Show us your handmades

Zach I don't use much plain stamp shoes on my round
but this case I think the combination helped

12 inches of 1 X 3/8 aluminum. I'll post pics when I put them on the horse in couple of months.

Nice work, Rick

What is the issue that the bananas are for?

Thin soles, heel pain, possible NPA. The owners won't spring for a vet, and I already tried pads, with little success. No signs of laminitis. I'm going to add a small wedge and soft frog support. Unless something changes my mind between now and then.

Regards

silly question i suppose but what is the point of making a rocker shoe and then putting on a wedge ?

No

Not silly at all Chris, I struggle with it myself. The wedge will be very small, and the will get more of a rocker when it goes on the horse. If the horse has NPA, the wedge will help with that, and the banana will help him position himself where he is most comfortable when standing, as well as give him some relief on landing and break over, I'm hoping. If I could see a radiograph, I might change my approach to this, but it is an effort to find something to make the horse as comfortable as possible. I doubt that he will ever be "sound", but he belongs to a 10 year old girl that loves him. I like him too. They bought him in this condition. I shod the horse for about 6 years, and he was never lame before, and then he got sold. When I saw him again a little over a year later, he could hardly walk. I used to put a size 2 shoe on him, now a size 1 is a little big. My assumption was that he had just been cut too short, so I put a shoe on (no charge) and used Equipak. Made no difference what so ever. He does show slight reaction to hoof testers at the heels, none anywhere else. From all outward appearances, the HPA and hoof look fine, better than a lot of horses.

Regards

Rick, with a horse like this, it may help to add a rim pad cut a bit narrower that the width of the web. Its interesting that since the horse is thin soled(how was that determined?),there is no reaction to hoof testers other than at the heels(how about on the frog?). Just to be on the safe side, I'd recommend Durasole use to the owners. I think the banana shoe is a good approach though I would also consider adding a center(aka hidden) bar to the package with its location being set below the navicular bone.

Rick,

I can move the sole with the hoof testers, he just doesn't flinch. I'm assuming thin sole because of the reduction in hoof size. The Durasole is a good idea.. I'm not sure what a hidden bar is on a shoe. I'm thinking he may not like a lot of frog pressure, if the rear of the foot has been compromised, hence the soft frog support, but I'm just guessing. What is your thought regarding the need for the hidden bar? I'm really open to suggestions on this one. Thanks.

Regards

Rick,

Being able to flex the sole with hoof testers is not, in an of itself indicative of thin soles.Is the horse 'flat soled' or does he have some concavity? The hidden bar can provide support and protection for the navicular bone and the back half of the DIPJ. How did the horse react when you used the hoof testers on the frog? If he was reactive, was it in a specific spot or over the entire frog? Did the horse react when the testers were placed on the wall back by the heels and squeezed such that the back of the hoof was compressed? To what do you attribute the hoof size decrease and has its size improved at all since you took over the hoof care? A hidden bar is a bar amended to the shoe, between the branches at the location above which is found the navicular bone.

The hoof is being left longer, so the size has been increased slightly, and the sole has hardly been touched since I started doing the horse again. There is some concavity. I attribute the size decrease to over trimming. The only place I get a reaction from hoof testers is when I put them heel to heel. I actually suspect this is more of an "articular" lameness than anything else, because the horse is not reluctant to stand on either hoof when I'm working on the other, but I'm not ruling out anything. If you just looked at the angles and hoof, you wouldn't think that anything was amiss, but when he walks, he takes short quick steps with both fronts, like a laminitic, or a horse with heel pain. When he stands, he stands square.

Regards

Rick S.

Post 102 in "had a lame one today". The middle bar would be a false bar. Moving it back under/below nav area may help. Bar has also been called a navicular bar.

Be interested to see pics of foot, esp heels and back of frog.

Smaller foot size may be due to loading differently over time.

Thanks Clint.

Regards

Very cool, David.

Regards

Nice one David. What section did you start with and what was it when you finished the shoe.
Thanks

I like your creativity . for some reason i thought you would need something like 14mm bar to end up with that shoe.