Cytek Shoeing- Sarra Avery

The horses foot plays an integral role in the whole equine anatomy. Its a complex unit of
bone, tendon, cartilage, blood vessels, tissue and membranes that collectively afect the
overall well-being of the horse. ow the hoof moves, rests, interacts with the ground,
twists, turns and performs has an impact on the whole horse and any impediment, no
matter how small, will force the horse to compensate resulting in musculos!eletal stress,
the old saying "no hoof, no horse# rings true and in such we ta!e particular care of our
horses feet.
$hoeing is carried out for two basic reasons% to prevent undue wear of the hoof as this
can result in damage to the foot, leading to pain and lameness and to spread the load
around the hoof wall.
&hat is a 'yte! horseshoe(
It is a horseshoe designed and formed to )t and support the hoof bone. The shoe is
shaped li!e the hoof bone with a wide webbed sole. *ther innovations include the
bevelling, which will facilitate brea! over during movement. The tungsten pins are
necessary to stabili+e the foot on a hard surface, to avoid slipping at the point of brea!
over. The pins go into pre-made holes that are placed in direct relationship with the point
of brea! over in the foot, which is at the tip of the hoof bone. The internal aspect of the
shoe is slightly concave. This feature prevents direct contact between the internal
surface of the shoe and the sole of the hoof. The space between the shoe and the sole is
)lled with )ne grained sand or soil and provides and helps increasing shoc! absorption,
while at the same time stimulating the sole horn to produce a thic!er sole.
The 'yte! shoe allows the hoof to be maintained between shoeing because the shoe has
no toe or quarter clips. This means the shoes are )tted bac! from the toe, allowing the
hoof to wear more naturally. Their )t also provides ongoing heel support. ,esearch has
shown that the front of the hoof wall is not a primary weight bearing section of the foot-
its the sole . between the apex of the frog and the front wall . that bears much of the
horses weight and is responsible for supporting the pedal bone. The unique broad toe
design of the 'yte! shoe promotes soil compaction between the sole and the shoe. This
is desirable because it means the sole becomes weight bearing, which in turn stimulates
maximum blood supply throughout the hoof capsule. The soil build up also supports the
foot enabling the frog to perform as a shoc! absorber. &hilst 'yte! believe soil build up
in the sole cavity is desirable, they are not suggesting that hooves should be left
unchec!ed for stones or other debris that may cause irritation or lameness.
The main bene)ts on cyte! shoeing are as listed on their website%
-/01*,$ T2 ,234'TI*5 */ $T,2$$ I5 *T2, 6I70825T$ 053 $T,4'T4,2$ I5 T2
3I$T06 6I89
-06621I0T2$ 9*52 053 84$'62 62$I*5$
-I8:,*12$ /*,&0,3 T,4$T I5 6*'*8*TI*5
-:,*1I32$ '*8:62T2 $4::*,T /*, T2 $*62 */ T2 **/ 053 T2 **/ 9*52
-I$ I325TI'06 I5 T2 /,*5T 053 I53 627 7I125 T0T T2 $0:2 */ T2 **/ 9*52
IT$26/ I$ I325TI'06 I5 T2 /,*5T 053 I53 6I89
-/0'I6IT0T2$ T2 '*,,2'T /45'TI*5 */ T2 '2'; 6I70825T
-'*,,2'T$ T2 *,$2$ 050T*8I'06 0<I$ T* 50T4,06 :*$ITI*5
-I8:,*12$ T2 :2,/*,805'2 */ T2 *,$2
-T2 /,*7 ,2'*12,$ IT$ 50T4,06 /45'TI*5 0$ 04<I6I0,= 20,T 053 125*4$ :48:
053 /0'I6IT0T2$ $4//I'25T 96**3 'I,'460TI*5 &ITI5 **/ TI$$42$.
$o how did the 'yte! shoe only get discovered in >??@(
'yte! type shoes have been around for many years, although the name is quite new the
concept has been here before.
$ome of the earliest forms of shoeing have been traced bac! to ,oman times- these were
!nown as ippo-sandals. The entire foot was covered, mainly for protection from
caltrops, which would be thrown out by the infantry to stop 'alvary. 'altrops are made of
iron and no matter how they land always have a spi!e pointing upwards- they could inAict
a lot of damage to the horse if it was unfortunate enough to stand on one. They had a bit
of leather tie the sandal onto the horse%
0 ippo sandal
The &avy-web shoe appears 'ira.>>BB, C5ormanD$axon time periodE.
