Cytek shoes

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nat_a_528

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Hi guys

Just has cyteks put on my Tb mare!
Since having them done I have heard nothing but negative things about them.

Does anyone have any advice ,exoeriences or opinions on them ?
ARe they ok or should I have them taken off??

Thanks
 
I've had no direct experience of these but a friend of mine had a shocking experience using them. She isn't on here unfortunately otherwise I'd point her in your direction.

Was there a particular reason you went for Cytek rather than conventional shoeing?

Would stress again I'm not Cytek bashing as know nothing about it, other than having seen first hand the shocking state of my friends horse when he came out of them.
 
It says something when the man who came up with the concept wont even fit them no more he has gone back to rimmed shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!
They are not a everyday shoe even though there are some farriers who think they are!!!
 
Ok now im really worried the guy who fitted them said they last longer and are better as reduce flare and spread the weight evenly across the hoof rather than just the wall!
 
My only knowledge/experience of these cytek things was a friend had them for a VERY short while after his, then, farrier suggested it'd be a fantastic idea. So they tried it on one horse. Well his horses work for a living (weddings/filming) etc so are out in the lorry several times a week. The horse found it awkward to get up the ramp as there is no toe to grip onto the ramp. I dont think he ever fell flat on his face cos of this but evenso - not the best of inventions.........
 
nat_a_528 said:
Ok now im really worried the guy who fitted them said they last longer and are better as reduce flare and spread the weight evenly across the hoof rather than just the wall!
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Mmmmmm, sorry but certainly wasn't the case with my friends horse. I wish she would join and show you the photos of her horse after Cytex shoes. One foot in particular looked cloven because of the horrendous amount of flare. It got infected and he had to have a huge re-section of his foot. This is not scaremongering, it is fact.
 
I've never used them myself as didn't like the idea. But I know a few people who had them put on there horses when they first came out and none of the horses were sound with them on, it took a while for them to come right when normal shoes were put back on. They are nothing but trouble as far as i'm concerned. Sorry :( but i'd get them off ASAP.
 
I have used them in the past, put on by a trained and much respected farrier. They did make an improvement to the horse I used them on but they were not a long term plan, more of a remedial shoe in the way that we used them.

I certainly never had any problems with them when they were on but I do understand that there is an awful lot of opposition to them.
 
I've never heard a good report about them or seen a horse benefit so far, but perhaps an HHO farrier would like to comment? :)
 
I had them on Henry very briefly, years ago. Can't comment on damage to feet as he only went one cycle and I had to remove them myself as the farrier involved had some 'issues' of his own (not connected to me!), so never had them fitted again. I can report though that Henry slid all over the place with them on. They were goddam awful on the roads!!
 
I used them before, years ago. The reason I switched was because I was in my teens and did whatever the dressage trainer at my yard told me to. She switched her horses to cytek. The regular shoes farrier was being crap - late and stuff and not very nice to my horse so I asked her who else to use - she told me to use the cytek guy, so I did. He shod my horse for regular shoes for about two years and she was absolutely fine and stayed perfectly sound in them.
Then my horse went out on loan and moved out of the area. There was no cytek farrier in loaner's area so she went back into regular shoes. She stayed perfectly sound. Now I have the horse back and she is still in regular shoes and fine. My understanding of cytek (not very deep, and quoted almost entirely from my own farrier) is that it was just a fad. I don't think that dressage trainer's horses are in cytek shoes any more, out of interest.
 
A friend of mine had them on her horse. Vet recommended she replaced them with traditional shoes. My (excellent) farrier has nothing good to say about them.

Sorry!
 
Um.... oh.... er.... ah

My Old boy had them on when I got him in 2003, the owners had them fitted as he was a last chance saloon due to a broken pedal bone in both fronts. They too were told that the shoes lasted longer, and therefore could extend the shoeing intervals to 3 monthly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MMMM...... I inherited a horse with a broken hoof axis, with collapsed heals, long toes and all the other associated problems that these bring. And funny shaped feet where they had been made to fit the shoes and an incorrect breakover. I was given the number for a cytek farrier and he couldn't come for another 6 weeks.... funnily enough I ended up using the yard farrier. Sadly the damage was done, and we could never correct the damage that these shoes had done. My boy spend the last years of his life with me in horsetrax pads and bar shoes.

