Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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FARRIER'S SHOEING APPLIANCE
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to shoeing of hoofed animals, and, more
particularly, to an appliance which facilitates shoeing by a farrier, extends
the
life of the shoeing, and facilitates repair of a cracked hoof.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Farriers apply shoes to a variety of animals on a regular basis. These
include draught, show and pleasure horses, ponies and mules. These shoes
last an average of four to six weeks, and then the animal must be re-shod.
The reason for the relatively short life of a shoeing is that the nails which
secure the shoe to the animal are clinched against the relatively soft side of
the animal's hoof wall, and can puff through or become loose, thus loosening
the shoe.
Loosening of the shoeing nails is caused by lateral or wedging forces
imposed on the shod hoof by walking on uneven ground and by such
activities as cutting, reining, roping, barrel racing, jumping and landing
after a
jump. AN of these actions cause the shoeing nails to work lose and eventually
lead to a thrown shoe. This causes the frequent re-shoeing that is all too
common and expensive.
Thus, there is a need for a shoeing technique that increases the life of
a shoeing.
Besides frequent re-shoeing, another problem confronting animal
owners and farriers is the frequent incidence of cracked or split hooves.
These must be repaired immediately or the hoof can become infected and the
animal can become lame - neither of which is desirable. Many treatments for
split hooves have been tried over the years. One is to bind the hoof with a
cemented wrap. Another is to drive pegs, studs or nails Into the hoof flanking
the crack and wire or otherwise cinch the hoof parts together to close the
crack so that it can heal. None of these techniques has proven to be an
entirely successful hoof crack treatment.
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Thus, there is a need for an improved technique for repairing cracked
hooves.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is one object of this invention to provide a shoeing
technique that increases the life of a shoeing.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved technique
for repairing cracked hooves.
In one aspect, this invention features a method of shoeing animals that
comprises the steps of:
providing a hoof appliance that is a flexible flat plate having a center
axis and a pair of wings extending therefrom, said wings including a plurality
of closely-spaced apertures,
wrapping the plate about a hoof with the axis generally at the hoof
front,
positioning a shoe on the hoof,
inserting nails through spaced portions of the shoe, through the hoof
and out through said apertures in both wings, and
clinching the nail ends onto the wings.
In another aspect, this invention features a method of repairing a
cracked hoof of an animal that comprises the steps of:
providing a hoof appliance that is a flexible flat plate having a center
axis and a pair of wings extending therefrom, said wings including a plurality
of closely-spaced apertures,
wrapping the plate about a hoof so that the appliance spans the crack
with a wing on either side thereof,
positioning a shoe on the hoof,
anchoring the appliance in place by inserting nails through spaced
portions of the shoe, through the hoof and out through said apertures in both
wings, and
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clinching the nail ends onto the wings, thereby preventing the hoof
from spreading apart and progression of the crack during movement of the
animal.
In a further aspect, this invention comprises _a hoof appliance for
facilitating animal shoeing, comprising a flexible flat plate having a center
axis
and a pair of wings extending therefrom, said wings including a plurality of
closely-spaced apertures for receiving shoeing nail ends, said plate being
deformable to conform to the outside of a hoof.
Preferably the wings are angled upwardly relative to a line
perpendicular to center axis at a predetermined angle such that the lower
edge of the wings conforms generally to the edge of the hoof. The angle can
vary from approximately 25° to 40°, depending on which type of
animal, and
whether the front or hind hooves are being shod.
These and other objects and features of this invention will become
more readily apparent upon reference to the following detailed description of
a preferred embodiment, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in
which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 a is a plan view of a hoof appliance according to this invention,
having a wing angle of 30°;
Fig. 1 b is a view similar to Fig. 1 b, but with a wing angle of
35°:
Fig. 2 is a side view of an animal hoof showing the appliance of this
invention wrapped about the hoof prior to nailing;
Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig, 2, showing the appliance after nailing;
Fig. 4 is a front view of an animal hoof showing the appliance of this
invention wrapped about the hoof prior to nailing;
Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing the appliance after nailing;
Fig. 6 Is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing the appliance applied to a
cracked hoof;
Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 5, showing the appliance applied to a
cracked hoof; and
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Fig. 8 is an enlarged partial sectional view illustrating a clinched nail
securing a shoe and appliance to an animal hoof.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In Figs. 1 a and 1 b, an appliance 10, according to this invention, is a flat
piece of galvanized sheet metal 12 that comprises a pair of wings 14, 16 that
extend from a center axis 18 that extends from a central notch 20 in the upper
surface of sheet metal 12.
Wings 14, 16 include a plurality of closely-spaced, punched apertures
22, 24. Of course, appliance 10 could be made from other materials, such as
aluminum, which are hard, but are readily deformable to conform to the
curved surface of an animal hoof. It could also be made from a heavy mesh,
which necessarily has apertures. Apertures 22, 24 are sized to receive the
end of a shoeing nail, and are here illustrated as numbering four rows of
sixteen apdrtures each. Other numbers and spacing of apertures could be
used, just so that they collectively provide a plurality of locations easily
found
by the end of a nail when driven.
