Document Type

Article

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Available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike 4.0 International Licence

Abstract

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 also provide temporary protection during light working on hard surfaces or at grass. Another unique feature of the boot is to enhance performance, through optimising shock absorption and eliminating the need for unsafe fastening devices that are typical of many designs currently available. The sides of the boot are made up of an elastic material while the sole of the boot will consist of a wear resilient compound. The manufacture and moulding of an initial prototype is described, along with a discussion on how computer simulated models of horse movement were generated. The measurement and digitising of a typical horses foot and its modelling using computer software is discussed. Thereafter, manufacture and moulding of an initial prototype is described along with a discussion on how computer simulated models of horse movement were generated. The manufacture of prototype boots culminated in a series of field tests. The field test procedures are discussed and the results of these are compared with a finite element analysis (FEA) model of the boot. Finally, conclusions identifying the significant elements of the design, production and evaluation of a novel equine boot are offered, followed by proposals and recommendations for further work.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21427/D7NG7K

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