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The Effect of WEDGED PADS

It is not uncommon for veterinarians to recommend the application of wedged pads, especially in horses with broken-back distal limb axes and/or issues related to flexor tendon tension. The ramification of this recommendation, however, is that the farrier is now faced with the quandary of increasing the horse's distal limb angle without compromising the heel quarters of the foot. This is one of many reasons why your farrier may not be excited to work with your veterinarian.

Your farrier knows that the closer that the limb's center of gravity is to the limb's center of weightbearing, the better for the foot.

Body's Center of Gravity

The limb's center of gravity is primarily dictated by the body's center of gravity coupled with the horse's body/ limb conformation.

  • Limb's Center of Gravity = Where the limb wants to meet the ground surface.

  • Limb's Center of Weightbearing = Where the limb meets the ground surface.

In the horse's thoracic (front) limb, the center of gravity (roughly associated with the medial aspect/ inside of the cannon bone) typically falls behind and to the inside of the foot. The limb's center of weightbearing, therefore, is along the palmaromedial (back and inside) portion of the foot. In other words, the inside of the foot generally bears more weight than the outside of the foot and the back of the foot generally bears more weight than the front of the foot.

No Wedge

As we elevate the heel and increase the angle of the hoof (through the process of wedging), the fetlock joint will tend to "drop" due to decreased flexor tendon tension. As the fetlock drops, weightbearing tension is transferred from the flexor apparatus to the suspensory apparatus.

Heel Wedge

As the fetlock drops, the cannon bone (and therefore the limb's center of gravity) moves further behind the foot from a horizontal standpoint. With this orientation, the distance between the limb's center of gravity and the limb's center of weightbearing has increased. Consequently, a greater compressive force is experienced at the center of weightbearing, which in this case is along the horse's heel quarters. It is for this reason that wedged pads often result in "crushed heels", a problem that most farriers wish to avoid.

Myron McLane, a farrier from Somerset, MA has developed a solution to this long-term quandary. Myron has developed wedged pads that employ a dropped-frog component intended to reduce compressive weightbearing stress to the heel quarters. By directly incorporating frog pressure, the pads create an environment that counteracts the deleterious effects of regular wedged pads. Extra compression typically borne by the heel quarters is effectively transferred to the frog, thereby reducing the risk of "crushed heels".

Since their introduction several years ago, Myron McLane wedged pads have allowed us to both improve and accelerate heel growth in the face of wedging... an objective previously not feasible in most instances.

 

 

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Myron McLane has over forty years of experience shoeing horses. During the past twenty years, while keeping his general shoeing business, Myron has concentrated on therapeutic shoeing. He is currently a Certified Journeyman Farrier with the American Farriers Association.

Myron has been active in the American Farrier's Association. He has received numerous awards including AFA Administrative Award, Outstanding Clinician of the Year Award Recipient in 1989, Walt Taylor Award and Farrier Legend Award as well as inducted into the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame in 1994. In 1983 and 1984 he was a member of the American Farriers Team. He is the Chairman of the Rules Committee and a member of the Convention Planning Committee.

Myron is one of America's leading working farrier educators and is well known as a source of innovative solutions to lameness problems.

 

 

Myron McLane Bar Pad

Myron McLane Bar Pad

 

 

Myron McLane Full Pad

Myron McLane Full Pad

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THE ATLANTA EQUINE CLINIC: 1665 Ward Road, Hoschton, Georgia 30548 - ph. 678-867-2577

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