Patten Bar Shoe - It's a Behavior Shoe
This older Thorobred gelding bowed a tendon in his left front foot in the Fall of 2005 and was very lame. The veterinarian at hand requested that he be stall-rested for several weeks. I built him a Patten Bar shoe for the affected leg. The purpose of the shoe is to change the horse's behavior by lifting the heel high enough that it caused him to lean over and put most of his front weight on the right foot. He can still walk and weight-bear, but will generally be forced to use his right foot more than the left. His bowed tendon injury healed, and I took the Patten shoe off after two resets.
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