Progressive Equine Services & Hoof Care Centre | Brand
Progressive Equine Services & Hoof Care Centre
Phone: +61 419 342 647
Reviews
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25.01.2022 With summer coming up in Aussie & the ground getting harder its important to understand how horseshoe design & placement can impact your horse. A traditional toe shoe on hard ground levers the tip of the coffin bone upward & forward around the toe of the shoe, whilst the toe of the shoe remains on the ground in the same position. A shoe designed to optimise breakover efficiency, with a radial breakover design, allows the tip of the coffin bone to move in a more efficient dir...ection ie a straight line forward whilst the toe of the shoe continues to roll forward. Science tells us that the hoof rotates to the same speed, no matter the shoe design tested. But what changes is the movement/trajectory of the tip of the coffin bone, which can be forced to move as much as 75% faster through the same degree of hoof rotation. The toe, which was important to performance in soft ground, can become an impediment to the efficient movement of the coffin bone, delay forward rotation of the foot, create a more abrupt unrolling of the foot, forcing the CofP (Centre of Pressure) to move further forward & increasing load on the joints & soft tissue & hoof capsule on a hard surface.
25.01.2022 One thing we constantly get told by our new clients, in reference to using our technologies & services, is ‘ I can’t believe how great my horse is going, but I feel so guilty for not doing this earlier!’ Our favourite saying is, ‘you don’t know what you don’t know, but once you see it you can’t unsee it’ There’s nothing you can do about the past, so it’s not worth focusing on. These owners should be patting themselves on the back for continuing to search for a better way. It’...s important to realise that if you had continued down the same path as you were, that your horse would still be where it was before you had your horse assessed/shod by us at Progressive Equine (or got someone else to do podiatry radiographs) I’m sure, based upon this feedback, that your horse would feel the exact same way (the reason they’re going do much better) as they only focus on the present time. So to all of those owners that make the decision to head in a more modern direction, and use technology & accurate & objective data to better evaluate your horses needs ie HoofScan, Biomex etc & seek out farriers who are willing to go the extra mile & work on both good alignment & foot balance, well done to you! It’s owners like you that will be the driving force behind the necessary changes to the industry. And I’m sure your horses, & the horses of the future, will be grateful to you every day for your efforts.
24.01.2022 Team Effort Always fun with this client & her beautiful horse How did we do as a team?... Just to be clear, all the goof stuff was my work & all the not so good was hers! ** Disclaimer - No horses, dogs, farriers or owners were injured in the shooting of this sequence. All adults & horses were consenting & willing participants. Well, maybe not the horse!
24.01.2022 How I like to set up most front feet Decent alignment, straight dorsal wall, breakover just forward of the tip of P3 with a rounded shape, shoe fit proportionately around COR & decent length in the shoe It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty decent everyday work for a front foot
23.01.2022 Do u have an idea for a pad to better suit ur horses needs? As a hoof care provider, is there a particular pad design you would like to use but cant set your hands on? Do u want more traction, less maybe? Do u want your holes for DIM reinforced maybe, or a recessed frog plate to better accomodate prolapsed frogs?... Do you have an unusual shape foot that you cant get pads for? A certain graduation, maybe a medial or lateral lift is required? Maybe a combination of all the above?! We can pretty much design any pad style you require & either send you the file to use on your own printer, or we can print & send you your style of pads. If you are in Australia or New Zealand please contact me. If you are from another country, please contact Derek Poupard The future is here!!!
