Page 39 - Winter 2020

and wrapped every day for a month. We used a salve that stimulates the injured area to lay down a nice layer of granulation tissue and heal faster. That horse stayed in the Z-bar shoe for 60 days (2 shoeings) and then went back to a regular shoe when he went back into training. It took less than 60 days for that foot to heal up enough so he could train again.”
Norman also uses a regular hospital plate for some injuries, or for a foot with an abscess or keratoma on the bottom of the foot that must be treated. This can protect the bottom
of the foot while still allowing access for regular treatment. “You can keep it clean and doctored, so this is a very important type of therapeutic shoe,” he explains.
For foundered horses, there are many ways to deal with these. “This must be figured out for each horse. We have some basic support mechanisms, but it’s also important to keep the horse quiet and hopefully not over-stress the healthy laminae that’s left. Therapeutic shoes for foundered feet range from Burney Chapman’s heart bars to various other therapeutic shoes with pour-in pads. There are many things that can be used, once you find the comfort zone for that particular horse,” says Norman.
“A Styrofoam cut-out can be a quick fix for
a horse in early stages of laminitis. You can tape that onto the bottom of the foot if you don’t have any other support method. I’ve used 2-inch thick Styrofoam on several cases and put the horse’s feet into ice for the first 24 to 48 hours, and this can halt the damage. When the foot is put into the ice and water, the Styrofoam will compress and conform to the shape of the sole and frog—to give soft support,” he explains.
“Other things that can be used are pour-in pads, but the Styrofoam has worked for me in a pinch when I need something quickly in the earliest stage of laminitis. Styrofoam is a good thing to have in the farrier’s truck; you just cut it out and tape it
on, and then get the horse into ice-water so it will compress—and then think about the next step.”
Often the farrier is the first person to see the horse, and needs to have ways to temporarily
help or support a foot until the veterinarian can help with a treatment plan. “I often have to get some kind of support on that foot that’s going to work for a little while. It can buy us some time
to work out a plan, or to see where this injury or distortion is going in the next 48 hours to a week. At that point we may leave it alone (because the temporary fix is working) or may try something else that might help it better,” he says.
“A first-aid therapeutic shoe or support
is not a cure-all. It’s a band-aid for now, and then we’ll get the horse owner, veterinarian
and farrier together to reassess and come up with a plan for a long-term therapeutic method that will enable that foot or leg to continue healing,” explains Norman.
Sometimes a shoe is used as part of a brace for a limb injury. “I’ve seen shoes where they’ve hooked braces onto the shoe—which may be just a ‘cup’ that the foot rests in. The cup is an aluminum cylinder in the shape of the hoof, attached to the brace so that the hoof and leg can be temporarily stabilized. This may be used for something like a bowed tendon or a shattered sesamoid. You can put the foot into a holding cup and then wrap the brace around the injured leg. This type of support may simply be a first-aid measure to support the limb until you can get the horse to surgery,” he explains.
“All race tracks have these types of braces available in horse ambulances. If a horse pulls up lame during or after a race, that whole leg could be safely supported until we can get to the next step for treatment.” This can be a crucial factor in whether the horse can be safely transported to surgery without further injury.
There are many ways to help with healing that are often used in conjunction with therapeutic trimming/shoeing. “The vibrator
Orthotic shoes can be used for horses with laminitis and can be made of leather and EVA material.
plate is proving to help stimulate hoof growth, for instance, which can be very beneficial for certain injuries or instances where you need to grow new hoof walls,” he says.
A tremendous number of innovative techniques have become available in the past decade. “Glue-on shoes alone have been a big help to a lot of horses. You can support the foot without having to traumatize the hoof wall by driving nails. You can take a weak foot and make it stronger, without the horse missing a day of performance. You can glue on any type of bar shoe you want, for instance.”
Of all the things that have been invented in recent years, not much is really new, except the ability to glue special shoes onto the foot. “The onion shoe that recently became popular was originally made back in the 1700’s. We are just re-inventing many good ideas, but now we have the ability to apply them to the foot without nails. I have been able to help a lot of horses that you could never nail a shoe on, so in my opinion the glue-on shoes have been one of the best innovations.”
Other types Of Bar shOes Include:
This type of special shoe provides heel support and has a square toe.
This custom Bar Shoe relieves pressure from the frog.
Hinged spring shoes can be used for horses with sheared heels.
Heart bar shoes can be used to treat laminitis by giving support to the coffin bone.
A special shoe can be made for bruising on the sole
to relieve.
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