aluminum shoes??

[shoulderin]

Can someone explain the merits and drawbacks of
using an aluminum wedge shoe over a regular steel
shoe with wedge pads?

[FrankLaursen]

Mainly the reason I use aluminum shoes is for weight but there are other benifits too like extra traction if there are flat rocks like shale and so on and last but least is the ability to see where the foot is going by the way shoe is wearing you can see if she breaking over right also as an after thought it is alot easier to work aluminum
but in the other court shoeing with pads and steel has advantages too you can decide what kind and height of pad you want to put on as an example a NB pad with frog support normally the steel shoe is thinner and if shoeing by radio graphs you can get the foot to go where you want it
I have used alot of aluminum shoes and have never had one react to it I know it happens but is very rare in my experience

Frank

[shoulderin]

As an update to my question about aluminum shoes
the following is what I found --

I read the following - alumimun is light so is used
to replace a heavy shoe at times. My horse wears
a size 3 shoe ( nearly a 4) so maybe a size 3 with
a wedge built in might be too heavy in steel? or not?

I read aluminum can cause a foot to sort of rot up
the nail holes and split the hoof at the nail holes becuase
the metal has some bad reaction to the hoof wall - thus
it can make the hoof unhealty -- is that true? If so
what so most people use for wedge shoes that are large
shoes?

I read that aluminum does not support the foot well -
that is is malleable - does this mean the shoe will twist,
distort etc - my farrier seems to think the aluminum will
keep the heels from crushing versus a pad -?? As farriers, what has
been your experience with this?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[shoulderin]

thanks Frank for your reply -
I am glad to hear that you have not experienced the
reaction to aluminum that I was told about (and read about) - you never know how likely it is that problems that
are noted actually occur in the field.

My farrier is worried the wedge pads (they are a rubber type pad) will crush the heels and he is thinking the
aluminum will be less likely to crush the heels -
that is why he is thinking to use aluminum when we
reset. I can't quite see the logic of it myself - seems like
rubber would actually be less likely to crush than aluminum - but maybe not.

[FrankLaursen]

The problem you are refering to is osmossis it is a reaction between Aluminum and Steel and if the conditions are right the nails can weld themselves into the hole and can travel up the nail but I have found you have to leave them there for a long time again in my experience I have not seen alot of issues with this as for the crushing of the heels you can get that to happen with pads or aluminum or steel if the heel is not trimmed properly to begin with it won't matter what you put on even if you used the equithane shoe so it comes down to what he does in the application and prepartion of the foot not the material

Frank

[shoulderin]

Frank -
Yes - I found out that the heels have to be taken
down a lot on an underrun foot - I found that out
the hard way - anyway - my horses foot does have the
proper heel trim now - also we finally got his toes short
enough - He is set up for success by the trim - but
the farrier still says he may not ever grow good heel.
I am hopeful though since he has good horn quality
in general - I had him barefoot for 4 months to
so that we could trim him often to cure his underrun
heel - which we did - it does not run under any more
- new growth is correct - but it is still very very low.

thanks for your conversation ,

[Peggy Dolan]

The issue of aluminum shoes causing a chemical reaction to the hoof wall is a result of the aluminum oxidizing. As a non ferrous metal it does not rust, but the aluminum does break down over time. Moisture and urine can add to the process, but it takes a long time. Sometimes when I pull an aluminum shoe I'll notice a slight, white chalky residue on the foot side of the old shoe. As the tubules of the hoof wall can bring moisture into the foot via osmosis, some speculate that this process may "wick" contaminates into the woof wall as well. My research into the negative biological effects of aluminum oxide lead me to conclude that little danger exists. (Read the first ingredient in your underarm deodorant/antipersirant).

[Mackenzie J.]

Can someone explain the merits and drawbacks of
using an aluminum wedge shoe over a regular steel
shoe with wedge pads?


I'm an owner, not a farrier, but this has been my experience with my horse:

I had mine in a steel shoe with a 3 degree wedge full pad, and he didn't seem comfortable in that package at all. He did not like the amount of pressure that the packing put on his frog. The amount of weight on the foot is also considerable. The first time he was in the package, he bruised his heel on the pad, as the heels were long and underrrun.

I now have him in a aluminum wedge shoe, and he is much happier. He likes the lighter shoe and is more comfortable without the pressure of packing. If I ever needed to use a pad again, I would most certainly use a rim pad instead.

In my environment, which is wet in the fall, winter, and spring, he also got thrushy underneath the full pads.

Hope that helps you with some pros and cons,

Mac :)

[Ronald Aalders]

My trainers weigh 425 grams (15 Oz.) each. I weigh 93 kilo (205 Lbs.)

So the amount of weight of each of my (very light and comfortable) trainers compared to my body weight is 0.456%. That's less than half a percent. Not much right?

A steel horse shoe would weigh approx. 275 grams (9,6 Oz.) Let's say a horse is 500 kilos (1100 Lbs.) that would make the weight of a horse shoe compared to a horse's bodyweight 0.055%. That's roughly 10 times lighter than my trainers!!