8inimal metal on Fust the outer rim, as iron was being used as currency it was expensive
so only the wealthy could aford such an expensive item. This design of shoe only
allowed weight bearing on the horny wall, was cheaper and quic!er to ma!e, and became
the )rst rim shoe. 3epending upon the cost and availability of man power and metal the
horse shoe changes through history.
&hen metal starts to become cheaper again, so the shoes start to become wider giving
more sole coverage, and so by circa >GBB the wavy-web shoe disappears and what later
became !nown as the 3ove shoe starts to be used.
3ove shoe
The next dramatic change comes in the >HIBs when the ;eyhole shoe appeared, and
was the )rst sole shoe.
;2=*62 $*2
0 sole shoe can be de)ned by the following points%
-self )nding point of brea! over
-dished so that on hard ground the brea! over is further bac!, and on soft ground the
shoe will sin! down moving the brea! over forwards.
- the nail holes are right on the edge of the shoe, $o by placing the shoe on the edge of
the sole and pitching your nails accordingly the shoe would be under the sole thus
supporting the pedal bone thru which most of the weight passes.
-dirt impaction, the wider the shoe the more dirt presses up supporting the pedal bone.
9y the >@BB->J>Is an even wider shoe is being used, the Tongue shoe. The nail holes are
the same as the ;eyhole shoe set to the edge- dished so it has a self )nding point of
brea! over- but even more sole coverage meaning more dirt impaction thus pedal bone
support.
$o at this point in history the entire sole is covered, maximum metal is used to support
the hoof.
Tongue shoe
$uddenly the shoe changes again, reverting bac! to a &avy-web shoe, the modern day
rim shoe. 8etal becomes expensive and man power is at a premium so only the outer
horny wall is covered.
0s the Industrial ,evolution stepped in, you simply cant mass produce sole shoes, but
you can mass produce rim shoes, so the )nancial pressures set the trend.
8any horses start to go lame and then not being able to wor!, tarmac is introduced on
the roads and surgical shoesDcorrective shoeing is brought in.
0nd that brings us to this century...
There are many divided opinions on the 'yte! shoe- many traditional farriers have a very
negative view on the shoe itself.
The fact is, there has been many a horse, on its last chance been brought bac! into wor!
with the help of this type of shoe.
0 'yte! horse shoe ta!es a foot with a balanced trim and short toe, and gives it support.
There is nothing magical about these shoes. They are not therapeutic, they are not
remedial, they are not corrective, they are going of old methods, the way it used to be
done.
The maFor diference between a 'yte! shoe and a rim shoe is the distribution of load.
The 'yte! shoe Cowing to its width and placement on the footE ta!es the reactive load of
a horse in movement, and distributes it evenly over the foot, and subsequently through
the s!eletal system of the horse.
0 ,im shoe, Cowing to its lac! of width and placement on the footE, ta!es the reactive
load of a horse in movement and channels it all on the wall of the horse. The rim shoe
loads the wall. The 'yte! shoe, loads the foot.
The ,im shoe, is designed to )t to the wall of the horses foot, because of the design of
the shoe, the constraints on where it is attached, a great deal of wall length is required in
order for the shoe to be )tted correctly. 0s many now !now . length creates leverage.
The more length, the more leverageK
The 'yte! shoe is designed to locate under the pedal bone Csole supportE, as such it sits
bac! further on the foot, brea! over is bought bac!, ma!ing the horses gaits smoother,
and more eLcient, the pedal bone is supported . ta!ing away any pain caused by
previous lac! of support.
0 rim shoe and 'yte! are nailed on however, its the si+e D design of the shoe that
denotes distribution of load, and not where the shoe is nailed. The bigger the surface
area of the shoe, the bigger the distribution of load
Cytek shoe
Rim Shoe
I believe that the )tting of this shoe in the wrong hands could be detrimental for the
horse, if )tted correctly it gives a good support and brea! over for the horse.
8any vets recommended these types of shoes for hind end issues as the brea! over is
faster.
In summary the shoe itself is a good idea on paper, but in theory why has it caused such
a stir( Is it because we are scared of change or is it that the results have not been proven
long enough for many to ma!e the change(
The Fury is still out on that one, and I thin! 'yte! shoeing will be on trial for many years
to come.
References:
www.cyte!revolution.com
www.cyte!horse.com.au
8aga+ine- oof 9eats written april MBBM 5atures hoof :rint by elen &ard.
8aga+ine- =our orse "'yte! the future of shoeing(# by elen 8ilban!
www.cyte!horse.com
www.cyte!horseshoeing.con.au
http%DDen.wi!ipedia.orgDwi!iDorseshoe
http%DDwww.equisearch.comDarticleDeqhorseshoH>B
Nohn 9riggs C'yte! /arrierE