Here is an application of Horseshoes Unlimited's leather/plastic pad.


This horse has some type of ulceration in the foot. Probally an old Street Nail issue that was not care for right away. That foot is a mess and a culture has been taken to see the makeup.

But I shod the good foot using a Full Wedge Pad with the leather against the foot along with an Eggbar. The "Good" foot had abscessed, distorted, thrushy and flat.
So I needed to treat multiple issues on that foot. The pad being a combination of leather and plastic gave me options.
- Leather side against the foot was treated with sole toughner and Thrush Magic. The leather absorbed the toughner and is be able to leach out over time; The porosity of the leather will hold the throush Magic also to treat thrush make the enviroment under the pad aerobic.
- Plastic side was wedged to help the lower leg and breakover of the "Good" foot due to overload from the Ulcerated/Injured foot. The eggbar used for suport under the leg but the plastic is rigid enough not to collaspe over time like a "regular" leather wedge pad.

I like the pad for a multi-use tool; one is not overloaded with pad inventory for each malady.

Here are a few pics:

Ulcerated/Injured Foot

Here is the "Good Foot"

Here is the pad and shoe

The applied shoe

The Logo


Thanks Ray!!!!!!!!!!!

Jaye,
Interesting pad. What packing if any was applied under the pad? Does the thrush meds and toughner soak into the leather immediately or does it need to soak in the solution for a period of time?
You said this might be a "old street nail issue", could you explain what that is please?
What is a culture taken for? and why?
Thank you.


Andrew Grimm

Innovative to say the least
Just plain 4x4 cotton gauze, it breaths.



The sole toughner soak into the pad immediately. The Thrush Magic is painted on after the toughner onto the pad.
"old street nail issue"- it is whne the horse steps on a roofing nail or drywall screw and goes deep enough the nick or puncture the DDFT and or the periosteum of P3 and or the navicular bone. It soon becomes infected and is a ***** to deal with. With a realtively new proceedure of infusion of antibiotic by the vets better luck has been had with this injury.


Sometimes cultures or samples are taken of a wound that is not healing to reveal the exact tpye of infection and or bateria that is present. These results give the vets a better assement of how to treat the wound.

Jaye,
Thank you for the explanations.
Why wouldn't a hospital plate be used in a case like this?
You've treated the foot and when the results of the culture comes back then the vet will prescibe the drugs to take care of the infection. Is that correct? Thank you.


Andrew Grimm

It probally will, but you have to isolate the bactrium and dry out the hole.


Probally debride the hole some more, do an infusion and then shoe the foot after results are given.

Jay:
In the past when I just used 4x4 cotton gauges pads under pads they had the tendency to move between shoeing and would ball up. In sandy soil there is a real problem with this especially if it is wet. The leather pad (alone) will swell and contract with different amounts of moisture allowing the packing to move. The best results I have had under a leather pad or any pad for that matter other than synthetic packing is oakum with either a medicated hoof pack or some type of pine tar. If properly applied, the oakum will look the same as it did when the shoe was applied. In this case I wonder if a support packing may be necessary due to the fact that the other hoof does not look like it is weight bearing. And I do not understand why the wait on the hospital plate on the bad hoof?

I usually do not apply 4x4 under leather, cotton sole felt.The horse is stall bound.

I like Thrush Magic, it creates an aerobic enviroment under a leather pad. This pad is plastic/ leather combination.



The horse is weight bearing in the "Good" foot.



.Waiting for results of tissue culture and the "Bad" foot has been Dry packed and wrapped.

Jay
That explains a lot in the picture it looked as though the horse was not weight bearing on the bad hoof. Do the Vet’s use a tourniquet while infusing the hoof and how many times will they do it? I have a yearling that I am working on that needed the front of its coffin bone s****ed due to infection and they will infuse it and a hospital plate will be applied. We waited to apply the shoe due to the fact that the shoe would cover the area necessary to clear out the infection. I was wondering if there may be any benefit to waiting and if so with the tissue results will there be a different application in your case?

Not fully weight bearing but the injury sight is well recessed up in the foot. He hold the heel off the ground at rest, thus I believe pressure from inflamed corium or a nicked tendon sheath is a culprit.



It will depend on the extent of the infection of how many time they will infuse. The tourniquet is used above the infusion point(S).


Same deal with the one posted here. The cultures will pin-point the bacterium so aggressive treatment with a select antibiotic can be used.






.Hospital plate application will be used because of the durability and ease of treatments to the bottom of the foot for the owner. I use a Dry pack and wrap, a powdered broad spectrum antibiotic, elasticon and gauzes. This gives the site an opportunity to breath per say while waiting for results.
A couple days wait for results of the tests can be beneficial in this case because of the vertical depth of the sole, yours maybe totally different.