trim for that particular hoof. Remember the most important trim is the next trim. Which is to say we use all the information we see to come up with a proper trim plane. Then we see how the hoof responds through the cycle. Then we reassess and do it all over again. That means when we come out to do the next trim in six weeks that will be the most important trim because we will be assessing the work we did today and fine tuning it to make it better the next time.

Dynamic Assessment
Dynamic assessment is done with the horse walking away and back towards yourself. What we are assessing is how the foot lands, which way the fetlock drops, and how the force vector courses through the joints during the stride. The variables that affect this assessment are angular deviations of the joints on flexion, rotational and angular deviations of the radius, cannon bone, pastern bones and the coffin bone. Assessed individually and taken as the whole limb (fig. 5 a,b,c).

Fetlock drop is one of the most important things to look at. The direction of the force vector is shown by the direction at which the fetlock drops to the ground. When this happens, it can be because at a D/P view the fetlock joint is not parallel to the ground. It is higher on one side than the other. This fetlock joint angle and/or offset between the cannon bone and P1 seems to be what gives the fetlock direction as to whether it is going to drop between the heel bulbs, or medially, or laterally to the heel bulbs (fig. 6a landing, 6b loaded). When this happens, it’s going to affect whether the foot is going to land flat or not. What happens as the leg is coming out of flexion and back into extension is that it is unfolding back into position. Evidence for this can be supported by radiographs that show even joint spacing even though the hoof is not landing flat. This uneven hoof landing can also be caused by a whole limb lateral rotation the whole leg is swinging back into place sideways, so it must land laterally first before the leg comes back underneath the body (fig. 5c). These are things we cannot change with a trim. Studies have shown chasing a flat landing on these types of limbs have not been beneficial for static loading even if they can get the horse to land flat. Some limbs line up well, and the hoof can land flat. If these feet are landing unevenly, we can trim them back to a flat landing. We always need to be aware of what we can and cannot change.

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Turning static and dynamic assessment into a shoeing plan
Trim for alignment, shoe for mechanics. This is the best way I found to tie these two assessments together. We trim for alignment. Remember the hoof is viscoelastic, it is resilient but deforms over time. If we don’t have alignment correct the hoof will deform. We are not just shoeing for the hour or two a day the horse works or weekend rides. We must shoe for the whole cycle. If we can’t bring the foot in to good static alignment, we need to put something in the shoe to help it out. This usually comes in the form of a wedge for the D/P alignment, or low heel is what we commonly deal with. We can’t always leave enough heel to correct the HPA. We can also add a medial or lateral wedge as conditions warrant. We can make both these adjustments until the hoof capsule can hold a proper position on its own.

Now we need to build a shoe for mechanics. Here we combine our static and dynamic assessments. When a horse enters the stance phase, first contact with the ground, the direction of the force vector will enter the hoof going a direction, then move past its static position, then stay on this course until it reaches maximum load. It will then settle back into its static position as the horse stops moving. This track will range around its static position based on its conformation, weight, footing, and speed. This force vector can be vertical or oblique. This becomes more important as the stride cycles increase. This will be noticed in any type of performance horse that is working regularly. The more stride cycles there are, combined with a force vector producing load in the hoof at different angles will increase deformation.

Don’t forget that a shoe has two interfaces. One on the hoof side, one on the ground side. For the horses that are landing on the outside and rolling into static alignment, we can help them with a lateral roll. This lateral roll will help on the ground side. If we have a horse with a sheared heel, we can float the heel to help that out. This will help on the hoof side. For a horse with a long toe and a low heel where we need to shorten the lever in front of the toe within conformational limitations, we can set the shoe back or put a long roll into the shoe to get the break over point where we need in relation to the center of rotation of the coffin joint.

