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The following is a case study
of an older (over 20) Warmblood gelding that had a long history of quarter cracks
and toe cracks (both fronts). The shoeing he came to me with was steel bar shoes
with rocked toes and wedge pads. I shod the horse with bar shoes and pads and although
there was a great improvement in the LF, the RF continued to be problematic in that
it never grew in length and continued to have a dropped sole. He was changed to plastic
shoes (EponaShoe) with impression material for frog and sole support. After just
two cycles in these shoes, the RF had started to grow and the sole no longer had
a dropped appearance. The after photos are after approximately 4 cycles in the EponaShoes.
The quarter cracks and toe cracks have grown out, but are patched for cosmetic reasons
(the cracks have been a problem for so long that there are permanent distortions
in the hoof wall). This particular horse's shoes are glued on and no nails are added,
which has greatly improved the overall quality of his feet.
| Before: |
After: |
RF- How he came to me. |
RF - After application of EponaShoe |
RF- Extremely crushed heels and also dished toe. |
RF - Nice hoof angle, heels have improved dramatically, but are still improved more
with use of glue to rebuild them. |
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LF - How he came to me. |
LF - After application of EponaShoe |
LF - Heels are much too high, which is causing the dished toe and quarter crack.
Extremely distorted hairline. |
LF - Nice hoof angle, heels are much lower. Hairline distortion is almost gone -
no more quarter crack. Patch is cosmetic only, as the crack has been such a long
term problem that it has resulted in a defect which dips inward. |
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