Imprint plastic horse shoes

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lacey111

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Anyone have any experience of these? Running out of options for my friends horse who is currently walking on his soles due to the hoof wall not growing enough to nail shoes too :-(, now on box rest until we can find someone who can fit these, looking for someone who can fit these shoes near Matlock.

Also any ideas on cost? just looking to have 2 front shoes done ASAP!

Cheers everyone!
 
Have you considered hoof boots? They would allow the hoof some stimulation - without which they will barely grow - but would protect the sole if you are concered about soreness. If the horse isn't sore on his feet then I would turn out. Working hooves with turnout/ridden or in hand work (along with keeping an eye on the diet) is the best thing for strong growing hooves.
 
Great shoes!
But must be fitted by the right farrier!
mine cost me £60 a hoof...(shetland) and they cant be reused! he just had them on his fronts.
a fellow livery used them... when her mare had lami... her farrier tried reusing them a few times... the mare ended up being PTS and i am convinced the farrier trying to reuse them really made matters worse.
i am sure the imprint company could advise you on who fits them in your area.
 
very expensive, over £100 a pair, get your vet to recomend a farrier for them. agree with glossgirl try hoof boots! my tb was going to have imprint shoes as he kept pulling his front shoes off and pulling his feet apart so there was nothing to nail on to. we decided against it in the end as we couldnt see how he was pulling his shoes off. (no ovbious sign to the foot or shoe to say what he was doing to pull them off) when they have imprint shoes on the foot is rasped alot into shape then they shoes are put on, if they pull these off they will damage to foot even more and they will not be able to go back on. i decided the barefoot option in the end and im glad i did. i bought my cavallo boots for £80
 
Hoof boots didnt come in a size big enough to fit Solo, so we had to try a couple of different things when in the same situation. Solo didnt grow any foot, well maybe once a year and was a bugger for taking them off due to little or hardly no wall.

We started by using Equicast http://www.equicast.co.uk/home.html which is a very viable solution if you have a farrier near you to fit it. Its a fibre glass tape that strengthens and replaces the hoof wall, so you can attach the shoe to that instead. Unfort my very special 18.1 horse could take these off like slippers, if the mood was right, although the gentleman that runs the importing said it was impossible.

We tried imprint shoes next just as a whim, with the thought that with no nails at all, the hoof could be left alone by bacteria. Luckily the largest size just fit! and on they went. Quite tricky to start with and took 3 hours!!! But they were a godsend!!!

This was the only time we constantly managed to trim some foot off between shoeing and we even got it up to 6 weeks! (prev the longest he had gone was 2 weeks!) He had real feet again!!

I would recommend them whole heatedly x
 
lacey111 said:
Anyone have any experience of these? Running out of options for my friends horse who is currently walking on his soles due to the hoof wall not growing enough to nail shoes too :-(, now on box rest until we can find someone who can fit these, looking for someone who can fit these shoes near Matlock.

Also any ideas on cost? just looking to have 2 front shoes done ASAP!

Cheers everyone!
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Imprints will cover up the problem but they won't fix it. How much past the sole are you expecting the hoof wall to grow? Is the sole completely flat/thin?

Sounds like there are issues that need addressing that can't be fixed by shoes.
 
i used Imprints on my mare for months, they cost an absolute fortune and in retrospect it was totally wasted money. they never stayed on more than 4 weeks per shoe, cost £50 per shoe to replace. With the last set she had, 1 stayed on 1 week before falling off xc. Just not good enough. Waste of time.
she's barefoot now, sound (albeit not being worked at present).
I'd look at Sigafoos rather than Imprints, personally. Also, Marquis Supergrip hoof boots are very good.
 
My mare had Imprints on every 3-4 weeks for 5months when she had lami. My farrier is a remedial farrier and fits quite a few of these. They are very expensive, cost me £160 for a pair, she had to have the biggest size but I can honestly say they were well worth it.
 
My horse gets foot sore very easily when nailing into her very thin hoof wall - she is now in another type of glue-on shoe called Sigafoos, which according to farrier, vet and physio has done wonders for her whole body. Much better for the feet, promotes a more natural hoof growth, near impossible to lose shoes... expensive though and must be fitted by someone who really knows what they are doing.
 
I know a horse who is currently wearing imprint shoes after being diagnosed with low grade Laminitis. They have made a big difference to his feet and have made him more comfortable. I know a Farrier in Leicestershire who is trained to fit Imprint shoes but not sure he would travel that far.
 
glosgirl said:
Have you considered hoof boots? They would allow the hoof some stimulation - without which they will barely grow - but would protect the sole if you are concered about soreness. If the horse isn't sore on his feet then I would turn out. Working hooves with turnout/ridden or in hand work (along with keeping an eye on the diet) is the best thing for strong growing hooves.
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Unfortunatly horse is totally lame, had to drag him across the field this afternoon as was so sore he had stood in the same place for what we expect to be quite a while, had then become cold and was shivering, is now in on full bed of straw for comfort and on danilon to help him feel more comfortable.

We suspect he had mild laminitus this spring, and xrays a couple months back showed a slightly distorted pedal bone. Currently the hard ground has caused the hoof wall to break off and majority of the hoof wall is now higher than the sole? if that makes sense so he is literally walking on his soles and frog, as to why he is now in on full bed.

My friend has ordered boots, however we feel these will be useless at present until we get some growth back again.

Farrier has been brilliant, but came out to try and put front shoes back on and said he couldnt even try as had nothing to nail to what so ever.

We desperatly need something to protect his feet enough to let them grow a bit, dont have bottomless pit of money but as only a 5yr old prepared to give most things a try. He is also on all sorts of supplements (biotin, healthy hoof and sole) and trying different hoof products, (cornucrescine and hoof moist etc etc)

Glue on shoes to get growth seemed last option.
 
