This horse had a check ligament injury the vet suggested a 3 degree wedge pad, we did not have any wedge pads (I flew to CA for a clinic) so we made a 3 degree wedge pad with a roll of casting tape. We used a 3" X 4 yard roll of Equicast layered the casting material until we had enough to make a 3 degree wedge pad, set some bricks on the pad to compress the material in the shape of a wedge pad. We waited 10 minutes until the cast had harden then set the hoof on the wedge pad, checked the angle, traced the hoof, then cut the pad to fit.
Rocker Heel
We added a rocker heel, on many horses that land with a hard heel first landing I will rocker the heels a bit to help with the landing phase. We often forget to apply the same rules to a hoof landing that we apply to a hoof at the point of break over.
Finial Adjustments
We were able to make a 3 degree wedge pad with one roll of Equicast ( this is not the most economical method but it works when you need a pad and don't have one in your truck, it's cheaper than Next Day Air. We thought we made it a little thicker than we needed, however after it was rasped it was exactly 3 degrees as requested by the veterinarian. Once the wedge pad was placed on the hoof for alignment we wrapped the hoof. After the cast harden about 5 minuets we checked the hoof for alignment if we needed to make any finial adjustments we could file the finished cast.
Creative Use
This technique was done with the aid of a vet and the use of ultrasounds. We had an exact cause of lameness so there was no guessing how to treat it.
We put a small wedge on the opposite hoof just to give his gait more stability. He was only to walk at short intervals daily. His casts was changed after 3 weeks and in this picture he was on his last six weeks of his first treatment. This picture was taken at the vet's but when he got home he was dropped down one degree lower. The vet verified there was 50% improvement to his check ligament injury and he will proceed with the treatment for another 6 weeks and then be ultrasound again before lowering him again one degree.
This is a Thoroughbred and as with many horses of this breed, he has very flat hooves with very little concavity. The owners will keep him in casts even after this particular treatment with the wedge is completed.
We wanted to share this spontaneous and creative use of the Equicast.
