Horseshoe with splaying, and stabilizer feature

摘要

A horseshoe with a stabilizer-feature and splaying has a U shaped metallic unitary body with left-right wings and an integral compliant leaf-spring disposed proximate to or in the horseshoe toe area. The leaf-spring may be crescent-shaped or chord-shaped and resiliently deforms upwards, exerting sideways-pressure causing splaying of the left-right wings. The leaf-spring may have a groove on either side to assist preparation before horseshoe installation. The crescent-shaped leaf-spring forms a cavity with the hoof underside in use, which cavity is optionally filled with a resilient material, e.g., silicone, obviating accumulation of dirt/debris. Stabilizers comprising a plurality of rows of beads formed integrally with the horseshoe bottom form a negative camber on the horseshoe-underside. The stabilizer rows may be staggered and assist in the stability of the horse during racing, especially at track-curves. The horseshoe may be cast/forged, blanked, or welded and can be mass-produced. Preferably, the horseshoe comprises hardened spring steel.

主权项

1. A horseshoe that when in use is capable of accommodating splaying of a horse hoof, said horseshoe comprising a generally U shaped unitary single piece solid metal body including a heel-region and including left and right body portions having metallic undersurfaces lying on a common bottom plane of the horseshoe, and a central toe area, said central toe area including a crescent shaped spring element that includes a convex outer edge and a concave inner edge, said spring element having resilience in a vertically upward direction that is perpendicular to said common bottom plane, said convex outer edge being substantially in said common bottom plane, said concave inner edge in use projecting below said common bottom plane by a projection-portion having a chosen design dimension which upon the horseshoe in use impacting ground, gets resiliently pushed vertically upwards to deliberately and mechanically cause and allow said left and right body portions of the horseshoe to splay, whereby, when said central toe area is not impacting the ground, said left and right body portions of the horseshoe tend to be repetitively and resiliently restored to their original positions without splaying, said metal horseshoe additionally including stabilizer means comprising rows of bead-like metal projections integrally formed on a bottom surface of the horseshoe to provide additional road grip while the horseshoe is in use on a race track.