23.01.2022 One of the things Ive been playing around with is a system where we can easily replace shoe designs to deal with the needs of the horse. The idea is to cast the original plate (grey) onto the foot allowing the hoof care provider to screw on any number of different designs from full roller shoes in different radius, rolled toe shoes, reverse wedge shoes, etc I think these systems will be really beneficial to laminitic horses as theres no need for them to be nailed on, the cast will reduce distortion, & being able to interchange designs gives u plenty of options
23.01.2022 Out of all my posts, this post has been one of the most appreciated by farriers, which is based upon direct feedback, with one very qualified & experienced farrier calling it revolutionary. The results of using open heel shoes, imo creates a fundamental flaw in trimming protocols. As the caudal foot fails, & the heels run forward, its believed the cause to be leverage on the heels. So the heels are trimmed shorter to create a longer base of support & reduce length/leverage ...Continue reading
23.01.2022 Before & After photos saga! Whilst consistent, u wouldve thought after us doing this for 5yrs or more now, most would accept that we are not changing our ways. But whenever we put up a before & after photo, we get a barrage of abuse from farriers telling us its not acceptable amongst the brotherhood of farriers We set this page up to focus on giving information to horse owners. And whilst we are more than happy to have so many farriers & trimmers following us, almost all ...of our posts are aimed at owners. On so many occasions we have had owners contact us over the years with photos of less than ideal feet & standard open heel shoes, where their farrier has told them theres nothing that can be done to improve the feet. In nearly every instance this is not correct & is largely the reason for us sharing before & after photos. We do not talk about other farriers or critique their work, other than to say on occasion that the work is less than ideal for this situation. We also prefer people not make derogatory comments, but focus on the change & whats able to be achieved on some of these feet for educational purposes. So whilst it is my belief that these farriers, who are unhappy with our content, would be better discussing their grievances with those that do less than ideal work, surely the brotherhood thing goes both ways! Does poor work not affect the image of the farriery? Whilst I really like what I do, & have total respect & admiration for so many of the farriers within the industry, Im only answerable to my own conscience & the horses I work with. So please save ur efforts writing to me, unless u feel the need to rant & will feel better afterwards. After doing this so long, & going in a very different direction to tradition & most farriers over the last few years, Im pretty thick skinned! But owner education is the reason we do what we do on my FB page. And from the hundreds of owners who have contacted us saying our information & photos has lead them to identifying & making a change, which has made their horse/s more comfortable, sound & happy, we wont be changing things any time soon! What does photo 1, in isolation, really tell you when compared to the before & after comparison in photo 2? And we detailed our process of how we went from the first photo in photo 2 to the 2nd photo in photo 2. Weve been able to create a 12deg chance in PA in this foot & take a horse that was lame & cranky, to a sound, calm & beautiful horse.
23.01.2022 Was great seeing this horse & his owners again on Monday This is the most beautiful TB & he has done it tough at times. When I first saw him he was lying down most of the day & the owners had been seeking a solution to the problem for many months. It was decided the horse had a forelimb lameness & was getting corrective shoeing on the front feet at one of the big vet clinics... I watched him walk in to my HoofCare Centre & was instantly very concerned with what I saw with his hind feet. The owners, due to what theyd been told, said he has a front end issue not hind. We HoofScanned the horse & he was NPA in 3 out of 4 feet with the biggest concern being his hinds, which were more than 10deg NPA. After about 10mths of corrective work we went to barefoot behind as he wasnt being ridden much. Happily this horse zooms around the paddock these days & hardly ever lays down anymore.
22.01.2022 Since posting about hi/ lo syndrome a couple of weeks ago Ive received a number of messages from barefoot trimmers saying they have fixed the problem & have sent me before & after photos of feet that are much more symmetrical than the before photos. On questioning them, none worked from xrays when making the change. Its been my experience that the hi foot is often quite thin soled & has bone loss at the tip of P3, which imo must be take. Into account when working with these... horses. Ive also evaluated the gait of a small number of horses where trimmers had reduced heel length significantly, using our gait analysis equipment, and they exhibited numbers that would suggest lameness in the hi foot/limb. Admittedly we did not have any data for comparison, so we could not be definitive in our thoughts that heel reduction was causing the asymmetry indicating pain, but on the application of front shoes with a pad the numbers changed considerably. I also have no data on the horses that photos were sent to me & only have the trimmers comments that the horses are sound. But I feel we need to take all aspects of the horse into account when dealing with hi/lo & club footed horses, not just the look of the feet. And as we have shown on a number of occasions, hi/lo feet can have different angle coffin bones, & as such the feet will never be the same or similar & neither they should be. Just some food for thought!
