WO1995000014A1

WO1995000014A1 - A horse shoe modification kit

Info

Publication number: WO1995000014A1
Application number: PCT/AU1994/000318
Authority: WO
Inventors: Peter John Mcgrath
Original assignee: Peter John Mcgrath
Priority date: 1993-06-17
Filing date: 1994-06-14
Publication date: 1995-01-05

Abstract

A horse shoe modification kit to treat the condition of 'founder' in horses, for use with a horse shoe (1) having a toe portion (2) at the intersection of two curved arm portions (3 and 4). The kit includes a first bar (14) and a second bar (6) for fixing to a horse shoe between the arm portions (3 and 4) respectively at free ends of the arm portions (3 and 4) and at a position spaced from the toe portion (2) as determined by a zone of a horse hoof where remedial pressure has to be applied and a pressure pad (9) upstanding from the second bar (6) to apply remedial pressure to said zone of said horse hoof.

Description

A HORSE SHOE MODIFICATION KIT

This invention provides a kit for modification of a horse shoe for the treatment of the hoof condition of horses known as "founder". This condition is not uncommon in horses.

Founder (also known as 'laminitic' condition) is a condition where the pedal bone inside the hoof rotates downward causing lameness of the horse. The rotation of the pedal bone results from the detachment of the pedal bone from the laminae of the hoof wall. The treatment for this condition is the application of pressure in an upward direction to the frog and/or sole of the hoof. The pressure repositions the pedal bone and over a period of time the pedal bone will reattach to the laminae of the hoof wall.

The present invention when applied to a horseshoe will apply the required pressure and allows the pressure to be varied at will.

The present invention in its broadest form can be said to provide a horse shoe modification kit to treat the condition of 'founder' in horses, the kit is for use with a horse shoe having a toe portion at the intersection of two curved arm portions and the kit provides a stable footing for a horse whilst applying corrective pressure to a selected zone of the horse hoof, said kit includes first and second bars for fixing to a horse shoe between the arm portions of the horse shoe respectively at free ends of the arm portions and at a position spaced from the toe portion of the horse shoe determined by a zone of horse hoof where remedial pressure has to be applied and a pressure pad upstanding from the second bar to apply remedial pressure to said zone of said horse hoof.

Presently preferred forms of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig.l is a perspective view of the underside of a horse shoe fitted with the kit of the present invention, Fig.2 is a sectional elevation on the section line indicated 2-2 in Fig.l,

Fig 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a preferred form of pressure pad and Fig.4 is view similar to Fig.2 illustrating a modified pressure pad bar.

Referring to Fig.l, the horseshoe 1 is of standard form and comprises a toe portion 2 and two curved legs 3 and 4 which are joined by the toe portion 2. The horseshoe is provided with holes 5 to allow the horseshoe to be fixed to a horse's hoof by nailing. The kit of the invention comprises a lateral bar 6 fixed to and linking the shoe legs 3 and 4. The position of the bar 6 relative to the toe portion 2 of the shoe is determined by the position of the zone of the hoof of the horse where pressure has to be applied by means of a pressure pad (to be described) mounted on the bar 6.

The bar 6 is shown fixed to the shoe legs 3 and 4 by screws 7 and 8. The bar can however be fixed in other ways, such as by welding or rivets. It has been found that the mounting of the bar 6 by screws has an advantage as it allows the bar to be removed at any time for replacement or height adjustment or repair or inspection and/or treatment of the horse hoof, without having to remove the horse shoe.

The pressure pad identified generally as 9 in the drawings can be of several forms. A illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the pad has a button head 10 mounted on or integral with a threaded stem 11 threaded into the bar 6. After adjusting the height of the head 10 by threading the stem 11 through the bar 6 the stem can be locked in place, if necessary, by applying a glue like fixant to secure the stem 11 firmly but not immovably in the threaded hole in the bar 6.