Where ever did this (all to common) emphasis on weight of a horse shoe come from? Even with a wedge pad ánd packing the percentage of the weight of that shoe would not exceed the percentual weight of my trainers.



Ronald Aalders

[calshoer]

Mackenzi J , I can probalby explain why your horse got bruised heels and sore in the full wedge pads. The type of foot you describe is a weak one internally(or the heels probably would not have been low and underrun)
1) If a horse has a weak foot he will lack support to his coffin joint internally which will create misalignment and pain in the impar ligament, direcly under the navicular bone and frog. If that is so, frog support is essential to spread the load over the entire rear of the foot and help correct the source of the problem, but the support MUST be gentle enough especially in the beginning to not cause frog *Pressure* as the foot loads. In other words sometimes a frog pad that is flexible creates pressure as the ground pushes up on the pad,into the prolapsed frog . I find that something more stiff without a frog piece on the ground surface works better. .subtle, less direct.The frog can load DOWN onto the pad when weight bearing instead of the pad pushing up. I always hoof test a horse before applying the shoeing and if they are real sore in the middle of the frog I use a less direct support. If the ground is the right kind, I will also just barefoot them for a few days,let the frog reposition in the foot, then come back and shoe with a hard plate to hold it there and they are fine.

2)You stated his heels were long and underrun. No wonder they bruised. Long heels MUST be trimmed back to good straight horn before any shoeing package is applied. Underrun hels wil crushMORE inawedge pad if they are not trimmed back enough. The underrun heels would also certainly contribute to the thrush, due to lack of frog function. I have cleared up a lot of cases of thrush by applying proper heel trimming, changing the breakover point of the foot, and sometimes adding frog support. Even in full pads. Thrush is caused by a lack of frog function, not pads.
3) If he is a weak footed type, (and the feet you describe usually are) probably the reason he is more comfortable for now in the open wedge poackage is that he is not recieving support to the center of his frogs where he is inflammed. BUT in the long term the frogs will prolapse more and create secondary heel and coffin joint problems. Open wedge shoes or wedge rim pads are a temporary fix at best.They do not address the lack of internal hoof support that caused the bone misalignment and pain in the first place.
'There ARE ways to effectively and comfortably support that foot internally through the digital cushion, without causing more pain, and actually address the source of the problems for the long term. I NEVER use rim pads anymore. Patty

[Mackenzie J.]

Patty,

Thank you so much for your feedback. I think you are right on in your assesment. I've actually been having a discussion with Phil about prolapsed frogs and a negative palmar angles over in the balance/clubfoot forum, under high/low syndrome. The whole story on this horse is posted over there, if you're interested.

The hoof packing that the farrier used seemed excess; it oozed out the back of the shoe. I assumed that this pressure was the culprit in making him sore as I suspected lacking internal support. However I never considered that he may need that support, and that there's a way to offer the needed support with a different type of pad. The pad was just a regular rubber wedge pad with another leather pad on the bottom. The packing was pink and white (I think that's the right colors) putty type stuff.

What kind of frog support specifically do you recommend?

His heel is getting much less underrun, and the heels didn't seem to be the problem the last time. It was just the original time that he was heel bruised, when they were very underrun. What would you do to adjust the breakover? Would you rocker/roll the toe to encourage easy breakover and heel growth?

He is a thoroughbred, so has TB feet! You're right on in your assesment, and I appreciate it greatly.

Thank you for your expertise. I will discuss this with my farrier tomorrow.
Mac :)

[calshoer]

There are a couple of ways to get support to the frog and coffin joint without creating "pressure". The dental impression material (the pink and white putty) is a very useful product but needs to be carefully applied in potentially sensitive feet. If you overfill the foot and it sets up before the hof is weight bearing(squashing the impression material enough) , there may be too much under the pad . It should be placed in the trimmed hoof, and a temporary hard flat plate duct taped to the bottom , then the horse can stand on it and load the foot before the material sets up. After it sets the temporaty plate is removed, and any excess should be trimmed out of the foot, or trimmed away in areas that may not tolerate the load. That is the advantage to that material..the farrier can carefully control exactly where it goes under the pad. With the temporary plate taped on, the surface of the imnpression material sets up exactly flat, no lumps or high spots. It is OK when it squashes out the back, it can be trimmed off back there after the shoe is on the foot if there is too much but is doesn't hurt anything. .
As well if a horse with a prolapsed frog is very sensitive to hoof testers, I generally do not use any impression material, nor do I use the flexible frog support pads.
Instead what I do is use a hard plastic plate instead of the pad between the shoe and foot. Instead of impresion material, I fill the foot with soft tarry 'sole pack' .This allows the frog to load onto the hard plate when the horse is weight bearing ,but the frog can spread out as well asbe pushed up because the commisures are filled with softer material. That has worked extremely well for me onthose klind of horses. Even if the frog protrudes a bit below the trimmed heels I nail on the shoe and plate anyway and just squash it back up into the foot. IF there is space alongside the frog filled with soft moveable material, (sole pack) the horses have not gotten sore.
Other gentle ways to supply frog support are filling the shoe to the ground with Equipack or similar. This will hold the frog where it is at that time but sometimes does not help move it back up into the foot where it belongs. Patty