22.01.2022 Unfortunately Progressive Equine wont be able to supply 3D printed pads in 2020 If you are interested in purchasing 3D printed pads please contact Derek Poupard
22.01.2022 How important is comfort to the horse? Creating comfort for the horse is the first step in almost all of our corrective work. Improving PA & alignment has shown time & again to have a positive effect upon the horses mental & physical well being. ... This horse has been significantly NPA for a while & although there was corrective work being done, it was to the front feet, not the hind. A HoofScan found the hind feet to be NPA 4deg+. Today we applied a Duo Elliptical shoe, which improved PA & alignment. This made a change to the horses posture & movement almost instantly, which are indicators of an improvement in comfort. Now we’ve achieved a greater level of comfort for the horse our goal is to correct the caudal foot & improve the hoof capsule so the horse can move out of this shoe modification.
22.01.2022 And the answer to the question, what breed of horse this is, I have no idea as pretty much, a horse is a horse is a horse! The reason for the post though is that I regularly hear farriers tell me that you cant shoe all horses the same & that you have to take breed into account when shoeing horses....Continue reading
21.01.2022 The Queen if glue on shoes But don’t kid yourself, it’s not as easy as Daisy makes it look! https://www.facebook.com/548870312/posts/10164323381260313/?d=n
20.01.2022 Whilst we can create plenty of different shoe designs & mechanics, traditional methods tend to increase the weight of the shoe package significantly. Can lightweight 3D printed pads play an important part in allowing us to provide the necessary support, designs & mechanics reducing the overall weight of the shoe package?
20.01.2022 As I often say, sometimes its hard being a horse owner!! The owner of this horse has been desperately trying to get someone to help her horse for a really long time. Unfortunately, her options for farriers was limited due to where she lived. The owner had been constantly questioning the farriers shed used, who told her there wasnt anything they could do & it was just how the horse was. ... She stumbled across our FB page & quickly realised that wasnt the case. A few messages back & forward, an appointment made for 2 weeks later & she made the decision to make the 4hr+ drive each way to bring her beautiful mare to us for evaluation. As can be seen, the mare was in a bad way, being NPA & broken in alignment & she was quite reactive in the caudal foot indicating pain/discomfort With a change in trim & elevation using a shoe package we were able to change PA by around 10deg. We used a 5deg wedge pad that you can order through Sue Blair @ Advanced Equine Comfort & Zee ground out some of the pad to remove pressure from the prolapsed frog. We used the 5deg to elevate PA & improve alignment & the thicker part of the pad to maximise the reduction in ground forces to the foot We used DIM & Artimud from Innovative Hoof Care Australia - with Sarah Snyder to support the back of the foot, spreading load across more of the foot instead of loading the heels. The Artimud & copper sulphate is great for reducing bacteria under the pad. And the shoe is an Equilibrium from Mustad HoofCare The horse walked off great & trotted up beautifully. Hopefully she is much more comfortable back in her paddock today. ** The shoeing period on the before photo is 6 weeks & a couple of days, which was due to me not having an appt until yesterday
20.01.2022 A client today stated this was the best & easiest post for her to learn about HPA. This visual allowed her to evaluate alignment in her own horse & today she brought the horse to me for a HoofScan. The results of the HoofScan was her Warmblood, who has not been going great, was NPA in both hinds by around 3-4deg & 1 front by around 1-2deg only 2 weeks after being shod. The HoofScan info will allow the correction of this problem, which will improve the horses comfort, posture... & performance & reduce the chance of unsoundness. I hope this post finds at least one more owner that uses it to evaluate their own horse & if they find their horse broken back in alignment discusses this with their farrier or gets podiatry xrays. The first 2 photos show ideal HPA & the last photo shows a broken back alignment
20.01.2022 We were asked today if we could design a 3D printable flat Duo Elliptical pad with mesh integrated into the design for a client overseas The benefit of these 3D printed pads is how light they are, how time efficient they are & how easily we can alter the design to fit the needs of the individual horse &/or farrier/trimmer.
