Our Research

For generations, leather has been the go-to material for horseshoe rim pads. It’s common, familiar, and available in every farrier's trailer. But when it comes to the extreme athletic demands of modern sporthorses, tradition doesn't equal protection.  That’s why we set out to make leather rim pads a thing of the past.

Our goal was to use modern materials and technologies to build the optimal hoof pad for our equine partners. To do this, we worked with The UC Davis Veterinary School of Medicine and The Racing Surfaces Laboratory in Lexington Kentucky.  But we didn’t just need to build the best pad: we needed the data to prove it.

We put several different versions through rigorous mechanical testing to simulate real equine forelimb loading at different gates.  Through this process, we believe we built a product that will massively benefit equine forelimb soundness.

If you are looking for true shock absorption and structural durability to safeguard your horse's limbs, it is time to upgrade to the HoofPads Sport-Flex Rim Pads. We will break down our data into 3 sections to show you why:

1. Defending Against "Creep" and Deformation

Horses are on their feet a lot. Over the course of a 6 week shoeing cycle, a large load goes on their hoof pads.  To account for this we put all our pads under a 1 hour static load test.  This is what we found:

  • Leather is highly susceptible to Permanent Deformation. After just 1 hour, the leather rim pads were permanently compressed 9.5% from their original thickness.  Leather won’t just steadily lose its function over a 6 week cycle - it will lose its function over the first day.
  • The HoofPads Solution: In comparison, our Sport-Flex pads strongly resist permanent flattening. While leather permanently deformed over 3X more than the Sport-Flex after one hour, our pads also recovered more stress at the conclusion of the test.  This means that our pads will keep protecting your horse’s feet throughout the cycle rather than just out of the farrier station.

2. Consistent Shock Absorption

The job of a rim pad is to act as a buffer between the ground and your horse's foot. Pads can either dissipate the energy of the forelimb when striking the ground, or they can rebound the energy right back into the hoof and body.  To test for this we did a series of cyclic loading tests at levels correlated with different horse gates.  We performed these tests both before and after the creep tests.

  • The Problem with Leather: While leather absorbs shock well straight out of the box, its ability to absorb shock degrades quickly.  After the 1 hour creep test, leather absorbed 19.5% less energy than it did brand new.  
  • The HoofPads Solution: When the leather pad packs out and loses its energy dissipating qualities, the Sport-Flex thrives dissipating 26.1% more energy respectively as they “break in.”  Additionally, a new pair of Sport-Flex pads dissipates over 3% more energy than new leather ones when tested at the gallop.

3. Consistent Stiffness

It’s hard to keep a horse sound when their hoof pads are a moving target.  Through our cyclic loading test we also tested the “Modulus” of our pads which largely represents stiffness.

  • The Problem with Leather: While we know that a leather pad is softer on a horse’s hoof than a plain steel shoe, the stiffness rises quickly through use.  After the 1 hour creep test, the Modulus increased 22.3% for the leather rim pad making it significantly stiffer.  This becomes significantly more rigid on your horse's joints as the pad degrades.
  • The HoofPads Solution: Our Sport-Flex way outperforms leather in this domain only becoming 2.8% stiffer after the creep test.  This consistency, combined with the stress recovery of our pads, means that they will keep their stiffness and performance throughout the entire shoeing cycle.

Step Into the Future of Hoof Care

The data is clear. Leather packs out, deforms permanently, and loses its shock absorbing qualities way before the shoeing cycle is over.

The solution is clear: whether your goal is therapeutic relief or high-performance impact distribution throughout the shoeing cycle, the Sport-Flex Rim Pad is the product to keep your horse happy.

Don't let yesterday's materials compromise your horse's joints. Upgrade to scientific protection today.