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The
problem of underslung heels also
has additional names that it can be referred to,
such as “sand heels” or even “run under”
heels. They all mean the same thing and have the
same consequences to your horse.
The
problem that is suffered by the horse is one of
lack of support at
the back of the foot the
high probability of soreness that makes it
difficult to pinpoint a specific problem at the
heel area
and increased stress on the supportive tendons
of
the lower leg. In many cases the response to
soreness at the heel area will be referred to as
to one of possibly four or five specific problems,
all of which will take additional testing, time
and money to properly pinpoint as the specific
condition that the horse may be suffering from.
The truth of the matter is that it is the foot has
suffered the greatest in the evolving of the
farrier trade
to
this point in time.
Most
of the newer members of the trade will explain to
you that the problem of underslung heels is
very difficult, if not impossible, to correct. The
condition of underslung heels is correctable with
the proper knowledge. The problem lies in getting
the knowledge into the right hands of the people
that need it. The educational factor of getting
that knowledge into the proper hands starts back
at the very basic or entry level of the
educational platform.
With
the progression that has been made within the
farrier trade
there
has been a great demand for people that are
competent in the trade itself. This single point
has created the demand that has fueled the
education process that has fallen down on its
responsibility to the animal and to the people
that have taken on the job to care for the animal
properly. Schools have appeared and taken on
students that have a desire to help and help the
trade expand and become what the public is
demanding. The main problem is stress on the
school system to produce a required number of
qualified people to be able to meet the demand of
the industry. Additionally the schools have to
have a basic program that should be established
and then followed to produce the number of quality
people to meet that specific demand. In doing so
they have to create an educational platform that
will allow the students to receive the basics
knowledge that will allow them to build upon and
expand their knowledge. That basic requirement has
been meet by the farrier educational facilities,
the problem lies within the structure of the
continuing education possibilities. A great number
of the present members trade have ignored the
history and the expectation of the trade by paying
no attention to the fact that this trade is a
science based trade and the need for ever
expanding knowledge needs to be built upon. Once
that fact was determined as the new method of
proper operation the new aspect of closely
guarding the so-called secrets of the trade became
the accepted method of self-preservation. People
within the trade started to make it harder and
harder for new people entering the business to
gain knowledge since the age-old concept of “on
the job” instruction faded away. We became a
certified education society and all that could be
accepted was the piece of paper that showed you
were educated, but it lacked the actual hands-on
experience that is so important to maintaining and
developing a science based trade. The tried and
true method of an apprentice structure was
forgotten and pushed to the side of the fast paced
quicker-faster society that we have become.
So
what I will attempt to do is to pass along some
knowledge that will spark the desire to help the
horse that may be suffering from this condition.
One important point that needs to be understood at
the very beginning in most cases, I would say in
over 90% of the horses suffering from this
condition, have been man-made in nature. That is
to say that due to the present teaching methods
and the farrier techniques
that are widely practiced throughout the entire
country that without even knowing it, young
farriers are creating this problem for themselves
without even knowing it.
Here
is where we get into the actual helping of the
condition to get better through the use of the
proper type of shoe and the techniques that are
used to aid in correction of the situation.
Let’s start with the type of shoe that is used.
The
shoe has a rolled toe at
the front to help the foot roll over faster and
reduce the strain in the mechanical ability of the
foot. At the heel of
the shoe is a wedge that has been created to raise
the heel up off of the ground. This is done to
accomplish a couple of different end results. The
first is to allow the foot to be at a more natural
angle and
allow for better blood flow throughout
the entire foot so that it can be properly
nourished and allow it to grow correctly. The
second is that with the better blood flow we will
get a healthier foot that will be stronger and
better able to support the
entire weight throughout the whole foot. Third is
also from the raising of the heel with the wedge
and it allows the foot to operate more correctly
to its best mechanical advantage and at the same
time taking a great amount of stress off of the
main supportive tendon.
All of these points will make the foot work better
and will also allow for greater comfort for the
horse. Greater comfort means less pain and less
pain makes for a happier and better performing
horse.
