When using heart bar shoes as a hoof-remodeling tool, Steve Teichman of Chester County Farrier Associates in Pennsylvania says critical factors are function and fit. Those are the key things to keep in mind whether you build your own, use commercial versions or work with alternatives, such as Myron McLane’s heart bar pad.
“I’m all for whatever works,” he says. “If you’re handy at building them and you like to do it, that’s cool. But sometimes we’re doing 2 or 3 sets of these a day. We want to get this done reasonably quickly and make some money while we’re doing it.”
Teichman shapes shoes and then welds in pre-cut frog plates. He contracts with a local business that does plasma cutting to cut the plates in three different sizes from scrap metal. The plates wind up costing him pennies apiece. He says that welding in the inserts after shaping the shoe makes it easier to fit the shoe properly.
“Fitting the shoe is important. They are a nuisance to shape and knock around on the anvil if the heart is in there, especially if they’ve also got studs or pins in there,” he says.
When using heart bar shoes as a hoof-remodeling tool, Steve Teichman of Chester County Farrier Associates in Pennsylvania says critical factors are function and fit. Those are the key things to keep in mind whether you build your own, use commercial versions or work with alternatives, such as Myron McLane’s heart bar pad.
Centering The Shoe
Teichman says when fitting the shoe, he centers it over the widest part of the foot.
“I’m doing this regardless of whether someone has brought this horse because it’s got to grab, or he’s got a chunk of steeplechase fence that went through his heel,” he says. “I’m going to move that shoe back to the widest part of the foot.”
This gives Teichman more control over growth in the toes and heels and also leaves room for the heels to expand.
Teichman says the angle of the bar should usually be parallel to that of the frog. He is trying to get even pressure and will use leather or plastic pads to ensure even pressure.
If a heart bar is not giving you the results you’re looking for, Teichman believes it is most likely either that there’s not enough frog pressure, or because your shoe is not properly placed for the size of the horse.
“If you take the heart bar shoes off and you see the indent (of the shoe) on the heels and the bars in there, that shoe was doing nothing,” he says. “If there’s not enough frog pressure, we’ll extend our starting point. We’ll do whatever we have to do to get that frog pressure, adding leather pads or riveting a plastic pad in.”
With larger horses, Teichman extends the starting point of frog contact to about 3/8 inch back from the tip of the true frog. That’s about 1/8 inch ahead of where he’d start in on smaller horses. He’s concerned about the length of the heart insert, but not the width.
“On a reasonably healthy foot, I don’t care how wide that frog plate is. I defy you to squish and shut off those digital arteries,” he says. “I’m not fussy about the width. I am fussy about the length. Find out where the true tip of the frog is and don’t extend the bar too far. If you do, you can cause pressure necrosis in front of the frog.”
Nail Placement
Because he’s using the heart bar to remodel the hoof, Teichman is particularly careful about nail placement. He’ll use a minimum number of nails and center them on the widest part of the foot. He’ll avoid putting nails too far forward or backward in the shoe. Most nails will be in the quarters.
Teichman is careful to leave adequate heel length. With the heart bar set back, he can also allow a fuller fit than with a conventional perimeter fit. He also leaves room for expansion, as the hooves will tend to change shape as balance is achieved. He’ll try to avoid clips.
“If the horse is not doing a lot of work, I’ll try to get away without any front or side clips,” he says. “I’ll get a lot better remodeling of the foot. Sometimes clips just lock things into place. “
As the hoof’s health improves, Teichman says he’ll readjust the fit during a second or third shoeing.
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