Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Elastomeric Hoof Boots, John Hanley

Masters

The design, manufacture and testing of a prototype elastomeric equine boot is described in this thesis. Thoroughbred horses may suffer from a number of serious hoof disorders. These include stone bruising, navicular syndrome and hoof wall separation. Excessive concussion in the equine hoof is a major contributory factor in most of the problems horses experience in their lower limbs. Bandaging of a horses foot after injury is time consuming as well as being labour intensive. The proposed boot serves a number of purposes; by replacing bandages during poulticing it plays a part in faster healing of foot ailments. It can …