19.01.2022 Due to a number of people who constantly put crying faces on my full roller shoe photos, Im going to explain their benefit for you. Do u really think if they had no benefit to the horse that we would use them??!! It took me 2yrs researching them & questioning farriers before I used one. And instantly we got a great result on a horse that had been to every good farrier & vet in the state & none could get the horse right.... We only use full roller shoes on very specific cases, not for every day work, & in nearly all of them we have achieve an excellent result. This case is a great example. Laminitic horse with less than 4mm sole. The horse grows very little foot & as such, has never had great sole depth. This horse has gone from less than 4mm of sole to just over 8mm of sole depth in only 6 weeks. The horse went from very sore when standing & walking to walking & standing comfortably in a few days & the horse came off bute not long after we applied the shoes. To this horse theyve been a huge benefit!! So before you judge something you know nothing about, maybe ask the question why first. This shows a really nice application of a full roller shoe, with the centre of the roll directly below COR. The benefits of the shoe are that it offers relief at stance & in movement whilst reducing leverage. *** Like anything, poor application will yield less than ideal results. But our application of these shoes is good & we get good results.
19.01.2022 Laminitic horse from today Nice roller package & the horse walked off much better
19.01.2022 After my post about the use of a Natural Balance shoe a couple of days ago Ive been contacted by a number of farriers who feel that by setting the shoe back from the toe when using NB shoes, PA will be elevated leading to improved alignment. Whilst Im ok with these farriers loving their NB shoes, its important they understand that their thoughts on the shoes improving PA are incorrect. The only way that you can elevate PA is to change the sole plane through the trim &/or t...he shoe package!! Here is a really good example of this very thing. This horse was shod in a flat shoe & a few days after the shoeing we evaluated him radiographically (HoofScan) showing the horse was NPA by more than -5deg. The marked up rads were forwarded to the farrier & a few days later he returned to correct the horse. He used a NB shoe thinking this would assist alignment & requested further radiographs to evaluate the improvement. As can be seen below, there was absolutely no improvement in PA at all. We were then asked to take over the work. We used the data from the xrays to improve the trim (from -5deg NPA to 0deg) & then used a Duo Elliptical graduated shoe to elevate PA to about 4deg positive. The fact is the only way to elevate PA is to alter the trim &/or shoe package. As I stated in the original post, altering toe length via the use of certain shoes will influence biomechanics, but does nothing to elevate PA. Photo 1 - Flat shoe shoeing NPA a few days after shoeing Photo 2 - Same foot a few days later with a NB shoe showing no change in PA Photo 3 - Same foot showing how we trimmed the foot to begin correction. We managed to trim the foot to 0deg Photo 4 - After the trim @ 0deg Photo 5 & 6 - The finished job with PA @ +4deg Photo 7 & 8 - The original foot & our latest shoeing derailing the obvious change to the foot. After 2 cycles in a Duo Elliptical shoe the horse is back in flat shoes with caudal support
19.01.2022 Apprentice for sale!! Anyone would think she’s the one that has shod 5 horses & done 3 HoofScans assessments today!!
18.01.2022 Online assessments Just finished another excellent international zoom session with a horse owner & her farrier to discuss the results of her horses online HoofScan Our online evaluations are getting really popular & we are marking up xrays & conversing with owners online from almost anywhere around the world.
