Now what happens?

The purpose of this article is to give prospective cytek users a bit of a walkthrough on what to expect.

Firstly, expect criticism.

If its not that longtime friend of yours who thinks they know everything about horses telling you that Cytek’s are bad, it will probably be your barn owner, agistment manager, property owner, and lets not forget, your rimshoe farrier.

All of the above are going to go out of their way to plant the seeds of doubt in your mind. But if you are at the stage where you are deciding to put the shoes on, you are probably in a better frame of mind to “take it on the chin” or politely let them know that this is something that you have to discover for yourself.

Next, expect to be shocked!

The reactions that I see on the faces of people who are having their horses cytek’ed for the first time, is in a word, priceless. Because no-one thinks a horses feet can go that short. We are a society of conditioned responses. I witnessed on facebook the other day a woman being criticized because her horse was “underweight”. It wasn’t underweight, it had a high muscle content, and was lean – It was not underweight. We are a society that is conditioned to see “big” as “not so big” Our shire horses, and our Clyde’s carry far to much weight, because the breed specific says that they should be well rounded. Well rounded does not mean morbidly obese. But I digress.. I believe this flaw transfers to the feet. We are so conditioned to seeing long toes, that short toes look alien, and wrong, and unacceptable.

Be prepared to stand there in absolute shock. Depending on the current state of your horses feet, and the associated illnesses of the foot, there could be a substantial amount of length to come off. This will come as a shock. But please be assured, the excessive toe length is what is causing your horses problems. He doesn’t need it.

Does this mean your horse is going to be cut so short he’s bleeding? God no! But he will probably be a hell of a lot shorter in his first trim than you would expect.

How will my horse react the first time? 

It depends on his current foot problems.

I’ve watched a horse with chronic long toes, who tripped constantly in a walk, and threw a shoe every week – trot off in his cyteks, immediately complete a three hour trail ride without so much as a stumble.

I’ve watched a horse limp in so lame that I myself felt pain just watching the horse struggle to move, only to move off so fast that the owner couldn’t get a photograph of her happy horse.

Personally, my thoroughbreds movement became much smoother instantly. I went out on our first trail ride and was able to achieve an extended trot, and slow canter – things my horse had never previously been able to do.

My mare, who had spent her entire life barefoot required cyteks to assist in the healing of her foot following a persistant abscess after months of wet weather. Her reaction was one of pure relief. Months of guarding against the pain in her foot disolved immediately when she realized she had the sole support she needed. When she put that particular foot down, her eyes rolled back in her head, she yawned, snorted, licked and chewed constantly until finally her eyes closed and she drifted off before the farrier had even finished putting the shoes on.

One thing is for sure. Your horse will benefit from having these shoes on

Don’t be surprised if your horse is a little tender over the next few days.

Don’t worry if you visit your horse the day after his first cytek shoeing, or maybe even the first few days – only to find him a little tender. This is normal. The pain isn’t foot pain – its muscle pain. In my first post I used a flipper analogy.  If you think of that now, he’s had his flippers removed after years of wearing them. The way he moves has changed, the muscles he now uses are different, he’s standing straighter. His tendons and muscles need to adjust to this new stance, he may well be tender, its nothing to be alarmed about.

I remember years ago working with a young girl who wore stilleto’s to work. Due to the nature of the industry I worked in at the time, our boss encouraged my colleague to wear flat shoes with a closed in toe. The day she wore flat shoes into work, she spent half the day walking around on her tip toes, as it was to quote her ” A habit of a lifetime”. She had trouble adjusting to the flat shoe.

This is what your horse will go through, he will need time to let his muscles and tendons adjust. It will pass, some horses quicker than others – just know that it will probably happen, and don’t be surprised when it does.

Don’t be surprised if he blows an abcess, or two.

It depends on the current pathologies in the horses foot. Does he have seedy toe? Laminitis? is he prone to abcesses anyway? Does he have serious toe cracks?

Then don’t be surprised if he abscesses in the first week to two weeks. Its normal. Ridding the foot of the extra length, and supporting the foot, gets the horse moving, and get the blood pumping through the foot – This may cause an abscess in the beginning.

Will my horse really sleep better? Are you kidding? 

Not kidding! Your horse will definitely sleep better! Think about it this way – you’ve taken away his chronic foot pain. The short toes enables him to sleep more comfortablly, he will be a happier horse!

What else will I notice?

Benefits of cytek shoeing include:

• Smoother gaits
• Smoother transitions
• Increase in muscle tone and topline
• Reduction in sweating
• Calmer horse out on the trails / in the arena
• Increase in energy
• Quicker recovery time after work

Think about it this way – with the shorter toes, your horse doesn’t need to work anywhere near as much as he did previously. He is not using anywhere near as much energy to do whatever it is you ask him to – this is going to manifest in a reduction in sweating, quicker recovery time, and and increase in energy.

His muscle tone and topline are going to increase because he’s no longer bracing against the pain in his feet, He is fluidly using his entire body to move in accordance with whatever instruction it is you are giving him, there is no longer any pain or tenderness holding him back, don’t be surprised if you have to get your saddle repacked!

Be prepared to dedicate a set amount of time to these shoes.

If you are going to put Cytek’s on your horse, you need to give them the time it takes to heal the foot.

There is no point putting the shoes on, only to rip them off a few weeks later stating that “the foot looked worse” or “he didn’t move differently” or other reasons..

Make the decision to put the shoes on, if the original shoeing doesn’t convince you – devote 3-6 months minimum to these shoes before deciding to move on. In 99.9% of cases the changes in the horse will be instant. In a very small percentage of horses (who’s feet are typically on deaths door) the changes will NOT be instant, and you need allow a few shoeings –

For example: When i put Cytek’s on my thoroughbred, his wall cracks didn’t grow out instantly. I was devestated. But, the cracks COULDNT’ grow out, as there was still way to much flare on the foot. Yes, the walls had been considerably unloaded, but the foot was still long, the first few trims served to balance the foot, and this caused the cracks to move from slightly off center, to actually taking a 90 degree turn, travelling horizontally for 1cm and then continuing back up the hoof. It was MONTHS before the cracks started growing out. And even then, lousy weather, and an insistant seedy toe infection constantly “rained on our parade”.

What I am trying to get across here is, you need to understand that it takes 6-9 months to regrow a hoof wall (depending on what part of the world you are from), and in seriously sick feet, it can take 12-18 months for a foot to be “normal”.

You need to devote enough time to let these shoes work. Its hard! People will be telling you “they don’t look any better” “told you they wouldn’t work” “I think his feet look worse”, you just have to rise above it and keep your eye on the bigger picture. If I can say one thing:

Let your horse be the judge.

Block everyone else out. What is your horse telling you? My thoroughbred has been cytek shod and lame free for two years.

Let your horse be the judge. You will see it in his personality. He will be happier, more relaxed, he will feel better to ride, he will be more willing to move, he will gain muscle tone and topline. He WILL tell you, that this is right.

Research your farrier!!

I cannot stress this enough! The cytek shoe is only going to be as good as the person applying it. Please, please make sure you ask around, ask for references from the farrier, contact the cytek website, if at all possible talk to other people who have their horses cyteked by the same farrier. The vast majority of these guys and girls are going to do a stellar job on your horse, but you need to make sure you are getting a certified cytek farrier.

Does my horse have to have bad feet to benefit from Cytek Shoes? 

Absolutely not. Isn’t prevention better than cure? The sad truth remains, that generally, people only hear about cytek shoes when their horse is an abscess away from being euthanised. ANY horse, with feet in ANY condition would benefit from Cytek shoes. Prevention is always better than cure!