Practical application on an upright heel
Here is how both assessments will help me come up with a shoeing plan for an upright hoof. I look at the horse standing to determine if there’s any angular deviations that are going to cause load to not be centered in the hoof. Then I will walk the horse to see if there are any angular deviations in the joints that show up on flexion that would cause the force vector to course lateral to medial in the loading phase. Then I will walk the horse past me to see how much heel strike there is. I am using my dynamic assessment to help determine my D/P trim plane, I will trim enough heel so that the hoof is landing flat. When there is heel strike it indicates there is laxity in the flexor system, so I am safe taking the heel down to landing flat without putting tension in the flexor system while the horse is standing (fig. 7). I will use my static assessment to set my M/L trim plane. I will set my M/L trim so that the horn tubules in the dorsal section of the hoof wall are perpendicular to the ground. I have found this is a good starting point for this hoof conformation. I will now make and apply a shoe based on the center of rotation of the coffin joint with 50% in front and 50% behind the center of rotation (fig.8). This can be done with a rocker toe, rolled toe, or a set-back toe. Whatever is appropriate for the particular horse, ground surface, and usage. This will take the tension off the flexor system when the horse starts the break over period of the stance cycle. Too much tension at this point in the cycle can cause the toe of the hoof to dish.

What about when there is lameness or pathology?
When there is lameness or pathology the rules still apply. You just must adjust the weight given to each assessment. If protocol for a particular pathology includes stall-rest then more weight can be put in to changing static alignment to help without having to worry about harm caused by movement. For example, raising or lowering heels in a laminitis case or changing M/L alignment for a collateral ligament injury. Then once a horse moves into a rehab phase where there is more movement, the dynamic assessment comes back into play. The question that needs to be asked for each lameness, and shoeing cycle, during the lamness/rehab period is: will my adjustment of the static alignment cause more harm than benefit when this horse is moving? This of course will be a case-by-case assessment but by using this guideline each time will increase the chance of a proper recovery.

Summary
I have gone over the definitions of static and dynamic assessment. We know it is not static and dynamic balance, these are assessments used to find a trim plane and shoeing protocol. Static assessment mostly helps define trim plane. Dynamic assessment is mostly used to determine mechanics and placement of a horseshoe. We have gone over what a force vector is and how it differs from load. A force vector is a direction that force is going down the leg and is evidenced by the amount and direction of load going into the hoof.

Using these assessments appropriately we can determine a trim plane and a shoe protocol for a particular limb. The weight we give each assessment is going to be based on whether we’re working on a lame horse or a sound horse or a performance horse and the pathology, confirmation, and ground surface that are related.

Alignment is only achievable for a moment. What shoeing protocol we come up with is only good on the day we apply it. It starts changing immediately, leaving the parameters of alignment. How long it holds is limited by shoeing cycle, ground surface reaction, hoof growth, and the amount of loading cycles.

These assessments are something I use in my daily practice on every horse, on every limb, reassessing each time. I like to think of each shoeing protocol I come up with as a question that I’m asking the hoof. I’m going to come back in six weeks and see what answer the horse gives me. I will then come up with another question for the hoof, reassess and repeat. I will do this until the hoof tells me through minimal distortions, good sole depth, even growth, and a healthy frog, etc., that I asked the right question. Then, that becomes the trimming and shoeing protocol for that limb. Don’t forget that the hoof is the ultimate decision maker over what is correct.

This article is from The Natural Angle Volume 19, Issue 2. For more Natural Angle articles and tips, click here.

If you do a lot of heel check grinds this is the attachment for you. It is also useful for notching pads for clips, beveling the inside web of shoes and touch up of clips. It has a 40-grit Ceramic abrasive that does an excellent and efficient job and is long lasting.

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A couple quick notes important to mounting the disc properly. It has a 5/8″ arbor so it fits perfectly on grinder shafts of 5/8″. However, you need a spacer to keep it far enough from the housing to be able to tighten. That spacer will be ¾-1″ long for most grinders. Most importantly, it is directional, meaning you can only mount it properly going in one direction. There is an arrow on the label indicating the direction and it should match the direction your grinder shaft is turning. Be sure you check this before using it. If it is mounted in the wrong direction the disc will not work and will be damaged very quickly.

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This article is from The Natural Angle Volume 18, Issue 4. For more Natural Angle articles and tips, click here.

