wedge pads farriery for hock arthritis

Achinghips

Achinghips

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Any experiences please? Once these are on where does the weight/stress/strain move to from the hock, and are problems likely to occur there?
 
Used them sort term on my mare with spavins, however after while seemed to affect pelvis instead. Not sure if thats normal? Or just her. When she first had them she walked better and really helped her hocks for first 3 times.
 
My horse has wedge pads, but not for arthritic hocks, she has very flat feet and her heels were collapsing. My understanding is that they mimic the bare foot in the way that weight is distributed and thus releiving any pressure on tendons/ligamnts/hocks/knees caused by the incorrect balance/weight distribution in the foot. In the case of my horse they're taking the weight off the heel as well which with trimming will correct the angles in the long run.
Hope that makes sense.... I'm not good at explaining things like this

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Not sure they move the strain from the hock to somewhere else but think the idea is to reduce the breakover point of the toe to make moving the leg easier. My mare has had them twice - for a tendon injury and for spavin. They did seem to help but I think that they were not a permanent way of shoeing.

I found both times that my mare held herself differently to compensate for the injury and the front opposite diagonal hoof became slightly larger. This wasn't because of the wedges but due to the injury + spavin.
 
I dont like them tbh. My horse got wedged shoes for his chipped navicular bone, it shifts the weight to the front of the foot so therefore takes strain off the back tendons etc. Mine had them for about 6 weeks. Took him out to ride in them for the first time and he kept rodeoing which he never does (gives the odd buck though), he went lame for a couple of days on and off and when we could ride him he kept rodeoing which we suspect was pain related to the shoes, so vet sayed get them off. New farrier actually said they can make heels collapse. Mine were at a more survire angle than the pics posted in previous comment. Well changed him to concussion pads and legs swelled for a week, he could barely walk without tripping over himself, but after a week was back to normal and rodeoing stopped! My friend also told me that if there used permenently they crush the pedel bone! So that scared me a tad, oh and my old old old farrier also said if i kept them on he'd be crippled in a couple years so that put me off them. but just my opinion :)
 
Wow, don't they look strange?
Couldn't do lateral extensions as she's a kicker.

My girl is having them next Friday on the University vets recommendations, she had her hock steroid injections last friday. How do you cope with the hygeine of the frog, with that big plate over it? What are they made of?
 
They're made of plastic, lightweight I think. Initially, the vet and farrier consulted over her collapsed heels and wanted to put heart bar shoes on but she did not have enough heel there to put them on so they went for those.

I am given to understand that it isn't something you'd do permanently but for her it gives a chance for the heel to correct.

A photo of her feet the last time shod normally.
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My daughter does her daily care so i don't know how she keeps the frog clean, but it is good point, I'll ask her when she comes in.

eta- Nicole I haven't heard about these things being caused by these shoes but I am a bit worried now, farriery is a minefield, it's hard to know what to do for the best sometimes.
 
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Thanks so much for taking the time to post the pics and thanks everyone else for your thoughts/experiences. What breed is yours? Mine's Tb, with typical rubbish, nothingness for heels.
 
Yup also a TB. :-D

Good luck with getting the shoes put on, I'd be really interested to see photos for comparison if you wouldn't mind posting or sending by private message. Never met another horse with them before.
 
well, they're wedges, built up at the heel so prevent the pull on the cartilage, I believe, reducing strain? I'll ask my farrier for all the detail on friday. I suppose, in human terms, it's like walking up a steep hill in high heels, just less strain and a lot easier in terms of pain?
Lateral ext's are a great idea and possibly the better option, but my girl kicks other horses and walls and she'd do irrepairable damage with them, so that isn't an option for me, unfortunately.
 
Rotchana said:
Wow, don't they look strange?
Couldn't do lateral extensions as she's a kicker.

My girl is having them next Friday on the University vets recommendations, she had her hock steroid injections last friday. How do you cope with the hygeine of the frog, with that big plate over it? What are they made of?
Click to expand...

My boy also kicks but he has managed with lateral extensions. Farrier suggested turning him out with OR boots on behind in case horses came cantering too close behind him in field (and hunting, at the time) and pulled them off.
 
Friends horse had them on for that. Not sure if it made much difference.... Nothing hugely noticeable, but she was sold less than a year later, maybe the new owners would have seen a difference.

The horse I compete has them on his front feet because he has bad foot angles and we haven't had any problems
 
chestnut cob said:
My boy also kicks but he has managed with lateral extensions. Farrier suggested turning him out with OR boots on behind in case horses came cantering too close behind him in field (and hunting, at the time) and pulled them off.
Click to expand...

What a good idea!:) My worry with those is if she damages other horses, she's done this already. Would over reach boots help protect other horses from my divvy twonk kicking them more generally, does anyone think?
 
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