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Articles & Information
FROM THE HOOFCARE & LAMENESS ARCHIVES Bar Shoe Suggestions Note: this article was originally published in Hoofcare & Lameness in 1995. In Switzerland last December, Australian researcher Chris Pollitt made a great statement: "Therapeutic shoeing is an exercise in damage control and, later, in hoof rehabilitation." Horses have always needed more good-quality bar shoes. For years, farriers have been doing the best they could, with widely varying skills, to weld together two ends of a long-heeled shoe, or to weld in a bar, and have it fit a foot. Some of these farriers were successful, and created a shoe that helped the horse redistribute its weight. Others returned in a few weeks to find broken bars, too-small shoes imbedded in feet, or worse yet, a shiny new bar shoe hanging on the horse's stall door. In the past six or so years, readymade bar shoes have become widely available to farriers. They come in several sizes and bar configurations. Unfortunately, the nailing patterns of these bar shoes have sometimes required anvil skills to modify them that are not in the arsenal of a farrier who needs a readymade bar shoe in the first place. Other times, a farrier may have the anvil skills, but chose the shoe to save time. It's a convenience item. Finally, in the last few years, improved premade bar shoes have made it to the market. Owners, trainers, and veterinarians need to understand that a farrier may nail on more bar shoes than he or she did a few years ago because a bar shoe is a more realistic option now. You can find a bar shoe to fit a foot, shape it, and nail it on in just a few minutes more than it takes to use a regular shoe. A few years ago, there was a lot more work involved, and a lot more variable results. So we are seeing lots more horses wearing bar shoes. As long as farriers are skilled in how to fit a bar shoe and when to use one, the horse world should welcome these shoes on horses' feet, and hopefully soon show rules will allow them in all classes. Sometimes a farrier may identify a weakness in a horse's wall or sole and decide that a bar shoe could prevent a broken wall or redirect stress. Farriers, help spread the word that bar shoes can be a preventative or maintenance tool as well as a therapy device. At the same time, let owners know that egg bar shoes are not a fashion item for performance horses. Veterinarians, ask for a written explanation of why a horse is wearing a bar shoe before refusing a horse for a pre-purchase exam just because of shoe style. When farriers use highly modified readymade bar shoes, or handmade bar shoes, as therapy shoes, a high degree of skill and a lot of labor goes into the job, particularly when the horse needs to perform with a full bar shoe. For this reason, modified or therapeutic bar shoes may be--and should be--much more expensive equipment for a horse, and should require frequent checks by the farrier to make sure that the shoe has not slipped or that the foot hasn't overgrown its support point. Owners need to understand this part of farrier responsibility to the horse's well-being. Suggestion: Use good business sense in billing customers; itemize the time involved and the time spent between farrier and veterinarian discussing the case and designing the therapy. Shoes only fit as well as the degree to which they mirror the shape of the foot, it's true. Proper support from the shoe to an asymmetrical foot is a topic often discussed in the pages of H&L. And heel fit and nailing pattern are important, true. But a great percentage of information transferred in farrier seminars is restricted to aspects of the shoe itself, with little or no information on how the foot was trimmed. Sometimes it seems as if foot trimming is an enigma that cannot be expressed in words. You know how to do in instinctively, or else do the best you can. Tom Curl, a farrier from Florida, said it perfectly at the AFA Convention this year, when he pointed out: "Trimming the foot is not stressed at seminars. All you hear about is pulling clips or supporting heels. You see the same skills, taught by different teachers. Foot trimming is a tough subject to explain, but we need to start explaining it. If you create imbalance with your nippers or a rasp and then nail a flat shoe on, you lock that imbalance in for the next 30 days or so." Suggestion: Some clever reader out there should work out an evaluation system for foot trimming, similar to the AFA's judging standards, or Dave Duckett's "dot" theory, but to be used to describe when and why and by how much a horse was trimmed for any reason other than stand-flat balance. If a farrier trimmed a horse for a gait problem, it could be noted for future reference when a farrier or veterinarian evaluates the horse. Educators and farriers training apprentices need specific terms to teach to young farriers. This article originally appeared in Hoofcare & Lameness: The Journal of Equine Foot Science and is available for your personal use only. Re-publication is prohibited without the express written permission of Hoofcare & Lameness. Detailed information on this and many other hoofcare topics can be found in Hoofcare & Lameness publisher Fran Jurga's award-winning guide to hoofcare, "Understanding the Equine Foot". For more information, or to order, click here Back to the articles table of contents
Write to H&L: PO Box 6600, Gloucester, MA 01930. Tel 978 281 3222; fax 978 283 8775. Email webinquiry@hoofcare.com. Internet http://www.hoofcare.com. © 1998
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