In July of 2020, we had a horse come in the FootPro Shop that proved to be a good example of what can happen when hoof care is not done on a regular schedule.

Dave Farley, CF APF-I came to the shop to talk about the evaluation process he follows before shoeing his horses. It was obvious the feet had not been trimmed for some time, indicating no farrier had been scheduled to keep them in reasonable shape.

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JULY 2020
Annabelle before trim.

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Beyond the excessive growth, Dave could see immediately she had a problem with her right front that needed to be dealt with. The owner told Dave the horse had just popped an abscess a few days before coming to the shop. In examining the size of the break in the hoof wall, it seemed likely a considerable amount of wall undermined as the abscess worked its way up the wall. There were also indications the sole had been compromised, as well.

Dave was able to get the foot trimmed, treated with FootPro CS+ and a shoe applied, despite the discomfort the abscess caused. He recommended the owners ask their vet how to treat the open wound and to make sure to follow up with a local farrier. The abscess appeared to have been ongoing for some time to cause this amount of wall separation and the poor condition of the hooves indicated she had not had any recent farrier work done either. The question was whether that neglect would change.

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JULY 2020

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Fast forward to March of 2021. We contacted the owners to see if they would like to bring the horse back to the FootPro Shop to be shod by Hank Chisholm, CJF. We had no idea that she had not been done since July of 2020. You can imagine our surprise- and Hank’s- when she walked into the shop. You can see from the images that the wall had grown considerably in the months since she was in the shop but she had not received any farrier care and a large area of the lateral wall of the right foot was broken off. What was still there was undermined and significantly detached. The sole was also undermined and had cracks and separation that were going to require extra care. Hank wasn’t rattled, he just knew this was going to be a tedious shoeing job that was going to take some time to get things back on track.

We had no idea that she had not been done since July of 2020.

Have a look at the images from 2020 when the abscess first caused damage to the wall and the work Hank went through to get this horse back on a good path.

This may be a good article to share with your clients that don’t stick to a good schedule. Perhaps they’ll understand why it’s important for the health of the horse to work with you to get a reasonable schedule set up.

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March 2021
Missing wall and lateral Toe quarter undermined.

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We had Bobby Menker, CJF APF-I come to the shop for two follow-up shoeings on this horse after Hank got her on track for recovery. The hoof is almost completely grown back and in a cycle or two, she should be as good as new.

Let’s all hope the owners learned how important it is to keep a regular schedule for her hoof care, whether it’s just to be trimmed or to be shod.

The work that Dave, Hank and Bobby did is documented in video footage that you can see on our YouTube channel.

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MARCH 2021

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APRIL 2021
Hoof is growing down and a much smaller area requires the Adhere patch.

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JUNE 2021
Very little patch needed to fill void in toe quarter.

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This article is from The Natural Angle Volume 18, Issue 4. For more Natural Angle articles and tips, click here.

The overwhelming majority of tools that are returned to manufacturers of top tools are not defective. Most tools show obvious signs of misuse and/or lack of maintenance. Even under correct use you have to realize top tools are not lifetime tools. If you have used your tools properly and taken the time to maintain them you will generally find you get your money’s worth.

The following photos will give you some idea how simple it can be to extend the life of your tools. When reworking tools, the most useful piece of equipment in your truck or shop is a belt sander or disc grinder. The belt sander serves a dual function, it can also be used to bevel or dress shoes. Most rework is done with no heat in the tool. If you try to forge the tools back into shape you will probably destroy any heat treatment that has been done or create problems with the weld between the mild steel handles and the tool steel head.

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Photos 3-5. When the head of your forging tools are struck off center often enough this is the result. Both ends of the tool have been deformed. Better hammer control and early cleanup would fix the problem.

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Photos 19-21. Pritchel with broken tip. Grind end flat. Grind to desired dimension. Use this approach to the wheel for aggressive stock removal.

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This article is from The Natural Angle Volume 3, Issue 3. For more Natural Angle articles and tips, click here.

