Horseshoes: more than a good-luck solution

By Marty Metzger
Correspondent

There's truth behind this old saying--"No foot, no horse"--and the implications can be devastating to a horse and frustrating and expensive for its owner.

Certainly, preventive care is preferable. However, disease, unsoundness and inheriting someone else's problem require other fixes. Corrective shoeing gives farriers, like Kevin Speer of K&D Horseshoeing, many sundry solutions to offer concerned customers.

The most frequently used corrective plates, bar shoes, are so-called for the piece that runs horizontally across the base. Horses that suffer from navicular disease, have undergone hoof reconstructions, or have genetically inferior feet unable to support their weight benefit from bar shoes, said Speer.

He described egg bar shoes as similar. Some of these are wedged, being narrower at the toe than the heel.

An infrequently used shoe, Speer said, is the heart bar. A steel piece that applies pressure to the frog is adjusted by simply hammering it up or down. Although some veterinarians prescribe it to possibly promote heel growth, improper application can easily lame a horse.

Extended heel shoes, which resemble slider plates worn by reining horses, can be forged into various bar shoes.

Stubborn abscesses can be helped by use of a treatment plate, also called hospital plate. This one features an attachment that easily screws on and off, or a centerpiece that can be popped off to treat the abscess.

Speer said that a modified, or rolled, toe shoe benefits a foundered equine or one with navicular by giving it a better break-over, thereby easing pressure on tendons.

If a horse has been trimmed too short to hold a shoe, or even stand comfortably, glue shoes might be the answer until the hoof grows out. Speer uses a product called Super Fast, by Vet Tec. He runs a bead onto the hoof to serve as a shoe; this substance can also attach a metal plate to the hoof without nails.

Pads, used between hoof and shoe, help tender-footed horses. Types of pads, including wedge, rim and frog support, are available in leather or plastic. Snowball pads pop snow out of shoes, thus aiding traction.

To draw soreness out of feet, hoof packing often does the trick. Two brands that Speer uses are Forshners and Magic Cushion. Both formulas incorporate the healing properties of peat moss, pine tar and turpentine. Another packing by Vet Tec is similar to dental impression material. It's available in soft or hard consistencies that squirt in.

Instead of wearing them, some horses seem to excel at throwing horseshoes. Clips put the kibosh on that expensive game. They can be forged or added anywhere onto a regular shoe. Clips are also used if hooves have chips, are shelly or structurally inferior. If chips are large or deep, said Speer, they can be filled with acrylic.

All horses need traction, of course, but for some riding disciplines it's more imperative. Endurance horses' shoes, for example, often include screw-in studs. These are longer lasting than borium, which is a substance applied with heat to the bottom of shoes. Some show Saddlebreds' shoes are weighted with borium to aid traction and action.

Speer admits that corrective shoes are not always a guaranteed remedy for foot or leg maladies.

"Shoeing is a subjective science," he said. "What works on one horse might not on another."

He recommends "Principles of Horseshoeing," a comprehensive book about shoeing by Doug Butler, for good information on the subject.

For area horse owners in search of a farrier, Speer suggests a call to 287 Supply in Fort Collins, where a list of shoers is maintained. For mail-order farrier supplies, visit the web site of a Berthoud business at www.oleoacresfarriersupply.com.

Anyone interested in learning to shoe horses should consider a yearlong course at Colorado State University.

Will H. Ogilvie wrote:

"The hooves of the horses!
- Oh! Witching and sweet
Is the music earth steals from the iron-shod feet;
No whisper of lover, no trilling of bird,
Can stir me as hooves of the horses have stirred."
Thanks to modern shoeing technology, owners can keep their horses' lovely music sweetly playing for a lifetime.