The preferred construction of the pressure pad is shown in Fig.3 from which it will be seen that the stem 11 is in the form of a threaded screw which is provided at one end with a profiled recess 15 into which a correspondingly shaped key (not shown) can be entered to apply rotational force to the stem. There is a recess 16 in the other end of the screw 11. The button head 10 is fixed to a spindle 17 and there is a bush 18 on the spindle 17 between the rear face of the head 10 and a collar 19 on the spindle 17. The outside diameter of the bush 18 is such as to allow the bush to slide into the recess 16 in the screw 11. In use the depth of the recess 16 is such as to allow the rear face of the head 10 to bear against the end of the stem 11 and the interengagement between the spindle 17 and the stem 11 allows the pressure pad to be raised and lowered relative to the bar 6 by rotation of the threaded stem 11 without any rotation of the pressure pad.

Where adjustment to the height of the head 10 is required beyond the limit possible with the threaded engagement of the stem 11 in the bar 6, as can be required where the horse hoof is of concave conformation, a spacer 20 as illustrated in Fig.3 can be inserted between the end of the screw 11 and the rear face of the head 10. Another possibility is to increase the thickness of the head 10 by fixing a pad of rubber or the like to the front face of the pad 10, as by gluing.

If the sole of the horse hoof has dropped providing a convex conformation, a notch 12 can be cut into the bar 6 (see Fig.4) to allow retraction of the head 10 into the notch to accommodate the convex conformation. It is to be understood that the notch 12 is optional and is not essential to the functioning of the invention.

It will be noted that the kit includes a second bar 14 fixed to and joining the shoe legs 3 and 4 closely adjacent the free ends of the legs 3 and 4. The purpose of the second bar 14 is to avoid the horse rocking on the bar 6 (as would be likely if the bar 14 was not provided) , with attendant undesirable and unnecessary loads on the leg tendons of the horse as it endeavoured to overcome the rocking tendency.

The provision of the two bars 6 and 14 ensures that the horse hoof has multiple engagement points with the ground thereby providing a stable footing for the horse.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the stem 11 and the head 10 would be made from a non-corroding material such as plastic. This has several advantages. The principal advantage is that with the above material combination there is no likelihood of corrosion between the bar 6 (normally made of metal) and the stem 11 which would prevent the removal or threaded adjustment of the stem 11 relative to the bar 6.

The foregoing is a description of preferred embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood that the details given by way of description and illustration can be varied without departing fro the inventive concepts disclosed and as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. A horse shoe modification kit to treat the condition of 'founder' in horses, the kit is for use with a horse shoe having a toe portion at the intersection of two curved arm portions and the kit provides a stable footing for a horse whilst applying corrective pressure to a selected zone of the horse hoof, said kit includes first and second bars for fixing to a horse shoe between the arm portions of the horse shoe respectively at free ends of the arm portions and at a position spaced from the toe portion of the horse shoe determined by a zone of a horse hoof where remedial pressure has to be applied and a pressure pad upstanding from the second bar to apply remedial pressure to said zone of said horse hoof.

2. A horse shoe modification kit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pressure pad is adjustably mounted on the second bar.

3. A horse shoe modification kit as claimed in claim 2 wherein the pressure pad includes a head with front and rear faces and a threaded stem upstanding from the head rear face and wherein the head is of greater cross-sectional size than the stem and the second bar includes a threaded hole between upper and lower faces of the bar and the threaded stem is engaged in the threaded hole.

4. A horse shoe modification kit as claimed in claim 3 where the stem has a key recess in its end remote from the head and the key recess is surface profiled to drivingly co-operate with a similarly shaped key whereby the stem can be rotated by the key relative to the second bar.

5. A horse shoe modification kit as claimed in claim 4 wherein said stem and the head are separable, said stem having a spindle hole extending into the stem from its other end remote from the key recess and said head has a spindle upstanding from its rear face, the spindle is adapted in cross section to be freely rotatable in said hole and is adapted in length to terminate short of the end of said hole so that the said other end of the stem can bear against the rear face of the head.

6. A horse shoe modification kit as claimed in claim 5 including a spacer disposed between the said other end of the stem and the rear face of the head.

7. A horse shoe modification kit as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 6 wherein the bar has a head receiving recess in its lower face into which said head can enter at least to the extent that the front face of the head is level with the lower face of the second bar.