We have all heard the sayings “time is money” and “wasted time is wasted money.” The use of grinders to modify shoes and buffers to dress hooves not only improves time efficiency; it also reduces wear and tear on the body by eliminating the need for additional forging, hot rasping or the use of a finish file. Using grinders and buffers becomes inefficient when one does not care for them properly, causing a premature end to their usefulness.

Using grinders and buffers becomes inefficient when one does not care for them properly.

Improvements in abrasive component technology have greatly enhanced material removal rates and the life of the abrasive. However, without proper care, belts and sleeves can have their lives shortened, even with the new improvements. One of the primary reasons for shortened belt life is loading. Belt loading tends to occur most often when grinding or sanding non-ferrous metals such as aluminum. It can also occur when working with softer materials such as leather and urethane pads or, in the case of buffer sleeves, hoof wall material. In any of the aforementioned cases, the material being ground away becomes trapped in-between the abrasive particles to the point that there is no longer definition between the particles. Cutting performance is greatly reduced when this happens and it is often incorrectly assumed the belt has reached the end of its serviceable life.

Luckily, belt loading is easily remedied in seconds with the use of a rubber belt cleaning stick. With regular cleaning you can expect to see increased belt life and reduced working time. The steps below show the proper use of the rubber belt cleaning stick to save you time and money.

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This article is from The Natural Angle Volume 18, Issue 3. For more Natural Angle articles and tips, click here.

by Michael Wildenstein, CJF, FWCF (hons)

“Conformation of an owner’s horse can be a very sensitive subject.” – Ted S. Stashak

In my experience that statement is very true and includes individual horse owners that I felt were open-minded. Study the equine conformation; learn what is normal for a breed, discipline and environment. Use that information to modify shoes to enable the horse to do the best of its ability, in comfort, with the conformation it has. The study of equine conformation and the effect of modifications to the horseshoes on the hoof and limb can be overwhelming, yet interesting.

“Conformation, a major factoring soundness of the limbs, often determines the useful lifetime of a horse.” (Ted S Stashak) It is our responsibility as hoof care providers to take the conformation into consideration when defining shoe type, weight, size and modifications made to the shoes. “Every modification to the shoe has an influence on the biomechanics of the horse.” (Denoix, 1999) Historically, we have guidelines that are used when defining modifications to shoes, such as, “the principle thought should be to set the shoe, which should always be regarded as the base of support of the hoof, farther towards the more strongly worn side.” (Lungwitz, 1884) Another guideline, “if the shoe wears hard on the in or outside of the foot, place the wide branch of the shoe on the side of greatest wear.” (William Russell, 1887) I use historical references, as well as modern studies, to help define the modifications that will be made to a shoe. Knowing the environmental conditions, including the ground conditions are also taken into consideration. Artificial surfaces will require different modifications and shoe types than a natural surface.

Observe the shoe, hoof wear and the conformation of the hoof as this will give indications of deviations or issues above. Observe the horse in movement, standing in flexion and in extension for a complete evaluation of conformation. Radiographs and filming the horse in movement and reducing the speed of the film are useful information. (Photo, above right – Right Hind) This horse travels base narrow, the right hind is fetlock varus, pastern valgus. There is an abaxial rotational deviation at the hock. There is an axial rotational deviation from the Fetlock down. There is exaggerated rotation of the hoof as the hoof begins to break over. The hoof flares laterally.

EXPLANATION OF DESCRIPTION

• Base Narrow = “The distance between the center lines of the feet at their placement on the ground is less than the distance between the center lines of the limbs at their origin.” – Ted S Stashak
• Fetlock Varus = The limb deviates in below the fetlock.
• Pastern Valgus = The limb deviates out below the pastern.
• Abaxial rotational deviation = Twists out.
• Axial rotational deviation = Twists in.
• Rotation of the hind hoof during break over = “The result of a rotational deviation in the hock joint.”
• Denoix flares laterally = “An outward distortion which may occur on any portion of the hoof wall.” – Millwater’s Farriery