I am not sure if shoes are the answer to this problem. I think he needs to be without shoes for a while in order to grow a better hoof. Them you can re-shoe if you still wish to.

If he is already lame, you have nothing to lose.

Look at his diet to make sure he has a decent chance of growing a new foot. Use the boots so he can still walk out inhand in comfort - this will stimulate growth.

Keep him away from the frozen grass - full of sugar.

Ask the farrier to not trim the sole as the horse will probably grow a false one while it's healing.

It's got to be much, much cheaper than fancy shoes.
 
Echo using hoof boots. Glueing shoes onto his feet won't encourage hoof growth. For that you need stimulation.

I suspect low grade laminitis is rumbling on here. Horses are supposed to walk on their soles and frogs, as well as the hoof wall, so the fact he is so sore suggests ongoing inflammation in the foot. The brittle nature of the hoof wall is another telling sign - laminae become inflammed, stretch and then die off... the laminae are what 'feeds' the hoof wall, providing nutrients/blood supply/moisture. So if the connection with the laminae is broken then the hoof wall becomes brittle and breaks away. I would start by looking at his diet - cut out all feeds that contain molasses (which means most commercial mixes/chops and chaffs), I would also give him a product called Happy Tummy which will remove all toxins that are in his system and give him the best chance of growing healthy hoof horn. There is also the question of whether this horse is Insulin resistant. Might be worth getting the blood test done. If he is then all the lotions/potions and supplements will be pretty much useless.
 
Only problem is that we cannot turn him out as he is too sore, he doesn't much like being in while his 3 mates are outside, if we had glue on shoes on he can continue to be turned out with his mates and will exercise himself wandering around the field all day. My friend works full-time so free time in daylight is non existent during the week to walk in hand and we have no where to walk in hand in the dark.

hmmmm
 
But if you can't be 100% sure that there isn't a lami thing going on - would turning him out on frosty grass really be a good idea?

Remember if he was shod, he wouldn't show lami problems until they got serious. Barefoot horses show it up straight away.

If he were mine I'd keep him in on a comfy bed and walk him in-hand with boots. If he is no better after 5 days - then you know something else is going on.

But that's JMHO
 
I have to agree with Oberon and MrDarcy. Boots are a better option and crumbling walls are a strong indicator of poor hoof health which is usually diet related. And that is usually too much sugar/starch.

This horse http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/crumbling-hooves.html couldn't hold a shoe and the farrier gave up trying to shoe it because the wall was in such poor condition.

Diet and general metabolic health are critical to good hoof health.

I don't have an up to date post on this horse http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/lameness-case-study-8-weeks-6-days.html

But the hooves have stopped crumbling and the horse is sound and working 5/6 days a week quite happily.

This one needs a very strict diet.
 
LucyPriory said:
I have to agree with Oberon and MrDarcy. Boots are a better option and crumbling walls are a strong indicator of poor hoof health which is usually diet related. And that is usually too much sugar/starch.

This horse http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/crumbling-hooves.html couldn't hold a shoe and the farrier gave up trying to shoe it because the wall was in such poor condition.

Diet and general metabolic health are critical to good hoof health.

I don't have an up to date post on this horse http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/lameness-case-study-8-weeks-6-days.html

But the hooves have stopped crumbling and the horse is sound and working 5/6 days a week quite happily.

This one needs a very strict diet.
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What do you suggest diet wise? He is currently on Happy hoof and was getting a small scoop of our local feed shops own brand herbal cool mix, pluss biotin and "olympic horse feeds healthy hoof and sole supplement" and gets a dollop of kwikbeet or speedi beet aswell to wet it all down a bit.

Any advice really appreciated, currently in on a deep bed, now has his mates around him as have over 1ft of snow and all were miserable in field!
 
It's a bit difficult to say without knowing what's in the Olympic stuff or the herbal mix.

Happy Hoof is molassed (despite being Lami Trust approved:( ) and I have noticed an improvement in the qulaity of my horse's feet since coming off it, but many horses are fine on it.

My basis of feeding is that I am adding only what the horse can't access from the forage they get. The Happy Hoof, herbal mix AND olympic supplement is a pricey way of feeding a few of the vitamins and minerals that he may be missing from his forage, with some added sugar and mould inhibitors.....

Plenty of foreage and as a feed, Kwickbeet with a good quality vit and min supplement may be sufficient.

I also like salt, brewer's yeast (for improved digestion) and micronised linseed (for condition, gut, joints and Omega oils) and herbal blends from Equinatural's website.

I have used Global Herb's Restore in the past when my old boy needed a detox (reacted badly to vaccine) - that wouldn't do any harm about now either.
 
Happy Hoof - top three ingredients; treated straw, chopped straw and molasses.

The lami in the post I referred to that needs the strict diet has:

Hay soaked for 24 hours in fresh clean water which post soaking is then hosed off with more fresh water.

100g (dry weight) soaked Kwik Beet
D&H Surelimb
Calcined Magnesite
Brewers Yeast

Every horse is slightly different, but low sugar/starch is the way to go and generally for the truly sensitive stay away from LT products because all the ones I've looked at have molasses in - albeit sometimes with a new name.

What doesn't seem to be widely appreciated is that all the causal factors and mechanisms of laminitis are not yet fully understood. What has been happening quite widely is that lami prone horses that are kept barefoot (and therefore show up early warning signs well before reaching a crisis) are showing that its not just about huge quantities of sugar/fructans, small quantities and other triggers can be a problem too.

So although the 'get rid of as much sugar as possible' approach is somewhat generalistic, it is the safer option and won't do any harm. If you have a lami that also tends to lose weight, it is possible to provide safer calories through something like micronised linseed or sunflower oil.
 
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