More Pragmatic Farriery

[Tom Stovall, CJF]

History: 11 yo QH barrel horse, unresolved subsolar abcess, vet probed w/o success, horse sensitive to enviornmental pressure, will still yield to thumb pressure at probed area after four weeks.

Problem: Barrel horses can't make any money sitting in the stall, but any concentration of environmental pressure at the probe site results in a very sore horse.

http://www.katyforge.com/terry03.jpg
Trimmed foot, sensitive area marked

http://www.katyforge.com/terry04.jpg
Bubble forged on inner web, horse can be trained
without possibility of environmental pressure

Solution: Headslappingly simple and extremely effective - but very difficult to accomplish with a bare foot. :)

[Gary Hill]

Tom great idea! I have done sort of the same type bubble ,only from the foot side on horses with extremely underrun lateral heels. It isn't a trailer but more of a lateral extension of the shoe using the foot surface of the shoe to create a bubble that is ground side. I get to float the underrun heel abit more using it. Thanks, Gary

[Tom Stovall, CJF]

Gary Hill in gray

Tom great idea! I have done sort of the same type bubble ,only from the foot side on horses with extremely underrun lateral heels. It isn't a trailer but more of a lateral extension of the shoe using the foot surface of the shoe to create a bubble that is ground side. I get to float the underrun heel abit more using it.

I think I stole the idea from the late Bailey Bradshaw, who stole it from Jack Miller, who stole it from somebody else. It works slicker'n snot with wide web aluminum too - if the horse in the picture had been legged up enough to haul, I'd have put the bubble in an Al shoe and bet he'd never take a lame step.

Ain't nothing new under the sun. :)

[Dave Purves]

Nice work Tom, do you worry about sand or gravel getting up underneath your bubble, or do you put something like equipak, or cotton or the like under there to prevent it?

Thanks
Dave

[Tom Stovall, CJF]

Dave Purves in gray

Nice work Tom, do you worry about sand or gravel getting up underneath your bubble, or do you put something like equipak, or cotton or the like under there to prevent it?

If sensitive sole is exposed, I wedge some cotton under the bubble and keep it soaked. You can probably guess what I keep the cotton soaked with. :)

[J.H. shoeing]

Tom
I'll be with Cam on Saturday at the shop, hope to see ya. I like the bubble, if you get into the shop show me how to make it.

[Rick Burten]

So would this be considered either an 'onion toed' shoe or a 'thumbprint at the toe quarter" shoe.

Regardless, its damn nice work.

[Tom Stovall, CJF]

Rick Burten in gray

So would this be considered either an 'onion toed' shoe or a 'thumbprint at the toe quarter" shoe.

Damned if I know - I steal ideas, not nomenclature. :)

On reflection, this barrel horse would be a pefect example to silence any of the BUA crowd who insists that barefoot is better. Before I stuck the bubble shoe on him, if he got any direct pressure on that place where the vet whacked out the divot, he'd be three legged lame for an hour or so until the pain wore off; with the shoe on, you can't make him take a lame step if you lope him across pea gravel.

For a BUA acolyte, owning a horse like this must present a helluva conundrum: Do I adhere to the BUA credo, keep him barefooted, and let my horse hurt - or do I go over to the Dark Side, nail on a shoe, and make him pain free? For me, it'd be kinda tough to keep the faith. :)

[cowboy_bc]

Hi all,

I like this idea where you draw clips on a shoe on the inside and snap a pad in and it's easier to do than you might think.

Kevin

[Bill Adams]

Tom,
Thanks for showing this. I used this idea on a two year old Arab that had it's lateral quarter ground down to blood getting ready for a halter class. I got the idea from the onion heels.

Kevin,
I've used that to help keep Equithane in on an indurance horse. like a charm it worked.

Rick,
The Onion Heel or French Heel has been quite useful to me. However since the curent French government's amneisia of the 1940s, and their lack of suport with international heavy lifting, I refer to that type of modification as "Fredom Heels".
Bill

[e decker]

This is a shoe for after the vet and trainer went looking for abscess on racehorse in training.http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2103449813
This is my first picture post.

[e decker]

Wow it worked,
thanks slow shoe!
E

[smitty88]

der b no stoping y ou now


like to see more farriers post

[Rick Burten]

like to see more farriers post
Here are some pics I took for discussion on another thread with David Gill, et al. That seems to have fallen by the wayside, so perhaps they will serve here.