When trimming, I follow the guidelines set forth by Michael Savoldi in trimming to uniform sole thickness. The width of web of the shoe is defined as twice as wide as the wall is thick. To define the wall thickness, measure from the outside of the live sole to the outside of the hoof wall. Traditionally the crease or nail line would be placed in the center of the web of the shoe. This would place the nail line over the white line. Uniform wall thickness on an average saddle horse is 3/8 inch; therefore a ¾ inch width of web shoe would be appropriate. Web width over ¾ would be considered wide web and under ¾ would be narrow web for a horse with a 3/8 inch thick hoof wall. A shoe with wide web would be used for greater protection of the solar surface of the hoof or to reduce traction. When defining thickness of the shoe, consider the weight of the horse, environment, wear, and integrity of the hoof. A thick shoe would be appropriate for a weak hoof, to increase traction for longer wear, or to increase the mechanics of modifications built into the shoe. When defining Shoe type, consider; weight of horse, conformation, condition, environment, rider ability, discipline and management.

A Kerckhaert DF Grand Prix which has a greater width of web laterally was used to allow for the modifications needed. The horse is large and heavy boned, capable of carrying the weight of the shoe The width of web was further increased laterally by extending the crease and setting the lateral heel down toward the inside width of web. The thickest part of the lateral heel of the shoe is under the viable hoof wall. The medial branch width is decreased by grinding. The shoe is perimeter fit to the hoof at uniform wall thickness. Pins are used for traction on the concrete the horse traverses on the way to the arena. It is important to minimize the traction on horses that have rotational deviations within the tarsus – or hock. In attempting to reduce the twisting we would inadvertently create greater stress to the hock. (Photo, above left – Left Hind) The left hind limb is not the same. The abaxial rotational deviation at the hock and the fetlock varus are the same. There is less pastern valgus and no axial rotation from the fetlock down. The medial toe has a tendency to flare. The lateral heel of the hoof is collapsing. Often the lateral heels on horses with this conformation will be painful. This hoof, in extension, travels further under the body and often beyond the midline. The modifications to the shoe on the left hind need to be consistent with the differences in conformation. Because of the differences in hoof conformation we know the stresses to this hoof are not the same as those to the right hind. The medial toe flare is addressed in trimming to uniform wall thickness. Because this hoof extends closer to the midline than the contra lateral limb (right hind) the width of web on the lateral heel needs to be greater than that of the shoe on the right hind. To address the compromised heel, the shoe is set down to the outside of the heel of the shoe. The shoe is fit to the perimeter of the hoof with the thickest part of the lateral heel of the shoe under the viable hoof wall. This lateral heel is fit full. In movement on soft ground the increased width of web will widen the stance. By setting down the outside of the lateral heel we are reducing the impact on the heel during the landing phase. This shoe is historically called a side bone shoe. This conformation increases the chance of formation of side bone. To shoe the horse for the conformation we are being proactive in changing the stresses to the hoof and limb. The medial branch is reduced in width with the grinder. The heel checks are cleaned up by forging and grinder.

The conformation of every limb and every horse must be evaluated before defining the shoes and modifications to be prescribed. I described the guidelines that were used to shoe this individual horse. The variables from one horse to another are great and many factors have to be given consideration. The changes are conservative and adjusted on a regular schedule. I encourage you to closely study the conformation of the horses that you provide hoof care and use the information to help you help the horse.

REFERENCES
Historical references are from The National Museum of Horseshoeing, Sulpher, Oklahoma

This article is from The Natural Angle Volume 16, Issue 1. For more Natural Angle articles and tips, click here.

By Roy Bloom, CJF APF-I

Roy Bloom, CJF APF-I provided us with an opportunity to get some good step by step shots of him forging a plain stamped shoe using 5/16”x3/4” flat stock. Notice that Roy, right-handed, works with his struck tools in line with his center-right side and is not trying to cross-over the shoe. This allows much more controlled use of the tools and allows you to strike the center of the tool in a balanced position. You are likely to get better results in the shoe and also avoid damaging your tool with off balance impact. You can see Roy talking about tool maintenance and forging in videos we have posted on our YouTube channel.

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This article is from The Natural Angle Volume 16, Issue 3. For more Natural Angle articles and tips, click here.