Q: Please send me info on adjustable heart bar shoes. I've been shoeing for 14 years and always look for mechanical types of shoes that will help horses. It sounds like this bar shoe could be a solution to different problems. Also let me know if you have used it with degenerative coffin joint or low articular ringbone.
Thanks in advance,
A: If you have not already done so please read all the material on our web
site that mentions adjustable heart bar shoes. There is a wealth of information
there already as well as a picture of one. If you use the search function on the
Index page at http://www.americanblacksmith.com/blacksmithstable/horseshoeing_questions-answers.htm
and type in "adjustable heart bar" you will get a long list to study.
To the best of my knowledge the only problem Geronimo used the adjustable heart
bar shoe with was founder. For ringbone I would expect roller motion shoeing.
Use of the adjustable heart bar shoe would be indicated in the same situations
as use of a regular heart bar shoe. It carries the horse's weight on the frog so
the lack of laminar attachment caused by laminitis/founder doesn't
allow the weight to push the coffin bone out of position and perhaps even
through the sole of the foot. Sometimes it can even correct an already displaced
coffin bone.
There are huge advantages of the adjustables over regular heart bars. The
main one is that you don't have to "guess" at the proper amount of
lift to provide before nailing the shoe on. Unlike a regular heart bar which
needs to be immediately removed, altered and then nailed back on if the lift
isn't exactly right, the lift of the adjustables is adjusted after the shoe is
applied.
The second most important advantage is that the shoe can be adjusted again and
again as the foot grows, thereby maintaining the correct amount of support for a
much longer period. Resets can be done less often, thereby
sparing the foundered animal unnecessary nailing trauma.
Because the adjustables can be adjusted at any time, the horse can also have
pain killers administered so as to make it easier for him to stand for shoeing.
As I am sure you are aware this is not done with regular heart bar shoes because
the horse's pain response is necessary to judge the amount of support.
For details on constructing and applying you would have to buy the information
package. The information packet has clear large photos as well as detailed
instructions explaining the construction, application and adjustment of the
shoes and recommended aftercare for the horse wearing them. It is for sale to
experienced farriers only because if
adjustable heart bars are not done correctly they have the potential for great
harm as do regular heart bar shoes. The person that will be doing the work must
be knowledgeable about founder and shoeing.
I can post the package to the web and send you a link which is the fastest way
to receive it or I can snail-mail it to you. Payment can be made by PayPal or
snail mail.
Thank you for your inquiry. I look forward to hearing from you again soon.
Sincerely,
The American Blacksmith
Oakland, Oregon