Breaking the Cycle Of Hoof Lameness: Interesting Study About Horse “Sneakers”

The Thoroughbred mare essentially lived on her own in the hills of Northern California. She had been purchased from a Craigslist ad by a person who admitted to being a blank slate where horses were concerned. Sala suffered from navicular, low-grade laminitis, degenerative joint disease, side bone, pedal osteitis, thin soles and chronic effusion in the coffin bones.

When she was attacked by a pit bull and the severe wound on her leg was left to its own devises and the flies, a “sucker” (so she calls herself) arrived with a halter and the desire to heal the handsome black horse.

The new owner stepped into a situation that has made many a horse person’s head spin. The wound healed, but nothing worked to make the mare sound — not stall rest, barefoot, hand walk, shoes, shoes with pads, plastic shoes, shoes with wedge pads, bring the toe back, boots, foot casts, anti-inflammatories, nutraceuticals or pharmaceuticals — until the new owner and Equitopia Center introduced Sala to horse shoes called “Sneakers.”

The Equitopia Center video “Biomechanics of the Sneakers”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tm3kBtKQAQinvestigates the biomechanics of the shoe which has provided comfort for several Equitopia horses with hoof lameness while  documenting Sala’s two-year history and how the Sneaker shoe broke the cycle of inflammation for the mare when nothing else worked.

To understand the Sneaker’s unique features for the video, Equitopia reached out to Kirk Adkins, the founder of Equithotics, former staff farrier for University of California at Davis, and Dr. Sue Stover, BS, DVM, PhD and professor of anatomy, physiology and cell biology for U.C. Davis. Dr. Stover is director of the school’s J.D. Wheat Veterinary Orthopedic Research Laboratory and recent recipient of the 2016 AVMA Lifetime Excellence in Research Award.

Dedicated to education as an end to the need for rescue and sever the pipeline to slaughter, Equitopia Center has produced a series of well-regarded videos, free to the public on its website: www.equitopiacenter.com:

Recognizing Engagement: Training Your Eye

Engaging Your Horse (From a Western Perspective) with John Lyons

Evaluating Equine Feet with Farrier Michael DeLeonardo

Balancing the Rider: Coordinating Body, Mind and Movement

Developing Your Horse’s Back: the Biomechanics of Engagement

Solving Horse Behavior Problems; Low-Stress, Effective Solutions Solving Horse Behavior Problems; Low-Stress, Effective Solutions

Conscious Horsemanship: Finding Physical and Emotional Balance

Saddle Fit Basics: Protecting Your Horse from Ill-Fitting Tack

As a 501 (C) 3 nonprofit center, Equitopia serves the horse community with online, print and in person access to experts in through, sound, research-based education, employing proven resources and compassion in equine health care, wellness, welfare, and training.

Equitopia’s mission is to ensure that horses are the best they can be and live the lives they deserve by empowering horsepersons with the knowledge that will lead to a compassionate, harmonious relationship with horses and help them become the best stewards of their horses.

“Through education, we can prevent the need to rescue horses,” says founder and executive director Caroline Hegarty.

For more information on Equitopia, visit www.equitopiacenter.com