Hoofcare and Lameness Magazine -- Rochester Equine Clinic

University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center Hosts Conference on Advanced Hoof Reconstruction Techniques

KENNETT SQUARE, PA-Farriers and veterinarians received an instant update on hoof reconstruction technology recently when the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center hosted a two-day conference that delved deep into both the science and art of hoof repair.

New Bolton Center is home to the university's applied polymer research laboratory, where farrier Rob Sigafoos uses a vast palette of materials to create nailless shoeing options for lame horses, as well as prostheses for all sorts of animals.

As with many conferences, the first day's program was a lecture format, with input from the caseload of lameness-specialist Janice Young DVM of Arizona and research summaries from Olin Balch DVM PhD of Hawaii.

Farrier Pat Reilly of New Hampshire discussed his experiences after using glue-on shoes on 190 cases in the past year, and suggested that they might be of benefit in avoiding secondary hoof distortion that is common during lameness recovery.

Dr Elizabeth Hammer of New Bolton Center discussed radiography of feet that have been repaired, and how to evaluate different materials when they show up in radiographs. While the urethane products and silicone were simply gray on the film, PMMA materials looked foggy because of the way they refract light.

Rob Sigafoos spoke at length on the advantages and subtleties of advanced materials that are both currently in use and/or being tested for use on horses with what he calls "structural failure of the hoof wall".

One of the advanced techniques he discussed was the farrier's ability to put a foot's heels "in traction", either intentionally or unintentionally, by gluing the heels in place, unweighted (i.e. foot in the air).

Sigafoos's slides were a peek into the future of advanced farriery, with velcro hospital plates, elastic sole pack materials, and removable bar shoes for race horses who need a bar for support and an open shoe for racing.

The second day of the conference took attendees out of the lecture hall and into the sunshine, where they worked with the lecturers and New Bolton Center staff on applications of materials. A few case examples are shown.

This foot has been filled completely with Vettec's Equipak, a clear, urethane-based hoof packing material that is poured into the foot, where it sets up and fills any negative space. Notice how this foot has been carefully filled around the heel bulbs, and the level of both the shoe and the material.

A stop-gap measure, literally, is the use of a urethane material, in this case Vettec's Equipak, used in place of conventional heel wedges via shoe or pad to realign the hoof-pastern axis and/or support underrun heels. Equipak is more forgiving than harder composites.

A New Bolton Center classic, the adjustable patten bar shoe, The shoe is glued to the foot but the "steps" of the heel can be added or removed as the case dictates.

For this case, the foot was shod with a Sigafoos adhesive shoe and the heels were then built up into "heel rails" (wedges) under the branches of the shoe with Vettec's Super Fast, a hard product.

This foot was coated with Vettec's "Adhere", in black, then a St Croix Eventer shoe was applied.

Conference speakers and facilitators (left to right) Laura Florence, Dr Young, Susan Hankin, Margrit Black, Dr Balch, Mary Hazzard, Rob Sigafoos, Patrick Riley

7 New Bolton Center resident farrier Laura Florence reviewed several laminitis cases that she is working on in the vet school's clinic. This rare Cremola gelding suffered from support limb laminitis.

Hoofcare & Lameness, The Journal of Equine Foot Science, is a professional journal of technical information related to the prevention and therapy of performance-related injuries, conformational challenges, and diseases of the foot that affect the world's horses.

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