17.01.2022 Industry change - HoofScan With 15 HoofScsn assessments booked in this week Progressive are going to be 100 HoofScan assessments ahead of last year with more than 2mths still to go in the year With 2020 being a year of isolation & pandemic, it shows the importance horse owners are placing on their horses feet & getting accurate & objective data... Add to that we are now doing 3-5 online assessments from countries around the world & the messages we get weekly for both interstate & overseas travel to conduct assessment days & workshops & it shows the importance owners are placing upon the need for this information. Thank you to everyone who supports Progressive Equine, the services we offer & our ideals about hoof cars & management
16.01.2022 Should there really be that much of a difference between the same foot shod & barefoot? ** Shod foot was 4 weeks after shoeing & barefoot was day 1
16.01.2022 We have had some good questions about breakover & how/what to use. Obviously its rare to have horses travel over I particular terrain all the time, but better understanding the impact of the designs & placements of shoes used by the farrier is pretty important in determining how to shoe a horse. So yes, shoe design & placement plays a part in how efficiently your horse can function. And this changes from hard ground to soft & from front feet to hind feet also.... Our studies revealed that the toes of the hind feet rotated more into deformable ground on horses in both trot and canter, especially in the early propulsion stages, than the toe of the front feet. On non deformable surfaces the toe of neither front or hind foot penetrated the ground. So when we shoe horses at Progressive Equine, as most tend to work on variable surfaces, we compromise to something similar to below. As the power of the horse is the hind limbs, which we know rotate into the ground on more surfaces, when compared to the front feet, we shoe with breakover slightly further forward. The front feet have little bearing upon performance/power & as such, are essentially keeping the horse from falling on its face, we tend to shoe to minimise load/damage to the joints & soft tissue by not only working on alignment, but using a shoe that allows breakover to begin just forward of the tip of P3. The shape also allows a more gradual roll forward, leading to a less abrupt breakover & more coordinated stride. Studies prove that with this style of shoe & application there is less forward movement of CofP & a more gradual unrolling of the hoof through the stance & breakover phase of the stride. In horses that work on really hard ground only we use a similar package but grind the toe of the hind shoe to ease breakover also. We have found this to be an excellent compromise for most horse & rider combinations
15.01.2022 NPA & The Racing Industry Another 2 racehorses assessed this week & both were NPA. It’s funny how so many were critical of our comments that ‘maybe we should not allow horses to race that are NPA & that they should be pulled from racing until they have a positive PA’... The benefits of this would be numerous imo; - Much research into how best to prevent this from occurring & best practices for correction - Most likely a change in horseshoe design, which would probably spill over into other disciplines - Most probably a change in the importance of feet in breeding - Animal welfare & a reduction in pain, discomfort & lameness The reasons I feel this way; 1. Research tells us that for every 1deg low PA is, below alignment, there’s an increase in load on the DDFT of 4% 2. A horse galloping has the equivalent of 2.5 times it’s body weight loading an individual limb 3. A horse in gallop has a natural increase in load of about 20% on the DDFT 4. The DDFT has a failure rate (will rupture) at about 26% increase in load In the case of these 2 racehorses that were NPA, the one below is at NPA 4deg. As an estimate, the PA to achieve alignment would most likely need to be about 4deg positive. This means PA is as much as 8deg below what it probably should be. Keeping in mind the above, 8deg x 4% = 32% increase in load on the DDFT. There is a natural increase in load at a gallop already The extreme load on the limb at as much or greater that 2.5times the weight of the horse (500kg x 2.5 = 1250kg) The failure rate of the DDFT is about 26%. With the very high number of racehorses with low PA, broken alignment & NPA due to caudal failure of the foot, it’s not hard to work out why there is such a high rate of injury, be it repetitive strain &/or catastrophic, in the racing industry. If the industry is really serious about animal welfare, does there need to be a change in this area??!!
15.01.2022 Serious question! Can anyone tell me what breed of horse this is? If you can, tell me how u can tell. If you cat, tell me why you cant?
15.01.2022 One of my pet hates is when the heel of the shoe falls inside the wall of the foot/wall grows over the heel of the shoe. This can happen for a few reasons, but generally its caused by too long between shoeing cycles &/or the foot shod too tight in the heels. The reason I dislike this happening is that it can cause pain & discomfort, bruising in the heel & thining of the wall in the heel area, which was the case in this horse. You can see how thin the wall is in the medial h...eel as opposed to the lateral heel, & thats after I backed up the heels in my trim to find some solid heel to set my shoe on. When I removed the shoe I had about 4mm of heel length at about 1mm of heel width. As such the heel had to be removed as it had no structural integrity at all. The negative effect of this being the foot is now less aligned than it should be. As we know, the ongoing effect of this is a change in load through the foot & distal limb & postural adaptations. It really is that easy to start a spiral of slightly negative effects, which can then lead to more significant problems over the following weeks & months if not corrected.
14.01.2022 One that was having a few issues!
14.01.2022 Acute Laminitis One of the times I need something very specific is when I come across an acute laminitic case. I wont nail into acute feet, glue is expensive & can sometimes be a pain to use (wet feet etc) so I often recommend boots. But I really like to cast these feet as I feel it assists with reducing capsular distortion. I will definitely be carrying this kind of pad, which is designed to be cast onto the feet of the acute laminitic horse to stabilise the foot, reduce di...stortion & help get through the painful period. The pad offers maximum caudal support when used with DIM, ensures no sole pressure below the tip of P3, has breakover around the tip of P3, is light weight & can easily & quickly be cast onto the foot.
