“She needed these hock shields so badly I had them sent to the Czech Republic and I’m very happy I did so,” horse owner Annabelle Kruf wrote Click Horse Products founder Shari Click, maker of the Hock Shield®, whose neoprene technology and design have been praised by professional horsemen including dressage riders and trainers, Long Riders, and Pro Equine Grooms.
Horse wearing Hock Shields
If a horse has a hock injury, repeated lying down can aggravate it and prevent healing and the healing process cannot take place unless a protective layer is placed between the ground and the skin.
© 2017 by Horse Products, Inc.
Kruf was referring to Eurostar, a 16 year-old Czech Warmblood mare that has been her competitive show jumping partner since 2011: “I had moved her to another stable, where they have boxes with paddocks and she started laying down. She had never in her life lain down in a regular box and now, in the spacious paddocks, she was laying down every night. And unfortunately, hock sores and fetlock sores started to appear and they were quite bad.”
“We battled with her sores for over a month and nothing really helped,” Kruf said, until finding The Hock Shield® online and then, “The results came very quickly.” That evidence was supported by images she sent to Click via the Hock Shields Facebook page. ‘Before’ images taken September 1 showed Eurostar’s angry, painful sores while the ‘after’ images taken October 4 showed happy, healing tissue.
“Now other horse owners ask me why she has these ‘weird things’ on her legs (meaning, the Hock Shields), so quite often I actually show them the pictures of what her hocks looked like before and after because it’s easier than explaining! I just know that I’m very, very happy I got them, and so is Eurostar!”
“If a horse has a hock injury or bed sore, repeated lying down can aggravate it and prevent healing. Some sores just become larger and/or deeper. The healing process cannot take place unless a protective layer is placed between the ground and the skin,” says Click.
The Hock Shield is a custom fit hock protector designed to stay in place to prevent and heal hock sores. The lightweight, non-restrictive ‘boot’ is made of ultra-thin neoprene to provide the constant barrier a horse needs. The Hock Shield and the Hock Shield Ultra come in two adjustable sizes for the perfect fit.
For difficult-to-bandage wounds or recurrent sores, Hock Shields® are the preferred choice in protection for dressage competitors, Pro Equine Grooms, Long Riders Gear and Parelli Natural HorseManShip 5-Star Master Instructors, and now offer replacement elastic straps for just $5 a pair.
Look for Click Horse Products at the 2018Land Rover Three-Day Event at the Kentucky Horse Park and learn more at www.hockshield.com or call (831) 426-1206.