Horse Saved with 3D Printing Makes for the Best Christmas Present Ever

Andrew Allshorn is the owner of 3D-SQUARED, which has been offering high-end manufacturing services and consulting since 2007. He started as a stereolithography (SLA) technician at the University of Liverpool in 1996. Since then, he’s been deeply involved in many of the technical and manufacturing aspects of 3D printing. He’s currently a Vice President of the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG), as well.

Andrew’s also a stand-up guy and a helpful person generally, so, when his friend, Roger, asked him to look at a problem, he jumped in to assist. A family had a 15-year-old Clydesdale horse, Freda. Clydesdales are huge and known for ploughing. They were also traditionally used for transporting beer and, if you’ve heard or seen a Clydesdale, it was most likely in a Budweiser commercial. Freda herself is colossal and weighs 1.5 tonnes.

Stable owners Anne and Kevin also operate Lark Rigg Riding School. The couple were very attached to Freda and had spent over £2,000 on vet bills to combat equine canker, a bacterial infection that infects the hoof and produces abnormal keratin growth. In time, the horse will become lame. 

To treat the illness, the tissue has to be removed before the wounds are medicated and packed. Usually Duck Tape or gaffer’s tape is then applied to keep the wound dry. If the tape gets wet, the canker returns. In Freda’s case, the infection simply would not go away. Alas, it was looking like the horse would not be able to survive the debilitating disease and would have to be put down.

Andrew was asked if he could find a solution to keep the hoof dry so the animal could heal and wouldn’t have to be shot. He placed the horse’s two cankerous feet on cardboard and drew an outline of the hooves. He then 3D modeled a part that he printed on a heavily modified Fyfine extrusion 3D printer using E-DA TPU with a shore of 97. Andrew’s Fyfine has two extruders and a custom fan ducting system, as well as some motion control improvements. 

He needed five iterations to get the parts exactly right, but was ultimately able to create the perfect seals for Freda’s feet. Next, farrier Richard Helliwell cleaned out the horses hooves. They were very bloody at this point and medication was applied to the wounds. Then, the team had to seal off the injuries with dental holding material. After that, Andrew’s 3D printed seals were applied before metal horse shoes installed over the 3D printed parts. Red hot metal spikes pierced the shoes, 3D printed components, and the hooves, sealing the custom seals shut. In pain, poor Freda limped around the barn.

That was five weeks ago. Then, today, on Christmas Eve, we received an update from Andrew:

“I just had the best Christmas present ever! Today, we found out that Freda was going to be OK. This horse is alive because of 3D printing and the work of farrier Richard.”

As a thank you in return, the couple want to teach Andrew to ride the friendly and adorable colossus. Andrew believes that 3D printed plates like he’s made could save more horses’ lives. They’ve just made two new cold weather seals for Freda, too. He’s thinking about making a desiccant cartridge to keep the area even dryer and help make the treatment more effective, as well. Additionally, Andrew is working on a 3D printed clip to help showjumping horses so that they loose their shoes less often.

“3D printing is problem solving technology,” Andrew said. “If a person has a problem, we can step in to solve it. We should be using 3D printing for good, not things like guns. And I’m sure we can save more horses lives with this treatment.”

I think that this is a wonderful story to show just how positive and useful 3D printing can be when it is used to iteratively and quickly come up with an exact solution for a precise problem. Thank you for this heart warming news, Andrew! If you would like to learn more contact: info (at) 3d-squared.com.