I am asking for ideas about polo hind feet caulks and wedges.

I am trying out some modifications of standard st croix polo lite shoes.

I have made a few modifications to go from a standard keg shoe to a wedge and caulk similar to what you find with a roadster.

The standard St Croix lite shoe offers a compromise heel wedge, it either fits medial or lateral. Every shoe the same.

Being that the lateral heel pushes off different from medial would a shape variance be worthwhile?.

I bumped a heel wedge and caulk for a st croix hind #2 lite did this and have made a size #2 into an exact size #1, saved half an ounce in weight, increased cover, got a stronger shoe.

Looking at the roadster mechanics obviously, medial and lateral caulk size and shape is a variance that is considered in the making of a hind traction shoe. This being a time old fact.

I have compared my modifucation to a standard shoe and you cannot get the width to the lateral caulk from the standard shoe, material it isn't there.

As Med/Lat balance is so critical for these performance horses to obtain a balanced propulsion, should we consider a compromise caulk as OK or simply modify a size larger shoe and even up the lateral push off??.

If not, then why the is a time old roadster heel design a proven existence for an aid for improving traction?.

I want to imporve my polo shoeing technique. I know there little financial room for tacking on too much work with this work, but taking a horse up a notch in the string is possible, that makes me happier as a farrier.

With thanks,

Paddy Falvey CF
paddysforge.com

Paddy,
Depending on where you are you need to be a little careful about the rulebook.
Here in USA it needs to be plain heel calks by the rules.

Having said that I'll agree that there are some things you can do to improve some of them a bit. One is to heat and hammer the lateral calk to draw it up a bit to make for a little more lateral bite.

Before the rules changed most American polo ponies were shod with a lateral plain calk and a medial diamond calk. This is illustrated in the Army Manual. Was I'd believe to be the best way to shoe one of them and have no idea why the rules were changed. Anvilsteve where are you on this one?
George

Hello George,

Do you have a diagram / shoe showing the army manual modifications?. I read about the diamond caulk, - medial - whats that??, I cannot find any images of what that is. Could you put a simple shoe together for me please. I'd certainly appreciate some wisdom. Army regs are good for me.

I'm in Florida. The sand and abrasive swamp place. It's winter polo season and time for getting into a new approach.

I'm not trying to push the rules out ofcourse. I'm concerned about the traction variance between medial and lateral caulks from a standard shoe to a small modification. Aim to balance the medial/ lateral push off issue to help the horse counter his bearings, like an atlhetle pushes off outside.

I totally agree that you cannot push the rules out of touch. Do the rules apply to a non-modification of a keg shoe - I think not.

I'm trying to balance an equation between medial and lateral traction. I think medial less, lateral more substantive is a basis for stability.

Has anybody has tried any modification within the limits and how they have got on with this approach?.

Many thanks,

I shod only polo horses for many years all over the country. I have tried several heel mods of the sort your thinking. In regards to the shoeing "rules", the USPA blue book states, "Shoes with an outer rim, toe grab, screws or frost nails are not allowed. Dull heel calks of the standard type are allowed only on the heels of the hind shoes." That said, I grew up playing polo, and played all over the states for 14 years. Never, have I ever seen an issue arise where-in a horse's shoeing was called into question or examined by an umpire. Just don't forge anything too sharp to be dangerous to other horses when they come into contact and you should be fine. If the fields are good quality with strong healthy turf then I would be looking to modify the heel calks for less traction rather than more. The strong rooted grass may not give as the horse pivots or stops hard, result being sheared off shoes or shoes shifting during the shoeing interval. This is not much of a problem with the slower low goal horses, but I got to where I would put clips on the hinds of any medium to high goal ponies to prevent this shifting and preserve wall strength and quality. I would dull the calks a little sometimes via hammer or grinder on some horses to prevent torque on the joints.

PaddyFalvey wrote:Sorry to say no I don't have a photo so I'll try to articulate it best I can. I made one for the AFA test back when I took it and they passed it. Essentially what you do is forge a swelled heel first. Then work it over the step of your anvil to form it in the shape of a pyramid. If you do a lot of them you can make a mold to just beat it into.

In this shape the effect it gives is side to side stability but front to back give. This helps horses that spin and pivot a lot like ponies do.

if you can get a copy of the Army manual there is a drawing of one in there.
George

Paddy here is a mod on a keg you can have the caulk or wedge as to the size
you like.

when i shod polos over here i made a caulk and feather

What George said reminded me of another heel mod thats simple to do with a heeled shoe. Bob Skradzio showed me this as a traction device that I could use for the AFA exam. If your anvil has a groove across the face as some do, you can just place the heated heel calk over the groove and hammer it into it, a little dressing up, and it looks like brazed on "blade" jar calks. Also heard them called hunter calks. Gives lateral stability while lessening the "stick" during the slide phase. I tried to find a photo example on the net but this is the best I found, they come out looking along the lines of this photo and its easy to do with a st croix heeled shoe.

Or paddy you could run up a few pair thats what i would do

2 heats the wedge and 2 heats the caulk

Hey Guys-
As far as polo hinds are concerned-Don't make it more work then it needs to be. Up untill last year, before I started working at Cornell, I shod about 100 outdoor polo horses every summer. I have also maintained my own personal string for the last 35 years. I use St. Croix Lite Heeled or St. Croix Lite heeled hinds at this point. I do very little modifications to them except for making toe or side clips as to what ever the hooves need. I do sometimes partially grind down the inside heel for base narrow horses. The larger heels illustrated above are a 2 edge sword; they may provide extra traction but can be leg breakers on hard fields as in spiral fractures, personal experience on that one. Field conditions vary in the northeast. WE can start wet and deep and 2 weeks later become hard, so a forged up heel can be dangerous.

I have no problem galluping my horses on most any field conditions with standard factory heel calks, so I can't see doing much extra work especially on 100 pair. When I shod high goal players' horses in Wellington, FL, we used to forge up the heels on the old Diamond Saddle Lite Heeled shoes. The high goal pros wanted this and the Florida turf was soft and consistant. That was bending the rules. This was so they could make hard turns at race horse speed and not go down, most non pro players aren't going to do that.

I did a "Shoeing Polo Horses" presentation at the 2010 Hoof Care Summitt, where I covered all this in more detail, still have it on Power Point if anyone is interested.

Hope this helps,

Steve Kraus, CJF

Steve
I would like to see or have a copy of the power point. Would you be willing to send me a copy?

I would like to see that also Steve. Let me know if a copy can somehow be bought.

I don't shoe any polo horses, never even touched one, but I'd like too see your presentation as well, Steve.

Post it here so we can all see it??

I use to shoe 200 polos on a farm all got shod with heel and feather (caulk) behind

for 8 years never had any problems

maybe its different over here

Thankyou very much gentlemen for the great advice and insight, photos.


thanks again everybody,

Paddy Falvey CF