14.01.2022 Is this the future of race horse shoes? This 3D printed caudal support pad was developed for racing by Derek Poupard & has now been on a winning horse in the UK
13.01.2022 Day spent shoeing a few gallopers Not my fortay at all, but the horses have been running well. New horse today & a really nice type
13.01.2022 A long but beautiful day at Progressive Hoofcare Centre in Woodend with a day of great horses & clients
13.01.2022 One of my favourite things is seeing horses with good stance/posture after I shoe them. A HoofScan of this horses feet showed they were a little ‘all over the place’ so a change in trim, shoe & shoe position immediately altered his stance The owner was amazed that her horse instantly adopted this stance as he apparently always stood crooked.
12.01.2022 10yr old beautiful Friesian X with very strong feet & big frogs. Which happens first, collapsing in the back of the foot ie soft tissue displacement & prolapsing frogs, or under run heels? I personally believe this soft tissue displacement & prolapsed frogs occur in feet shod with open heels shoes no matter how strong they are. The difference being the stronger feet dont have their heels run forward as easily, especially in the early years.
12.01.2022 Life is often funny & you really dont know whats around the corner Early this year we started to offer our online HoofScan assessments, where we mark up xrays & if required view photos & video for clients from both Australia & around the world. We did this based upon the amount of interest & enquires for assistance we were getting. A couple of months ago we sought out Derek Poupard in relation to his idea on 3D printing pads for horses. We then purchased a 3D printer & an ...iPad Pro & went about learning the programme well enough to be able to design my own shoes & pads & print them out. Add to that our shoe design, that we will soon be receiving our prototypes just in time to trial over the summer months. We are now averaging 5-6 online assessments per week from other countries & getting a high number enquires about our pad designs, to both supply pads & files, from all around the world. Add to that the amount of enquiries from Australia & a number of countries about our workshops & the fact weve just ticked over 12000 followers on FB, which is pretty cool too, its been a very interesting year for Progressive Equine. Who wouldve thought we would be doing all of this in a largely traditional industry?! I really feel theres a lot out there who are keen to move towards a more modern, data based, approach to farriery. One that is more suitable to the needs of the horse & rider.
11.01.2022 A number of people have asked me about the story behind these photos, which we used in a post today. We did a post about this horse & her feet a number of months ago, & here it is for those interested. This horse was doing it really tough & the owner was/is so committed to doing whatever it takes to keep her horse comfortable. The mare was acting out from discomfort/pain & was a nightmare to shoe as shes about 18h.... The horse was being shod every 6 weeks at a vet centre at a cost of $1000, which included xrays every shoeing After doing this for a number of shoeing cycles, seemingly getting nowhere, & being less than happy with the farrier work, the owner contacted us. On seeing the horse it was obvious the horse was in discomfort, her posture was poor & anxiety levels high. We found this horse to be - NPA by -7deg in her back feet & NPA in one of her fronts. We altered her trim & shod her in Duo Elliptical shoes for about 5 cycles before progressing to frog plates. After about 12mths we then went barefoot behind. This horse has gone from being spooky under saddle, having behavioural issues & being difficult to shoe to such a nice relaxed horse. This owner did several trips of 4hrs each way when I was in Geelong to get her horse shod & is as committed to her horses as anyone Ive known. Ive been really happy with this mares recovery as we had so little depth to work with (look at depth under back of coffin bone). Her last rad showed a positive PA of 3deg, but we hope to keep improving this figure. Great horse & owner!
