By Pam Gamble
Larry Chapman, inventor of Remuda Tires, came to the Memphis CONA convention March 3-5. Larry explained how his patented horseshoe design came about.
Larry, a long time commercial carriage operator, was unhappy with the horseshoes that already existed. According to Larry, synthetic street shoes have existed since 1910. The industrial revolution and the paving of roads made a softer horseshoe a necessity for equine limbs. Unfortunately the existing horseshoes had two problems. First, they were too soft. A horse’s foot must have a slight slip as it makes first contact with the pavement and then as the horse’s weight comes down, the shoe must grip and hold. According to Larry, the existing shoes allowed no slip, and that caused the horses to stumble. Secondly, the shoes could not be shaped therefore they had no application for a horse that needed to be correctively shod. At that time, Larry had a good horse that needed corrective shoeing so he set out to remedy the problem.
Larry’s new shoe would address these problems. The new design would be a two part shoe. The first step is a steel shoe that the farrier can shape and nail on the horse. Side clips, turned heels or a heart bar can be added. The farrier then bolts-on the shock-absorbing polyurethane “tires”. The tires can be rotated and changed as needed, and then the steel shoe is reset when horse’s foot needs to be trimmed.
The patented design of Larry’s two part shoe is the answer for a difficult to shoe carriage or police horse. Larry also designed a nail on shoe for horses that don’t require corrective shoeing. The nail-on shoe has the same polyurethane material in a simple one step, nail on design. Every Memphis carriage horse is currently shod in Larry’s version of the nail-on shoe. Go to www.remudatire.comfor more information.