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m129/RickB_04/

Horse is an 18 year old Arabian stallion working at training level. He came to the new trainer with the owner complaining of the horse being choppy gaited, bracing both through the back and in the left jaw/neck, lack of engagement, and what the owner referred to as 'general disobedience" under saddle.

I'll see this horse Thursday next and will try to remember to report back on any improvements noted by the trainer.

[smitty88]

some difference in both front feet heel angle and toe lenth
the horse had to be going wrong

are they st croix shoes
and how do you find them

i will be surprised if you dont get good news

[Rick Burten]

are they st croix shoes
and how do you find them
They are indeed St. Croix shoes(Eventers). I find them by calling Anvil Brand Shoe Co. and ordering them :) Or by visiting the shop in person(its really pretty close to my home) and saving the shipping charges :).

Or, you can visit the Marketplace on this site and you'll find lots of supply houses that sell the St. Croix shoe line. And many others too.


Edit note: on reflection , I realized that Smitty might not be referring to how I locate and order shoes, but how I feel about the quality, workability and useability of the shoes( another example of how our common language often disunites us).

To that end, I like these shoes real well. I use them all the time and am quite satisfied with the results. Since I work my shoes in the forge, I don't experience problems with shaping or fitting them.

[smitty88]

Rick why would you think the last farrier put that type of shoe
are they them sliders?

if so would the shoe you put on do the same job
i dont know if there sliders just guessing

i only ever seen them on this forum
i know all the other things wrong about his job

just woundering if he chose that type shoe for a reason

[SlowShoe]

Rick,
Where do you get these pads? I cant find them anywhere. Also did you use equipack or IM under the heal bar or anything in this case?

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m129/RickB_04/hi-losyndrome009-1.jpg

-Josh

[Rick Burten]

Rick why would you think the last farrier put that type of shoe
are they them sliders?
They are not sliders, they are (hope you're sitting down) toe weights. I can only imagine that they were installed in a vain attempt to get the horse to better use his front end.
if so would the shoe you put on do the same job
i dont know if there sliders just guessing
I certainly hope/believe that the shoes I put on will do a much better job.
just woundering if he chose that type shoe for a reason
Again, I can only suppose that he was trying to improve the horse's gaits.

[Rick Burten]

Rick,
Where do you get these pads? I cant find them anywhere.
I got them from Anvil Brand Shoe Co, Lexington Ill. Check out the Marketplace here on the FHRC.
Also did you use equipack or IM under the heal bar or anything in this case?
Didn't need to. there was ample, proper contact from the pad itself.

[smitty88]

well i have made many a pair of toe-waited before
they dident look like that

[brian robertson]

Come on Rick. How overdue was that horse's shoe job? Shades of the BUA. Credit is due you on the nice package you installed. But if that beast was showing Country or Show hack couldn't he wear those pads with toe weights?

[Rick Burten]

Come on Rick. How overdue was that horse's shoe job? Shades of the BUA. Credit is due you on the nice package you installed. But if that beast was showing Country or Show hack couldn't he wear those pads with toe weights?
"Shades of the BUA"? I think not.
The horse was 6-7 weeks into his shoeing cycle. I had not seen his feet before, and posted those photos only to show where I started and what I started with(originally, I posted them with regard to a discussion that was going on regarding shoeing the club footed horse). Prior to nailing up my package, I did indeed put the old shoes up against the freshly trimmed feet just to see what it would look like. I'd of taken pictures if I had had just one more hand. regardless, the shoes were not going to get the job done.

And, sure he could wear those pads with toe weights. Thats not the point. the point was that the shoes were inadequate, poorly fitted and contributing to the problems the rider was experiencing with the horse.

But if you are asking me if the horse could have correctly worn the pads with those toe weights, then the answer is a definate, NO.

[Tom Stovall, CJF]

Rick Burten in gray

Here are some pics I took for discussion on another thread with David Gill, et al. That seems to have fallen by the wayside, so perhaps they will serve here.

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m129/RickB_04/

Horse is an 18 year old Arabian stallion working at training level. He came to the new trainer with the owner complaining of the horse being choppy gaited, bracing both through the back and in the left jaw/neck, lack of engagement, and what the owner referred to as 'general disobedience" under saddle.

I'll see this horse Thursday next and will try to remember to report back on any improvements noted by the trainer.

I'll make book the horse moves more evenly and much more freely at liberty. (I know, it's a sucker bet - but maybe some well-heeled passing BUAista will insist the beast would be better off barefooted.)

VERY nice work.