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American Farrier's Association
 AFA Member # 7332

Farrier Art   by Chris Minick


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Keep It On - Clamp Shoe

This Thorobred mare came to me with two left shoes missing after the owner moved her horse and couldn't get her regular farrier to come to the new location.  The left hind foot was so broken up that it could not be made level enough to place a shoe on it.  The only place the shoe would touch was a small 1 inch piece of toe wall and both heals (about 3/4 inches each) with the frog extended about 3/4 inch lower than the heels.  The sole was dangerously thin around the entire foot.

Because of the danger of sole pressure, which might cause lameness and abscesses later, I decided to float the entire foot (even the sole) over a bed of two-part silicone putty.  Applying the two-part silicone putty over the entire foot might cause the shoe to shift around, so I added quarter clips and Vettec Superfast filler all around the foot to fill in the missing hoof wall.

This mare is extremely active and athletic, so I also added a stainless steel hose clamp to keep her from pulling the shoe during her shoeing period.  The shoes are drilled and tapped on the sides to allow fastening of the clamp.  I've applied Borium (tungsten) on the ground surface of the shoe under the drilled and tapped areas to prevent the screws from pulling out of the sides of the shoe.

The nails were actually visible between the hoof wall and shoe before I added the Vettec Superfast filler and glue.

There is also a frog support pad to redistribute weight across the entire foot instead of just the perimeter of the hoof.  This shoe protected the foot and stayed on tight for 8 weeks, at which time I was able to remove this special shoe and replace it with a normal shoe.  This mare remained sound during the whole process.

The horse below was allowed to graze in an area that was "unfriendly" to weighted size 7 shoes, and he pulled off the left one along with two layers of pads in a hole in the ground.  The size 10 nails used to keep the 3 lb. shoes on tore the hoof wall off as came off the foot.  He needed a shoe that would protect his foot from further damage and would stay on till the damaged area had grown out again.  The broken out foot is filled in with Vettec Superfast material.

The horse below caught his foot in wire fence and pulled off a big chunk of his foot when the shoe was torn off.  His foot would no longer hold a shoe, so I added the clam and Vettec SuperFast filler, which took him through the next 8 weeks.  I reset the shoe with the clamp one more time for another 8 week period.  He didn't lose the shoe.

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