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We also pad for rocky work, Our farrier explained that the pad takes
away the horse's "feel" for the ground and they allow the shoe to slip a
bit more. The pads tend to compress as they are stepped on and the pad
puts the shoe further from the hoof allowing it to shimmy on the foot.
(Definitely not goos for the sidewalls.) Your shoes may not stay on as
well with pads. What helps us are side clips. We don't use the
pre-made side clips as they tend to be too short. Our farrier pulls
them himself so that they get over the pad & up onto the hoof wall to
provide the needed stability.
As for pads on the back, our farrier tells us that as the foot lands,
the horse needs that feeling to find the best purchase, and then it
pushes off. In addition, the horse allows the foot to slide a bit to
absorb some of the concussion. This need for feeling the ground and the
increased slippage causes problems with losing footing and losing shoes
if they are padded in back. The nails have a lot of shear stress and a
longer fulcrum by going through the pad. (Think of the horses that are
sore from borium on back shoes - not all as some learn to adapt quite
well. Their feet <don't> slip and the concussion & strain is thrown
onto their joints & muscles. They are intended to slip the back foot a
little.) Also, the majority of the horse & rider's weight is on the
forehand where padding tends to help (even if riding in a center
position.
The frog is stimulated and improves circulation to the foot by ground
contact - the horse will loose some of that with pads. It is also hard
to keep the foot clean under the pad. Oakum is the traditional packing,
but it comes out with the miles that we do. Many farriers are using
silicone to fill the pad, but it also sheds. One Old Dominion
rider/corrective farrier (John Crandell) cuts an oval shaped, small hole
out near the toe so that dirt & water can filter out from under the pad,
and uses the opening to apply thrush medicine to prevent fungal growth
in this nice, warm, wet environment under a pad. I haven't tried this -
I suspect problems if riding on gravel, but works great for large chunks
of 'rock'. DO NOT try hospital pads with a pop out centers. They are
for sedentary horses too sore to walk! They will fall out every few 100
feet. Not a way to get many miles down!
We "discovered" Shock Tamer pads some years ago - they've been heaven
sent! They are a composite pad, much like the sole of a running shoe,
yet quite thin. They make full & rim pads. (Didn't see the marked
difference with the rim pad that we did with the full pad.) One horse
had a ST on one foot and "brand X" of the same weight & thickness on the
other front foot since the farrier had run out of ST. There was a
NOTICEABLE difference in his comfort. I can't speak highly enough of
them!
I would pad the front only, and try rim pads to see if that was enough
before going to full pads. The oval cut out may be an option to
decrease thrush & sand buildup, biut I haven't tried it myself yet.
John is VERY successful with it, though.
Linda Flemmer
Blue Wolf Ranch
Bruceton Mills, WV
-- ˙WPC$
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