Farriery – Shoes
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-30
2004-05-11
Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3644)
Farriery
Shoes
C169S024000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06732807
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a shoe for a hoofed animal, such as a horseshoe, and to a method for shoeing a hoofed animal, such as a horse.
The hoof on the foot of a horse comprises a curved covering of horn which protects the front of, and partially encloses, the end of the corresponding digit of the horse. It thus corresponds to a nail on a finger or toe of a human being. The forward end of the hoof is known as the toe, from which the side walls of the hoof extend rearwardly to a heel on either side of the horse's foot. The hoof surrounds a body of tissue which surrounds the digit itself so as to form a capsule, the underside of which forms the sole. Between the hoof and this body of tissue there is an intermediate layer of tissue called the white line. At the rearward end of the horse's foot there is an elastic horny pad of generally triangular shape which is known as the frog.
Domesticated horses are normally shod with horseshoes. A horseshoe is usually attached by nailing to the underside of the hoof to protect it from damage. Conventional horseshoes for horses with healthy feet are made from metal, such as cast iron, steel, or an aluminium alloy. One common design of horseshoe is generally arcuate in shape and sized so as to conform to the size of the hoof to be shod. The size and weight of the horseshoe is normally determined by the type of horse being shod. For example, a working horse will be fitted with heavier shoes than a racehorse. In some designs there may be an upstanding tab at the front of the shoe, or a pair of upstanding tabs positioned one to each side of the front of the shoe, designed to assist in locating the shoe on the hoof and to provide additional protection for the toe of the horse's foot. Other designs of metal horseshoe are known, for example, so-called egg, straight and heart-bar shoes; these are often recommended for use on horses with hoof or lameness problems.
The traditional way of making horseshoes is for the farrier to forge them from bars of iron which are heated on an open hearth forge, hammered to shape on an anvil, and pierced to provide holes for the horseshoe nails. A farrier can produce shoes in advance for fitting to a horse with healthy feet which he has shod previously and whose hoof measurements he already knows. Alternatively he can purchase factory made shoes which can in suitable cases be fitted as received to a horse with healthy feet or which may require to be modified somewhat in shape, or in the position or direction of the holes for the horseshoe nails, using a forge and anvil. Often the horse will be brought to the farrier's smithy to be shoed but many horses are shod at their owner's premises, in which case the farrier will normally bring a portable forge with him in case of need.
Plastics and rubber horseshoes are also known in the art, particularly for shoeing horses suffering from hoof problems. For example, rubber shoes made from a shock-absorbing rubber bonded to a steel or aluminium core are available on the market, as are also horseshoes made from polyurethane and from plastics moulded on to an aluminium core. Some of these mimic the form of the conventional metal shoes and, likewise, are attached to the hoof by nails. Another type of currently available horseshoe is sold in kit form, using polyurethane base plates that have to be cut to the shape of the horse's hoof. Plastics tags are then welded at intervals to the outer rim of the base in an upwardly and radially inward fashion. The shoes are then attached to the hoof by cementing the plastic tags to the outer wall of the hoof. Plastics horseshoes have a number of advantages over metal shoes; for example, they are lighter and can be affixed to a horse's hoof by glueing instead of nailing. Thus they are beneficial for use when a horse is suffering foot problems because they obviate the use of nails. Such foot problems may include laminitis, white line disease (or fungal onychomycosis), navicular disease, sand cracks, or weak heels. Laminitis is a painful condition in which the hoof becomes partly detached from the rest of the hoof capsule along the white line. This can be accompanied by splitting of the hoof. Driving a nail into a hoof in such a condition can exacerbate the problem besides being painful for the horse.
In order to treat an injury to or a disease of a horse's foot, it is usual to cut or abrade away the affected material. Since the pathogens which attack the hoof are generally anaerobic, this helps to speed up a cure. However, there is then the problem of providing support to the trimmed hoof so that the horse can still put weight on its foot without undue discomfort and without exacerbating any misalignment of the horse's leg or, in particular, of the digital bone of the foot, due to the lameness condition from which the horse is suffering. This support can be provided by use of a therapeutic shoe and by using a hoof replacement material to replace the parts that have been cut or abraded away. If the farrier elects to fit a metal shoe then he may have to undertake considerable work to forge a horseshoe of the appropriate shape. If he decides to opt for a plastics or rubber shoe then he may have to cut the shoe to shape or use chemicals with undesirable side effects in order to provide a replacement for the hoof material and any tissue that has been cut or abraded away. If the farrier decides that the horse's foot needs realignment he may decide to provide the horseshoe with a lateral, medial, anterior or posterior extension. This is difficult to effect with a preformed horseshoe.
Foals are sometimes born with deformities such as weak flexor tendons, or club foot syndrome, or may require treatment to correct toe in or toe out conformation. In such instances the farrier will often fit the foal with corrective shoes. One type of foal corrective shoe is formed entirely from a heavy duty plastics material with an upstanding outer cuff which is glued or cemented to the hoof wall. Such shoes can be provided with an appropriate wedge shape and/or with an appropriate lateral, medial, anterior or posterior extension to correct the condition being treated. It has also been proposed to use therapeutic cuffs which can be glued or cemented to the outer wall of the hoof after an appropriate metal shoe has been rivetted to it or to which a shoe can be carefully nailed.
In some cases the farrier may choose to put a pad of leather or of an elastomeric material between the hoof and the horseshoe.
European Patent Specification No. 0 893 057 A1 discloses an open plastic horseshoe with holes for nails and having a bridge piece positioned on one arm for adjustment of the distance between the two arms of the horseshoe.
Use for shoeing a horse of a preformed strip of L-section adhered to a lower wall of its hoof and then adhering a plastics horseshoe thereto is proposed in New Zealand Patent Specification No. 184321.
A horseshoe adhered to a hoof is described in New Zealand Patent Specification No. 221274.
In German Patent Specification No. 19732269 there is taught a horseshoe with an outer hoof cover used as the walking surface which is secured to the hoof by at least two elements. A contact strip binding forms an intermediate layer between the hoof surface and the outer hoof protection. The hoof protection can be made from a thermoplastic material, such as polyester, or vinyl ester, or from an elastomer or a metal.
International Patent Publication No. WO99/15006 describes a helical stock from which circumferential lengths can be cut to be used as horseshoes, the stock comprising a helical coil of plastics material wound about an axis such that the cross section of the coil in a plane containing the axis is constant in shape for any such plane and substantially corresponds to the cross section of a horseshoe in the same plane.
British Patent Specification No. 2334424 teaches a horseshoe having a metal core with a polyurethane coating.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,498 proposes a custom horseshoe pad comprising a polymer compo
Jordan Charles T.
Poynton Andrew Paul
Senniger Powers Leavitt & Roedel
Shaw Elizabeth
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