This horse had numerous bouts of laminitis and had necrotic tissue at the toe. During previous care, the pad was mistakenly placed in front of the toe to protect the hoof wall from fracture. This treatment caused the long toe condition to worsen. The long toe created resistance for breakover and caused stretching of laminae tissue at the toe and crushing of the heels. He was very lame.

This was remedied by removing the necrotic tissue at the toe and setting the shoe farther back toward the heel, ensuring the shoe covered the complete circumference of the foot. The outcome was a very sound, very comfortable and a rideable horse.

This horse was lame on the right-front hoof and x-rays revealed slight bone changes. The right-front hoof was also club-footed. It appeared that this hoof was too small to bear the horses weight and ground forces.

I chose to use the Soundhorse Technology horseshoe because I needed a non-invasive shoe attachment. It uses a two-part fabric material which is bonded to the hoof with Equilox adhesive. This shoe also features a urethane rimpad which dampens and soften ground reactive forces.

This is a thoroughbred. The quality of both hooves was very poor and at the point of deterioration. Both hooves were sore and lameness was pronounced. The horse was reluctant to move forward. The white hoof is club footed and one size smaller than the black hoof which is asymetrical, flat and thinly soled.

I shod both hooves, each with a different size shoe using colored adhesive to match the hoof color. There was a profound restoration of soundness as soon as the shoes were glued on.

This horse had a brittle hoof due to dehydration and a significantly bruised sole.

The sole needed daily repacking with medication. I fabricated an aluminum, removeable hospital plate with a soft leather rim pad.

This type of shoe is used when additional protection of the back (caudal) section of the hoof is required. This is often the case with arthritis, bone injuries and soft tissue injuries. This shoe can also stimulate hoof blood circulation by slightly compressing the frog with each step.

Commercial shoes with this design are available and I also fabricate heart bar shoes to custom fit a hoof.

Both front hooves had repetive sole soreness which developed into Pedal Osteitis, a reactive inflamation of the Solar Margin of the Coffin Bone or Distal Phalanx and demineralizing of the bone margin. It was treated with an aluminum Heart Bar with mesh as an anchor for injectable urethane filler which protects, cushions and diminishes ground reactive forces. These photos show two stages of treatment.

This is a synthetic, dampening, protective show that is glued directly on the hoof with an Equilox acrylic adhesive. The shoe is first warmed with a heat gun and then shaped by hand to match the contour of the hoof. The hoof is trimmed in the conventional manner. The adhesive is applied to the shoe which is then attached to the hoof. The adhesive cures to weight-bearing condition in 10 -15 minutes. Shoe retention is 5 to 7 weeks.

This is a pacer with a right front foot that is club-footed. It has a high degree of hoof wall to postern axis angle of approximately 60 degrees. I believe this was congenital rather than injury related.

He was shod with a wide web, set back shoe. Trimming and shoe placement was the key to long-term soundness for this horse. Holding a file next the hoof illustrates the 'dishing' of the hoof caused by a long toe with accompanied descending weight load over the hoof. This also creates resistance to normal breakover at the toe region.

Once shod properly, the distortion is removed and balance is restored.

This is a jumper with hind foot lameness. The horse suffered from an anatomy-related deficit. While standing he had a broken back angle and a long posterior, hyper- extended fetlock joint. He also had crushed heels, underrun hooves, thin soles and shelly walls. He was previously furnished with wedge degree pads, eggbar shoes and shod to the underrun heel length.

My immediate goal was to stabilize the hoof capsule and encourage hoof balance and symmetry. The hoof needed to be protected by trimming the excessive toe length and leaving sole depth. The horse was shod with wide web, perimeter fit shoe that was set back slightly. This extended the heel 1-1/2 times longer, shifting the balance fulcrum to the shoe and not for the foot to endure. The horse is now sound, jumping and being ridden daily.

This was a barefoot referral. The owner had reported that one front hoof had two small chips. When viewed from the bottom, there was a gaping hole. The gap would fill up with stabling and paddock debris and never grow down normally. The horse had been maintained for 1-1/2 years by someone who was not a farrier but had taken a two week course on Natural Hoof Trimming.

It was evident the horse had White Line Disease. This is a destructive fungal/bacterial condition. These pathogens are readily found in all horse environments.

The affected area of the hoof wall was removed. The horse was shod with a heart bar shoe and a cushioning leather pad, and the site was medically irrigated.

To correct this problem I removed the affected hoof and pared down to healthy hoof wall. I then soaked the hoof in disinfectant.

The owner declined on opting for Snowball Pads, until the horse came in from turnout like this daily.

This horse had acute inflammation or bruising to the knee joint, carpitis involving the tendon that runs over the front of the knee. This can be caused by repetitive blows to the knee as with a stall door kicker, or stress from overwork or from poor conformation.

I forged a Rocker Toe shoe which eases breakover and decreases fatigue and torque on the joints.