Has anyone heard of a farrier using the Razor Pro Pads for a horse with under run heels? My farrier has tried different pads to help with my horses severely under run heels (he had them when I bought him). I saw these and thought them may give frog support without causing frog damage after long term use.
No type of pad/shoeing is going to help rehab underrun heels if the trim isn’t right and the feet are not properly balanced. If anything they could make the issue worse by adding more pressure to heels that are already run forward.
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Thank you for the reply. We have tried several different pads to distribute the weight bearing to another area other than the heels to reduce the pressure on them.
I was just asking if anyone had heard of trying these before I discussed them with my farrier.
I have to agree with BHK. I trim my own. Underrun heels are a trimming problem. The heels have to be rasped back under the support of the leg. Pads are not going to do this. Once they are rasped back, the heel will actually appear to be higher. I find it appalling that farriers don’t know this. I have learned to trim my own horses because I can’t find anyone in my area who does an acceptable job. Please educate yourself on what a properly trimmed hoof should look like so you can be an advocate for your horse.
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The horse has been looked at by several very experienced farriers and my veterinarian. The heels are severely under run and no amount of trimming them or rasping them is going to correct it.
I realized that often time people post items on here with no experience but some of us do actually advocate for our horses by getting second, third and fourth opinions from experienced equine professionals.
Considering that you trim your own then you have not had the experience of shoeing for 30+ years and traveling all over the country attending farrier training. Two of the farriers that looked at/worked on the horse have this level of experience.
OP, no experience here - had to google them. They look like an interesting concept. There are several farrier-based performance groups on FB - might want to ask out there?
My farrier used the Flip-Flop pads on my horse to correct NPA in the hinds.
And, please try not to bash those who tell you to watch out for a proper trim. We get a LOT of questions on here about this sort of thing and it’s appalling how many farriers are lackadaisical in their trimming - and blow off the client when questioned.
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I’ve had two CJFs create a nearly crippling lame horse due to either refusing to acknowledge (or perhaps failing to recognize?) my mare’s increasingly poor angles and severely underrun heels and bullnosing. I suspect this hoof morphology is largely misunderstood in the industry.
I agree with both posters, it sounds like you have a trim problem. You’ve got to find a hoof care provider that understands the concept of getting the bony column back under the horse, whether that be via trim or mechanical forces (eg., an elliptical shoe). In my experience, farriers like to slap pads and wedges on to solve the problem without addressing the trim. Once the foot is aligned, you shouldn’t need a pad to stimulate the back of the foot because the digital cushion should be able to do its job.
I’m sorry that you don’t seem to like the answers that have been given to you thus far. I hope you find a few opinions that seem to fit your preferred narrative.
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It IS a trimming issue… I’m going to bet this horse also has long toes, thin soles etc… they usually come together. The reason the heels are underrun is because they are too long, but instead of growing down they grow forward and eventually fold under and crush… I do not agree that they cannot be corrected. I’ve done it on a horse who I struggled with for years with farriers telling me there was nothing that could be done… all while they were making them worse.
Without pictures it is hard to see everything that’s going on, but I guarantee you this is a trimming issue. IMO the easiest fastest way to get this done is to pull shoes and put the horse in boots with pads. This will allow for very frequent trims and if the frogs do not look healthy you probably also have some thrush to treat.
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Hi there - my TB was in Razor pads up front for about a year and a half as we were correcting the underrun heel/long toe issue. He moved to the Razors and an open-heeled shoe from heartbars and packing/pads once we had some sole depth and the heartbars were no longer needed. He’s been out of the Razors for about 8 months now, and just goes in a normal open-heeled shoe with hoof packing and pads.
It was a 3 year long process (under the guidance of podiatry-specialized DVM’s and experienced farriers) to get his feet back to some semblance of reliable normal, and the Razors were a part of that process. He did really well in them and there were no adverse effects on his frogs.
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No personal experience with Razor Pro pads, but lots of experience with underrun heels! With steel shoeing, I have seen more folks be successful using something like a spider plate and soft (shore 20-35ish) DIM packing than with any more rigid pad. My personal approach tends to be either a composite shoe set up with DIM or a padded boot, in terms of support and protection.
But all that is 100% moot if the trim isn’t on point. Rasping heels back is usually not the way I would go with an underrun heel, as they are so often found on feet with low-to-neg palmar/plantar P3 angles, and you can’t rasp the heels BACK without also lowering them. Slippering the heels is often successful, occasionally just leaving them alone and slightly floating them on DIM is the way to go. All in conjunction with correcting toe length and bringing the footprint back underneath the horse - whether via trim only and protection in a boot, or trim + composite if the foot is too compromised to come all the way back initially.
Editing to add an example of ~10 month change in my own personal horse. Apologies for image qualities in the January shots - he didn’t really tie terribly well or stand still at that point 
- the lateral view in Jan is also not ideal angle, but if you look at the right front (visible in the background), you can see that the hairline is essentially on the ground. Where the rasped bevel ends on the LF foot in the foreground is where the heel purchase begins - essentially in front of the bony column of the leg. This rehab was done primarily in padded boots; the addition of a composite glue package in the last 2 months have really allowed me to make huge gains in bringing the toe to the appropriate length. Significant diet change was also a big part of his success.
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Those photos are very helpful! What a nice change in 10 months time.
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Thank you! Glad they are helpful 