10.01.2022 Whilst Im enjoying playing with some slightly futuristic designs & products, making them work in real world situations & applications will take some work Example Whilst cast on barefoot pads may be great idea for correcting NPA, especially in hind feet, the durability may not be suitable yet. ... Theres certainly options, such as being able to screw an aluminium shoe to the cast wedge plate etc, just during rehab, but that may not be ideal for some. So whilst I could have sold 100 pairs over night, its important to realise that the ideas are way ahead of real testing & development But the future is definitely exciting as filaments improve & print times get faster
10.01.2022 Objective Data Modern gait analysis equipment such as Quintic (video) & EquiGait are IMO the most under utilised equipment in the horse industry. Quintic used high speed video 300fps, joint markers & software to track the markers, which gives very accurate data on joint flexions, hyperextensions & stride patterns. This has long been the ‘gold standard’ for gait analysis.... EquiGait utilises IMU’s ( inertia measuring devices) to accurately measure motion & is used to determine symmetry of a horses movement. Progressive Equine is one of very few that own & use both systems to maximise the amount of information we can gather on your horses movement. If your horse is not going as well as it should be, our gait analysis system, along with our HoofScan assessment can be used to help identify the reason. Visual subjective opinion versus accurate objective data, you pick!
09.01.2022 As hoof care providers, should we not be trying to correct all hoof distortions?
09.01.2022 One of my favourite parts of shoeing horses are the great dogs I get to meet on a daily basis This beautiful girl is very photogenic. The more photos I took the closer she got to camera & more she smiled. Beautiful dog
07.01.2022 One will add about 50grams to the foot, the other a couple hundred grams or more to the foot. Mesh integrated into pad ready for pour in or DIM
07.01.2022 Lethal weapon or just some spikes to allow a better hold with casting tape! 3D Printed wedge pads for casting
07.01.2022 Kross Check When working with lameness cases, club feet & laminitic horses etc I find my Kross Check system a great option for determining how, where & when to modify feet &/or shoeing packages. The Kross Check system is attached to the bottom of the foot & theres a dial underneath that can be placed in one of 8 positions. Each position the dial is placed will rotate the hoof slightly in the opposite direction.... We then lift the opposite limb & assess the horses response as more or less comfortable/uncomfortable. This often gives us a guide to what the horse requires prior to applying a shoe package & sending the horse home. With the Kross Check system, along with our EquiGait system, we are often able to better identify the needs of the horse prior to shoeing, & evaluate how our shoeing packages affect the horse once shod. ** We never walk or trot the horse with the Kross Check system attached
06.01.2022 A good pad for really flat feet. Ive concaved (blue) the foot side to reduce the chance of sole pressure. I think anyone dealing with a lot of TBs would benefit from this super light weight pad
06.01.2022 Why should I do it when I can get the clients to do it? And then they pay me!! I tell them it’s educational, but I’m just lazy!!
05.01.2022 Another great post from yogi The Equine Documentalist & something we talk about often. Backing heels up &/or rasping away the toe does not alter or assist improvement in PA or alignment & can be detrimental to the integrity of the foot https://www.facebook.com/419693468786673/posts/808479843241365/?d=n
04.01.2022 Barefoot Wedge Pads for casting One of the things we are constantly asked by barefoot trimmers & owners is how they can increase heel length & PA in hind feet. Often the issue is that low PA alters stance & posture, which leads to crushed & overly worn heels. As barefoot trimming is a subtractive process, many find it difficult to break this cycle. ... Our 3D barefoot wedge pads can be customised with the degree of frog relief for those feet with prolapsed frogs, sole relief for feet with flat soles, the degree of graduation & obviously sizing.
