 |
Articles & Information
FROM THE HOOFCARE & LAMENESS ARCHIVES Hoof Pads and Packing with David Farley Dave
Farley, a farrier from Loveland, Ohio, who works with many leading
veterinarians, presents some of the ways that he uses pads in his
business: .
Trimming frog-pressure pads: "You need to clean out the frog and
coat it with Elmer's Glue. After shaping, the shoe, rivet it and the
pad together, then touch the frog with the pad. Where you see no glue,
that's where you trim more away off the frog part of the pad. Cut
off everything that's not white." .
"This is my theory on plastic pads: the heel nails loosen from a
recoil effect, and the heels won't grow. So I make a shoe with a
wedge built right in it. A Hufmeister degree shoes will also work. If
you built a wedge into a steel or aluminum shoe, the heels will grow.
The next time you come back, you'll have gained another degree
towards normal." .
"Hind shoes....I see a lot of them put on with a trailer and a pad.
Remember, you must cut out the pad between the heels and the trailer.
It's a bad spot. That little spot can catch debris, sand, gravel.
It's abrasive, like sandpaper, to the heels and you'll lose the
heels. Make pads fit on the outside of the foot and allow only enough
for expansion. You don't want even a quarter inch sticking out." .
"When you're using a pad, make sure the nail enters the white
line. A thin pad doesn't have to be punched as deep. With a thicker
pad, you have to pitch the nail in, so the holes have to be deeper.
Learn how to fit the foot, how to backpunch. The SX8 Kerckhaert shoes
are punched and creased for great nail pitch, you can use a deeper
nail for a pad." .
"If you're adding length to a foot, say with a 3/8" pad, you
need a clip. And the clip has to be taller. I add clips to any padded
shoeing job. Remember that you are adding length and that the foot
will move." .
"I use rim pads on racehorses and Saddlebreds. The horse stings on
the wall, especially in cold weather. It may cause short striding,
especially on race day. All pads should be riveted, including rim
pads. Ken Davis & Sons sells split rivets now. They are really
slick. .
"At Churchill Downs, the rim pad of choice is wool. But wool and
felt are like sponges. They swell. So I glue them onto a shoe. I paint
them with fish oil to repel water and dirt underneath them. I think
plastic pads make a horse even more sting-y. I use leather rim pads if
the horse has a heel problem." .
"When you use a wedge pad, you can see a really big difference in
action between plastic and leather. We need a good leather wedge
pad." . "I'm using more leather pads that ever before. Leather lets the foot breathe. I do use rubber and plastic pads too, but they retain moisture, and they leave the foot hollow. I've experimented with the new TAK pad, and with different packings. With the foot moving up and down. the right type of packing is important. It needs to be firm, to stabilize the foot." .
"Horses leave the vet clinic where I work sound but they come back
six or seven months later with the same problem because of a minor
change in the pad or packing and the horse was sensitive to it. It is
amazing what effect a small change can have on a problem horse." .
"On a dry foot, I use fish oil and Sole Pack (editor's note: from
Hawthorn Products). I keep a Mason jar with a one-inch paint brush
with me. I paint the leather pad inside the shoe right after I nail it
on. Then, when the horse goes back to its stall, the pad is wet and it
conforms to the foot when the horse is standing there in the
bedding." .
"A concave foot needs the new TAK pad. It is very rigid plastic, and
works just like a bar shoe. It really fills up the cavity." .
"On a hollow foot that can't take frog pressure, I use Kopertox if
the foot is thrushy, plus I use fish oil and pack the foot with
foam." . "Sole Pack is good for a puncture wound. I prefer to use a hospital plate with a puncture wound but when the horse has to show, I just go with the Sole Pack and a leather pad." 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
Hoofcare & Lameness |