My inital thought was that cytek shoes are good as a remedial shoe, however since getting older, wiser and doing a lot more research I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole, and if I needed to look at that type of shoeing I would seriously look at natural balance.
 
CrazyFriesian said:
DO NOT USE THEM!!! HAVE THEM TAKEN OFF! You are buying yourself a whole load of trouble!!! If you want to know the details PM me. I have first hand experience from the top man himself...
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I, too, have had first hand experience from the top man.

I am very happy with his sincerity, committment and care for my horses.
They are both sounder in gait, stride and posture since being shod with cytek.
I know of several people who are equally satisfied and who have horses that are now pain free and sound.

Maybe you didn't get "the top man" after all. Also why so secretive - can't you post your opinions here?
 
just as a matter of interest , exactly which farrier " invented " the cytec shoe, and what is this patent you talk about ? another, who is the head farrier you have not named ? how many countries have published written official warnings about the practice of cytec shoeing ?
chris
 
nat_a_528 said:
Hi guys

Just has cyteks put on my Tb mare!
Since having them done I have heard nothing but negative things about them.

Does anyone have any advice ,exoeriences or opinions on them ?
ARe they ok or should I have them taken off??

Thanks
Click to expand...

I have no personal experience and dont know anything about theses shoes. However if I were you I would ask your farrier why he has chosen to shoe your horse with them and what he thinks the benefits are for your horse. Do it with the horse in front of you both.

Make sure any positive reasons are for your individual horse, not positive things about the actual shoes themselves- there is a difference.

Then you can do more homework because you will know why your horse has been shod that way. Just because something works/doesn't work for one horse doesn't mean that will be the same for another.

If the reasons don't make sense then take them off!
 
Have nothing but preaise for the original Cytek shoes.... saved the life of one horse that went on to a considerable sum showjumping. Used them on several horses in all.

A later version which was made available in 2004/5 I didn't like as it caused thrush in one TB and I had them removed.
 
Agree with others who have said these shoes are nothing but trouble.

The 'top man' of Cytek appears quite blatant in his "this concept is going to make me a millionaire" comments, frankly anyone who has that attitude towards a shoeing concept he came up with is clearly not doing it with the horse's interests at heart. He can also talk the arse end off a donkey when it comes to bleating on about Cytek's advantages, I think a bit like Parelli he beats people down with his rhetoric!

Ghastly man ghastly shoes IMO.
 
mossolb said:
I, too, have had first hand experience from the top man.

I am very happy with his sincerity, committment and care for my horses.
They are both sounder in gait, stride and posture since being shod with cytek.
I know of several people who are equally satisfied and who have horses that are now pain free and sound.

Maybe you didn't get "the top man" after all. Also why so secretive - can't you post your opinions here?
Click to expand...

Sounder shouldn't really be the aim of shoeing, sound should be.


I have no personal experience of cytek but have read up a little and hate the idea of shaping the hoof to the shoe, sounds far too much like strassur's every foot should be the same blurb. If every horse had ideal conformation it may work, but they don't. I have a pony who is very upright, though his shoulders right to his feet, they are angularly perfect for his conformation. A farrier tried to give him "perfect" feet once, the pony was crippled and it took a long time time to get him right again.
A set hoof shape is always going to be a huge no in my book whether from a shoeing system or a barefoot system.
 
ferrador said:
just as a matter of interest , exactly which farrier " invented " the cytec shoe, and what is this patent you talk about ? another, who is the head farrier you have not named ? how many countries have published written official warnings about the practice of cytec shoeing ?
chris
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I think you must be confused. My original post was in response to "crazyhorse" who referred to the "top man". I didn't mention a head farrier nor a patent.
I don't know the answer to your last question but I am sure you can find out if you do a bit of research as I did.
 
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