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THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[April 1, 1912. 



Rubber Hoof Pads for Horses. 



WHETHER you call them hoof pads, horseshoe pads, rubber 

 horseshoes, or any other name by which they are known 

 to the trade, is immaterial; they all refer to a compara- 

 tively new product that has grown to be a highly important factor 

 in general commerce and in the rubber trade in particular. 

 The first pad put into practical use was known as the "Demp- 

 sey Pad," called after the name of its inventor, which appeared 

 twenty-five years ago. It was what is known to the public today 

 as a canvas back bar pad. 



In 1891 Michael Hallanan, of New York, invented and patented 

 a full sized hoof pad, the merits of which were so pronounced 

 that it quickly gained a place for itself with horse owners and 

 veterinarians. The same gentleman soon afterward brought out 

 another pad, serving the same purpose, which was fortified with a 

 firm and durable base of leather. 



Of different styles and patterns, it might be said, there is al- 

 most no end, each manufacturer turning out all the way from 

 twelve to twenty. It is safe to say, however, that there are not 

 far from 100 distinct patterns of rubber hoof pads in the market. 



It was only natural, when Mr. Hallanan's idea was seen to be a 

 good one, that others should come into the field. Though its be- 

 ginning was on a very small scale, this industry has advanced by 

 rapid strides until it has reached great magnitude. The propor- 

 tion of horses in New York City that are shod with rubber hoof 

 pads is estimated at fifty per cent. Other cities show a smaller 

 percentage ; singularly enough Boston, with only 20 per cent, of 

 its horses rubber shod, being at the foot of the list among large 

 American cities. 



Of twenty cab drivers on Broadway, New York, interviewed, 

 all of them answered to the efifect that their horses could not get 

 along without pads. The New York fire department horses in 

 the asphalt districts are padded, and of the 2,000 horses employed 

 in the police service, those padded number 1,500. On the other 

 hand, only a very small percentage of the 2.000 horses in the 

 Street Cleaning Department are supplied with rubber pads — 

 probably not over 2 per cent., but that number is increasing. 

 The veterinarians of the above mentioned city departments were 

 impressed with the necessity of t!:e "-vibber pad. One of them 

 said that he would have all the horses of his department padded 

 if it were not for the fact that the pads were so high priced. 



All horse hoof pads excepting the Air Cushion pad can be 

 divided into two classes ; the Full Front and the Bar pad The 

 Air Cushion pad invented by W. J. Kent is in a class by itself. 



In the Bar pad, a solid bar of rubber runs across the heel and 

 is attached to a piece of leather which conforms to the shape of 

 the horse's foot. The Full Front pad has the bar, and, in addi- 



tion thereto, a rubber ridge running inside and filling the rim of 

 the three-quarter shoe. The Air Cushion pad has a hollow 

 cavity next to the foot, which forms a bulb on the ground, and 

 thus takes all the pressure from the sole of the foot; wliile owing 



to the amount of rubber used it has a non-slipping quality which 

 no other pad has. It is made of very high class rubber, and has 

 a leather back. Some cheaper pads, however, are made, having 

 friction duck as a base. The Frog pad is practically out of use, 

 not more than one pair being used to 5,000 of the other kinds, 

 where three-quarter shoes are used in adjusting them to the 

 foot. 



The accompanying cut. which shows the cross section of a 

 hoof and Air Cushion pad, gives not only an accurate idea of 

 the anatomy of the horse's foot, but shows how admirably the 

 .'\ir Cushion pad does the work for which it is designed. 



The purposes of the hoof pad are multifarious, the most im- 

 portant being to prevent injury to the horse as the result of the 

 concussion that must necessarily ensue when the hoof strikes upon 

 hard pavement. The Air Cushion pad absolutely prevents this, 

 and wiiile other pads may not entirely prevent it, they reduce it 



Cross Section of Pad and Hoof. 



a — Coronet bone. 



b — Coffin bone. 



c — Navicular bone. 



d-d — Capsular ligament coffin bone. 



c — Plantar cushion forming bulb of 



heel. 

 f — Front wall of hoof. 

 g — Sensitive laminae. 

 h — Plantar cushion. 

 i — Perforans tendon. 

 ;' — Sensitive sole. 



!c — Horny sole. 



ka — Horny frog. 



/-/ — Leather sole. 



m — Rubber cushion for heel and 

 quarters. 



n — Rubber elastic bulb. 



c — .'\ir space. 



p — Rubber flange under shoe. 



q — Space for entrance and expul- 

 sion of air. 



r — Iron tip shoe. 



to a minimum ; and besides this, they are both a cure and pre- 

 ventive of corns, contraction of the hoof, quarter cracks, or sand 

 cracks ; prevent slipping, and make it next to impossible for a 

 horse to pick up nails or stones, or cut his feet with glass. The 

 rubber pad also enables a horse to stop and start quicker, gives 

 him a stronger foothold, and gives the driver a firmer control. 



