Heart-bar shoes are a tool used by veterinarians. They can help treat laminitis, a condition that can result in a horse’s hoof being so deformed that it will fail. These shoes allow the hoof to move as it should, similar to how a human foot would move. They mimic the natural movement of a unshod foot as the heel is raised and the sole is lowered when the horse moves his hoof. With the use of heart-bar shoes the frog and wall are restored to a natural pattern of weight bearing. The support the shoes offer to the coffin bone is of the outmost importance for speedy recovery and realignment.