pads for horses feet?? protection for soles

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sallypops

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am i right in thinking you can get pads to put on the soles of horses feet?? held on by the shoe??

the reason i ask is abby has very very flat feet, and she sometimes find it hard going on rough stoney surfaces, fine on even (tarmac etc) an grass, living in scotland its hard to get anywhere without having to go on a rocky bumpy road and she often gets sores if she stand on stones if you kno what i mean.

i'm sure i had heard of pads for there feet, but i don't kno if thats what there used for.... going to speak to farrier he's up in a fortnights time

any info on things like this to protect the soles of the feet would be greatly appreciated
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Hey, yes you can - I had them on my eventer for the majority of last season - they are a bit of a pain if you do not have a nice flat field - I found the pads were never still in by the next time he was shod.

Hope this helps!

Lv Lx
 
My flat footed, thin soled TB used to have plastic pads under her shoes when she did long distance riding due to alot of the tracks being very stoney. It did mean the shoes were not held on quite so well and we lost more shoes. I think you can get some sort of gel stuff to put in now which hardens to protect the sole?
 
Hi
pads under my horse's feet (fronts only) have made my horse rideable. He has really thin soles, and the area is very stoney. He has had these ones in for 6 weeks and the farrier is due out next Wednesday, he has held them on with no problems so far. These ones are like very hard plastic that is nailed on under the shoe and cost me £5 per hoof extra. People do have problems with stones and mud getting in underneath the pads, although we had not had any problems so far.

You can also get injectible gel pads (called equithane gel I think)that are sealed so bits of muck etc cant get in but they are more expensive (I think about £25 for a tube to do two feet?)

good luck!
 
Yes our farrier fits leather pads on the front feet of some of the thoroughbreds on our yard who have flat sensitive soles. They stay on really well and apparently definitely stop those 'ouchy' moments when hacking on flinty/stony ground.

He only likes to fit them for a few shoeings though before a couple of months' break, as if left on too long the soles can become extremely soft. Our farrier charges £15 a pair. Jo x
 
she would only need them on her fronts aswell cause her backs aren't half as bad whens shes on stoney ground. i just feel terrible riding her out up the hills when u get to a stoney patch and she literally tip toes across.

do most farrier carry these sorts of thing with them?? to regular shoeings or should i phone and say??
 
The best ones are equi-pac. It's a gel that's injected into the foot after a mesh and the shoe is fitted. It's around £15 a tube, if your horses feet aren't too big you might get both fronts done with one tube. Another slightly cheaper method is to have rubber pads that go on under the shoe that are then filled with silicone. The silicone prevents mud and stuff getting trapped under the pad and adds more padding.
I've never had a problem with either falling out or being lost in the field.
I'd give your farrier a phone first just to check that he's got them in stock
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My horse had pad following an abcess on his sole a couple of years ago. His feet were bad when I got him and the soles thin. I've been giving him a biotin supplement for the past two years and have had no trouble since. His feet are now in very good shape.

Best thing is to discuss it with your farrier and I am sure he will be able to sort out the best option for your horse. You could also give a supplement for feet which will help strengthen them up in the long term.
 
IMO equipack wasn't worth the money. Lasted 2 weeks before the whole lot (inc mesh) fell out. My flat footed sensitive TB is in horse trax pads..... brilliant things. Get them mail order from total foot protection
 
what about hoof boots? expensive but cost would even out if you got your wear out of them.

I haven't had a horse who has needed them, but I must admit I prefer the idea of leather - soles and frogs are meant to breathe, surely?
 
The best pads by far are horsetrax gel pads http://www.horseshoes.com/supplies/alphabet/thorobrd/en-us/dept_44.html
I use them in the summer when the ground gets hard and I've never had one come off or get anything under them. TBH they can't come off because they're nailed to the shoe before the shoe is nailed to the foot. The only thing I am careful about is cleaning the feet out well before they are put on because they can get a bit smelly after 6 weeks but this is the same with any pads.
 
You can use sole paint, which you can get from your vet, my horse had a bruised sole and is soft soled, disliking stony ground, and vet recommended it to paint on and it helped harden his soles up
 
Another vote for horsetrax, used them for many years with no problems. Did use equithane for a while and I didn't have problems with it coming out but it is really messy and the foot has to be prepared perfectly, so went back to the horsetrax ones.
 
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IMO equipack wasn't worth the money. Lasted 2 weeks before the whole lot (inc mesh) fell out.

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thats really strange cos Romeo has had equi-pac for about 8-9 months and never once has it fallen out. In fact it has been invaluable!
Maybe it wasnt administered very well? My farrier said it is v difficult to do properly
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