Talk to me about these shoes

[stangs]

Been looking at some racehorse ads and several horses are shown to have this type of shoe, particularly on fores. Presumably, they're therapeutic or else the owner wouldn't have added photos of them.

Can anyone tell me what these shoes are for and why different horses may have a different number of bars going across?

 

[IrishMilo]

They're shoe bar inserts. Used to stabilise the shoe and take pressure off any sore spots on the foot.

 

[stangs]

They're shoe bar inserts. Used to stabilise the shoe and take pressure off any sore spots on the foot.

Thank you. So they're like heart bar shoes but with more variety in what part of the foot they can support? And (please excuse my ignorance) why would a shoe need stabilisation?

 

[Carrottom]

Aluminium is a soft metal and bends more easily than steel.

 

[Glitter's fun]

The Practical Application of Bar Shoes

www.farrierproducts.com

 

[ycbm]

The Practical Application of Bar Shoes

www.farrierproducts.com

That isn't what those are, though. The pictures are of aluminium race plates which have had various thin bars of steel screwed across them in various places to make the shoe more rigid or to protect a sore spot on the foot.

Bar shoes are all one piece of steel and intended to support the heel though they frequently do more harm than good in that respect. Even where the bar has been placed far back on the shoe you can see it isn't in contact with the heel like a bar shoe is.
.

 

[stangs]

Thanks all!