Various types of horses and mules have different shaped hooves,
which are trimmed by the farrier at different trim angles, depending on how
the animal is to be worked. For example, horses such as hunters and
jumpers have hooves that are trimmed at trim angles different from reining
horses, which are different from pleasure horses, which may be different from
mules. The lower edges 26, 28 of wings 14, 16 are angled upwardly relative
to a line x perpendicular to center axis at a wing angle, denoted a, to
accommodate different hoof trim angles. The wing angle a can vary from
approximately 25° to 40°, depending on which type of animal it
is to be
applied to, the trim angled to which the hoof is trimmed, and whether the
front
or hind hooves are being shod. A common wing angle a to fit most horses'
front hooves is 30°, as illustrated in Fig. 1 a. A common wing angle a
to fit
most horses' hind hooves, is 35°, as illustrated in Fig. 1 b.
Appliance 10 can be offered in 'several other standard configurations of
wing angle a to accommodate the majority of conventional hoof trim angles.
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Special situations are accommodated by having the farrier trim the wings 14,
16 so that the lower edges 26, 28 to conform to the lower edge of the trimmed
hoof.
Figs. 2 and 4 illustrate appliance 10 as it is initially applied to a hoof 3c)
at the distal end of leg 32 of an animal, here illustrated as a horse. Wings
12
and 14 are bent around the contour of the wall of hoof 30, with lower edges
26, 28 conforming to the lower edge 34 of hoof 30. Appliance 10 is
sufficiently malleable to hold conformation to the hoof shape.
Referring now to Figs. 3, 5 and 8, after appliance 10 is in place, a
conventional shoe 36 is applied to hoof 30 and nails are driven up through
shoe 36 and through the side walls of hoof, as is conventional. However,
instead of clinching the ends of nails 38 against the outer wall surface of
hoof
30, the ends of nails 38 project through one of the apertures 22, 24 and are
clinched over against the outer surface of appliance 10. As seen in Fig. 8,
each nail 38 is driven up through a hole 40 in one side of shoe 36, the tough
wall material 42 of hoof 30, and out through an aperture 24 in wing 16. The
same procedure is used on the other, unillustrated side of shoe 36 and hoof
30 with wing 14.
In this manner, shoe 36 is more securely held on hoof 30, since it is
more difficult for nail 38 to pull through appliance 10 than through a hoof if
appliance 10 were not used, as is conventional. If desired for show, the outer
surface of appliance 10 can be painted black (to hide its appearance) or any
decorative color. Glitter or any other decorative coating may be ~ applied to
appliance 10 to enhance the appearance of hoof 30 for show purposes.
Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, a hoof 30' includes a crack 44. In this
case, one wing 16 is positioned on one side of the crack 44, and wing 14 on
the other side. In this manner, appliance 10 prevents hoof 30 from spreading
apart, and progressing the crack 44, when it engages the ground to promote
healing. Appliance 10 also provides a~ barrier to shield the crack from
intrusion by dirt or other matter.
Appliance 10 Is preferably made of a thin, galvanized sheet metal that
is easily bent around an animal's hoof, and can be readily trimmed by
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conventional shears to conform to the bottom of the hoof when in place. This
will accommodate the various trim angles given the hoof by the farrier when
trimming the hoof. Hunters and jumpers, pleasure horses, reining horses,
such as barrel racers and roping horsed, show horses of all types, and other
horses and other animals, such as mules, may require different hoof trim
angles, according to the owners° requirements. The hoof trim angle will
determine whether the appliance 10 must be trimmed.
Hunters, jumpers and reining horses, among others, place excessive
forces on the shoes when the animal is working. This all-too-frequently
causes shoes to work loose and to be thrown, which affects the immediate
performance of the animal and requires immediate re-shoeing. Thrown and
loose shoes are caused by the shoeing nails pulling through the relatively
hoof material. Since shoeing nails, when used with the appliance of this
invention, are clinched against the relatively hard galvanized metal surface,
they cannot easily work loose, no matter how severe the forces placed on
them by the animal.
Use of the shoeing appliance of this invention dramatically extends the
life of a shoeing. Normally, a horse must be re-shod every 4 - 6 weeks, and
more often, if the horse subjects its shoes to excessive side forces, such as
hunters, jumpers, and reining horses do. Due to the growth of the hoof, a
horse or other animal will grow out of its shoes, which requires a new hoof
trimming and shoeing. Tests using the appliance of this invention have
shown that a shoeing can last upwards of 16 weeks without harming the
animal's hooves.
The shoeing appliance of this invention can be made with wings
angled for standard hoof trim angles. Special, different trim angles are
accommodated by the ability to trim the wings to suit each special situation.
Using the shoeing appliance of this invention to assist in the healing of
cracked hooves provides a two-fold benefit. First, the appliance prevents the
cracked parts of the hoof from spreading apart during animal movement,
because the appliance holds the hoof parts securely together. Second, the
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appliance provides a barrier to the intrusion of foreign matter into the hoof,
thus preventing infection of the wound.
Thus, the shoeing appliance of this Invention greatly extends the life of
a shoeing, inhibits the incidence of thrown shoes, and promotes healing of
cracked hooves. Although galvanized metal is disclosed as preferred, other
malleable and trimmable materials, such as aluminum or other metals and
composites, could also be used.
While only a preferred embodiment has been described and shown,
obvious modifications are contemplated within the scope of this invention, and
the following claims.
