This was a horse that had a check ligament injury. The vet said asked the owner to wedge the horse 3 degrees and then bring him down one degree every six weeks. The owner did not want to shoe the horse with traditional metal shoes so this became an alternative to shoeing the horse with pads.
We took a cast and doubled it until it was the thickness of a 3 degree pad waited for about 20 minutes for it to dry.
Once dry, with nippers we cut the pad into a wedge to the correct size and then we rasped the pad grading on one side and added a heel rocker at the backside.
Once thoroughly dry the cast rasps very easily into whatever size you need. You can use a rasp or a angle grinder to thin the pad into a wedge of your desired size.
We were able to make two wedge pads with one cast. We made it a little higher then necessary but once rasped it was exactly the 3 degrees as requested by the vet. Once the wedge was glued to the hoof we then proceeded by wrapping the cast in the usual way all the way around.
This technique was done with the aid of a vet and the use of ultrasounds. We had an exact cause of lameness so there was no guessing how to treat it.
We put a small wedge on the opposite hoof just to give his gait more stability. He was only to walk at short intervals daily. His casts was changed after 3 weeks and in this picture he was on his last six weeks of his first treatment. This picture was taken at the vet's but when he got home he was dropped down one degree lower. The vet verified there was 50% improvement to his check ligament injury and he will proceed with the treatment for another 6 weeks and then be ultrasound again before lowering him again one degree.
This is a Thoroughbred and as with many horses of this breed, he has very flat hooves with very little concavity. The owners will keep him in casts even after this particular treatment with the wedge is completed.
We wanted to share this spontaneous and creative use of the Equicasts.
Equicast Inc.
Equicast Temporary Support System (ETSS) Post Office Box 442485 Lawrence, KS 66044 Toll Free 866-844-3336 Email: Equicast@Sunflower.com