I
have in the past have seen the use of wedge pads
used
between the foot and the shoe to create the same
effect. Although it may seem to work on paper and
in theory, it will not have the same effect as
making a proper corrective shoe. This I do state
that since plastic will wear rather quickly in the
area of the heels when they are flexing and
grinding themselves into the plastic pad, thus
making a grove that allows the angle of the foot
to
once again start to drop. This will defeat the
entire process of the building of the heel.
I have found that nothing works as good as the
steel shoe.
The
back feet of the horse are trimmed and
managed in the same manner as in the front feet.
The main thing that has to be understood here is
that when the problem of underslung heels is
present in the front feet it will most likely be
carried onto the rear feet as well. This is due to
the fact that it is the techniques that are
followed by certain farriers that do cause the
greater share of underslung heels, so it is only
natural that the problem will carry into the rear
feet as well.
Creating
a faster rate of recovery from this condition will
depend greatly on the ability of the farrier
to
allow the rear feet and legs to carry the greater
than normal amount of weight. Doing this will
allow the stress to be removed from the front legs
and take the huge amount of weight from the front
end that has been supported by the weakened and
over stressed front feet and legs. The creation of
this weight transfer comes from the understanding
of horse conformation and
allowing the balance of
the horse to go back to a more natural position
and
the creation of fluid motion.
The
balancing of the rear feet will allow for the
proper alignment of
the hips and
back to take place naturally. The natural
alignment of these two body and skeleton sections
are done by the use of biomechanics that allow the
alignments to happen the way nature intended and
help the body of the horse to be able to take care
of itself from the inside out.
The
true understanding of biomechanics
is
allowing the nerves that control the membrane
that
covers the soft tissues in
the body to relax, that in turn allows the soft
tissue to
relax and fall back into the place it was
intended. Once that the soft tissue has relaxed it
will release the pressure to the bone or
section of skeleton that the soft tissue is
attached to allowing that specific bone of
skeleton section to fall back into its proper
position, creating a natural alignment within
the body from the inside out.
This
picture shows a well-rounded hip that
is balanced and
even. This means that both of the hip joints are
in the correct position and
that neither of the two are either higher or lower
than the other. For if the hip joints were out of
balance or
misaligned one would be higher than the other and
would be quite noticeable. This is more fully
explained in my
newest book titled "Natural Movement
Through Balance and Motion".
In the area of the back we must look to being able
to properly maintain and balance
the
back of the horse to allow for the greatest amount
of comfort and flexibility to be realized. This is
done through the understanding of conformation
of
the horse and the ability to properly create the
required balance that any one particular horse may
need. In this case the back is still slightly out
of alignment .
This is due to the fact that the line that has
been drawn from the top most point of the hip
should
line up with the top most point of the withers. In
this case the lining up of the withers is somewhat
lower than the height of the hips. This is due to
the fact that the creation of the underslung heel
problem
in the rear feet does not allow us to comfortably
remove sufficient amount of toe while having
adequate amount of heel to properly balance and
support the
rear of the horse. As the program progresses and
we are able to grow more heel on the rear feet and
at the same time remove greater amounts of toe in
relationship to heel the hips will be moved to a
more rear position, dropping the hips slightly and
lining up more evenly with the top most point of
the withers. As this happens a smoother and
flatter back will also be created. This too is
better explained in the new book.
As
the program of correction progresses and the front
feet and the rear feet become much more balanced
the
entire body of the horse will start to become much
more supple and athletic in nature. As the horse
becomes more athletic it will be an indication
that the horse is much more comfortable and the
removal of pain has been accomplished.
As
the program progresses and the feet become larger
than there present size the need to have as much
shoe sticking out at various places will be less
drastic. Although not as much shoe will not be
left exposed there is still a need to allow for
enough shoe to remain out past the end of the heel
of
the foot for sufficient support and
enough heel area expansion on the side of the shoe
to maintain the proper maintenance and operation
of the foot. For if you go back to the old
practice of fitting the shoe to the exact size and
shape of the foot it
will start to create the same old problem of
underslung heels that
has been eliminated.
Balance
of the feet in conjunction with the overall
workings of the body is a mixture of art and
science. The art is the working of the steel to
accomplish the end result and the science is the
use of physics,
geometry and other mathematical equations that
allow us to understand such things as; forward
motion, simple machines, flight patterns and
momentum,
just to name a few.
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Some Thoughts on
Underslung Heel Problems. |
