“Very impressed,” is what EquineSeniors.com editor Laurie Cerny told Shari Click, of Click Horse Products, Inc., after an EquineSeniors.com product test and review of Click’s Hock Shield Ultras.
“This product is a must have for anyone who has a horse that rubs sores on their hocks! Not only do they stay on, they helped heal sores on our show mare’s hocks in two weeks,” the EquineSeniors.com reviewer said. “Even though this mare’s stall is deeply bedded, overnight she pushes the bedding around so there are exposed rubber mats. Over time, from pushing off the bare mats, (she) developed small hock sores. We also used the Shields while hauling our horse and believed they helped support the hock that normally abuts the wall of our slant trailer. In addition, they were nice to put on this mare while stalled at shows, especially when stabling on cement. They protected her hocks from making contact with the wall if she kicked at a horse stabled next to her. They are well constructed with an outer shell of neoprene and an inside of double-lined fleece. The heavy-duty Velcro closures allow an adjustable fit and keep the guards in place. We hand-washed them and they washed out well and kept their shape.
“Hock Shields will be part of this mare’s nightly regimen for the rest of her life. They are well worth the investment.”
Find more information about Hock Shield Ultras and Click Horse Products at the first-ever Senior Horse Symposium, 5:30-9:30 pm, March 21, at the Van Buren Conference Center in Lawrence, MI. The symposium is hosted by www.equineseniors.com, a website devoted to the care and showing of equine senior horses. Admission is free.
Cerny’s hope is that this will be the start of a popular annual event: “The interest in senior horse health and nutrition has dramatically grown in the past 10 years. It’s a huge market for equine feed and supplement manufacturers, and rightly so when you consider that 20 percent of the horse population is over the age of 20.”
Among the experts to speak that evening are Dr. Jessica Balsis, DVM, of Two by Two Animal Hospital, and blacksmith Paul Tucker, who will lead a panel discussion on “Keeping The Senior Horse Mobile.” Balsis, a graduate of Michigan State University (MSU), specializes in equine lameness and teaches a pre-veterinary course at Andrews University. Tucker, of Tucker’s Farrier Service, specializes in corrective shoeing.
A panel, “Showing & Competing An Equine Senior Horse,” led by Cerny and Karen Waite, will cover the maintenance of senior show horses and strategies to help them stay competitive. Waite is a carded judge and Equine Extension Specialist at MSU where she teaches in the Department of Animal Science. Cerny has shown several senior horses and competes a 17-year-old mare in American Ranch Horse Association (ARHA), American Buckskin Registry (ABRA), and International Buckskin Horse Association (IBHA) shows, winning multiple year-end championships including ARHA and IBHA Worlds Top Five and Top Ten honors.
Hock Shields and Fetlock Shields are preferred protection by senior horse owners as well as dressage riders, show jumping and three-day competitors like Marilyn Little, Pro Equine Grooms, and Long Riders Gear. Replacement elastic straps are just $5 a pair. Learn more at www.hockshield.com or call 831-426-1206.
