Bowed Tendons, Contracted Heels, Dropped Sole, Pads with Two-Part Silicone Putty
This is a relatively tall and large quarter horse who has very
small feet for his size. just before I started to work with
this horse he had previously just bowed his left front tendon, had
contracted heels, dropped soles on the front, was "quicked" (He had
a history of many farriers injuring him with nails driven into
sensitive tissues on the left front foot.) And, his owners
were seriously considering putting him down because of all of his
constant pain from his "issues". His heels were contracted
because his frogs had for many years not born any of his weight.
His heels couldn't be dropped to engage the heels without causing
the front tendons to bow again. Because of the extreme upright
front angles, especially on the left front foot, the coffin bone was
driving the sole down to the ground (prolapsing the sole), and
stretching the laminae at the toe.
Because his inside (medial) hoof wall on the left front foot was
curved under him, I couldn't drive heel nails on there without
driving them into sensitive tissue. I decided that each of his
problems had to addressed without exacerbating any one of the other
issues he had--no easy task.
So, I decided to pad him for two reasons: 1) his sole was too thin
just below the tip of the coffin bone, and he needed more protection
there. 2) I knew that I could use frog support pads with two-part
silicone putty to add weight to and engage his frogs so that his
heels would widen over time. 3) to redistribute weight away from the
hoof walls at the heels so that they wouldn't further crush
underneath him (curve under him) and 4) to add a wedge in the pad to
relieve pressure from the bowed tendon that threatened to bow again
and was life threatening.
Then I had two other problems to deal with: 1) His feet were
growing too slowly to change things quickly over time, and 2) only
front 2 nails out of four on the inside could be driven to keep a
shoe on the left front that needed to be widened on the inside to
get it where it should be to support his weight properly, 3) he
might step on the widened shoe and tear it off--a high probability
that could lead to his having to be put down.
So, I drilled and tapped the sides of the shoes to take a stainless
steel screw on each side that would hold on a hose clamp that I cut
and placed across the front of his foot. And, to keep him from
stepping on the inside of the widened left front shoe I used Vettec
SuperFast to fill in the area, and also prevent him from tearing at
the inside of the hose clamp and head of the screw. I have
never lost a single shoe that has been fastened this way. We
reset these shoes over and over for about a year and a half, and he
never lost one.
This horse still has regular frog support pads (no wedge) on with
two-part silicone putty and copper sulfate, but his heels expanded
enough that he didn't need the clamp anymore as insurance to keep
the shoes on. He also will accept all 8 nails offered in the
shoes, including the heel nails. His heels are upright, but
are no longer contracted. With regular consistent work he
hasn't bowed another front tendon.