03.01.2022 Something we get asked quite regularly is, ‘do we do corrective work back to barefoot, or is it only shoes?’ I think that, no matter if it’s shoes or barefoot, our goal should be the same. Alignment, a dorsal wall & heel angle close to the same, no distortion etc Unfortunately it seems we see so much distortion in shod feet, especially to the back of the foot, that we now categorise them as different?... I like it when people comment on my work saying it looks like a barefoot trimmed foot with a shoe on. And I must say that I’m enjoying watching a cple of barefoot trimmers turned farriers strut their stuff, as their trimming is top notch & they are just applying a nice shoe to a great trim. I would like to see owners having the same expectation for both barefoot & shod feet when it comes to foot heslth, function, balance & alignment So whilst there are advantages to using both the expectation & goal should be the same. Below are some examples
03.01.2022 Only took 5mins to modify in into a 3deg Duo Elliptical pad
03.01.2022 I was asked the question by an owner the other day, in regards to my horses feet, whats the best thing I can do to ensure I dont have problems? There are 3 standouts in my opinion 1) Yearly podiatry xrays ... I see on average 8-10 new horses per week in my business, I see about 6 horses per week via our online service & the feet of heaps of other horses on social media etc & I guarantee that the majority of all horses feet would be shod differently if the farrier had xrays to work from! 2) Scheduling shoeing/trimming cycles every 4-6 weeks 3) Nutrition - working with a nutritionalist to individualise feeds for your horse
03.01.2022 Front of the foot versus back of the foot! Almost as long as Ive been shoeing horses, farriery has had a focus on the front of the foot (Breakover) when trying to prevent &/or correct feet problems. Whilst often, biomechanically, we create improvement almost instantly, it has never really created improvement in the back of the capsule.... Although we try to shoe around COR, its the inclusion of caudal support that has allowed us to consistently improve the health & integrity in the back of the foot. The photos below are a great example of this. The use of a NB open heel hind shoe did little, if anything, to improve the caudal failure in this foot when compared to a standard shoe with caudal support. And whilst there is still considerable improvement to make, the difference in 2 shoeing cycles is obvious. Im not saying breakover & toe length are not important to farriery, just that we need to view the needs of the back of the foot & front of the foot differently & seperately.
02.01.2022 Almost 12mths The first photo is the day we took the horse over. We had the horse in shoes for 2 cycles & then barefoot since Always interesting watching the changes in feet, be them shod or trimmed... I really wish I had taken a photo from behind the foot on day 1 to compare with the last photo almost a year later as I would guarantee the foot would have shown soft tissue displacement & some prolapsing The horse was having lameness issues, which we resolved in the first trim & shoe change & has not had a lame day since.
02.01.2022 The 3D printable medial lift pad with frog support I designed on the request of another farrier was used today. I emailed the computer file to the farrier in Dubai who 3D printed it & used it in this shoe package today. The horse went from lame to sound. Excellent work from Chris Diedericks Dipwcf in Dubai ... Technology is great!!!
01.01.2022 Could casting & 3D printing allow for the use of a 2 piece metal horseshoe, leading to better expansion of the foot, allow the heels to function independently & offer caudal support without the use of nails By opening the caudal support at the back it will allow for some expansion under load, allow the heels to function independently whilst still offering good caudal support. The seperate branches of the shoe can be screwed into the 3D printed pad meaning nails may not required.
01.01.2022 As it’s getting late, here is the answer to dorsal angle v heel angle In this foot the heel angle is about 15deg lower than the dorsal wall, as shown below. We call it caudal failure as the coronary band is starting to distort, soft tissue displace & heels run forward & in the xray you can see alignment is broken back.... And this is looking from ground level & in a photo. How would u go guessing the angle from 6’ in the air? The reason most are unaware of the high percentages of caudal failure in feet
01.01.2022 Great Testimonial! The difference you’ve made to my boy with two visits is incredible, such a different horse mentally & physically. After 4 years of biomechanics courses, sure foot pads, various farriers telling me this & that, body workers saying he had worms & it was his gelding scar, to 12mths going thru a vet & corrective shoeing to be still lame & told to retire him. None of them believed his behavioural issues were pain related, or that he wasn’t lame, & I was even tol...d to shoot him! After seeing you, he is now sound, in work & most of all Happy. So glad we found you. Thank you Whilst we love being able to help horses & their owners, it’s the dedication of owners like this that we at Progressive Equine appreciate & respect. This owner has tried everything to get her beloved horse sound & happy & now travels 3hrs each way, bringing her horse to us for shoeing. Our advice to anyone in the same boat, either now or in the future, is to get the horses foot alignment sorted first. It’s amazing how many horses we get both sound & happy from simply achieving alignment. If you don’t have alignment you have compensations, poor posture & repetitive overload issues that generally lead to discomfort, poor performance, behavioural issues & ultimately unsoundness. We get so many testimonials like this from Australia & more recently from around the world due to our online assessments, which have become very popular due to our consistently good results. Start with the feet & alignment, your horse will appreciate it!
