Shoes and leather pads

[{123756}]

Hi all,

My little mare Zaphiera has been ordered to have all four feet shod and the front two with leather pads after she had her lameness at the vets last week. Shes never had shoes and amongst all her other issues, I didn't get round to asking why leather pads.

Either way, ive never actually seen a horse with them. Im very curious as to how they are fit to the horse and if theres any other benefit to them other then just extra padding?

BTW, vet is coming to discuss and further treat tomorrow so this is all on-going at the moment.

 

[Shay]

Hoof pads are used for massive range of reaosns - I presume if she was shod under vet advice it will have to do with whatever is causing her lameness. They are sometimes used for padding - for example with a sole buirse or injury. But they can also be used to alter the angle of the hoof or provide frog support.

 

[jcsoda]

My friend has just had her horse shod with heart bar and pads due to intermittent lameness infront . Xrays show beginnings of navicular and arthritis. He was unshod and has always had front feet which don't match. Shoes are not really helping so far. Good luck with your mare.

 

[sbloom]

I would read up about whatever condition they're thinking they're treating, the trimmers and remedial farriers (Mark Johnson is a really good one to watch on FB) AFAIK would never use them. Covering the sole 24/7 has its own issues, aside from whether it will really help or just give short term relief. I'm mostly a barefoot fan for most hoof issues but Mark shows some really interesting new progressive shoeing options for horses that really can't go barefoot (there are very few in reality, way fewer than most vets and farriers would say).

 

[Hanno Verian]

For what its worth I had a Hanoverian 20 years ago who had been hugely over jumped as a youngster and had arthritis as a 14 year old, our vet advised leather padding on the affected foot to cushion the impact and provide a degree of shock absorption. It allowed him to have a quality of life and with management (bute) he was able to be hacked lightly on reduced bute.
The pad did create its own issues as it the foot was prone to thrush under the pad, it meant that when the farrier took the shoe off we would clean under the pad and apply purple spray as an anti thrush measure.
For me it enabled my Hanno to have three years of working retirement before we had to make the decision to PTS, probably the three happiest years of his life, when he was a pet and not just a commodity.