As we transfer into an age of self-reliance and innovation, 3D printing on the small and medium enterprise degree is turning into more and more vital for companies all over the world. That is the case for Derek Poupard, the Lead Farrier for Godolphin, a world thoroughbred breeding and racing enterprise based by the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Derek has been working with and using horses since he was 4 years outdated. He started his path as a farrier at a really younger age, studying to shoe horses (which is a serious element of what a farrier does), maintain and keep their well being and diagnose and deal with points with the correct sneakers. Throughout these early days, he acknowledged there was room for enchancment – one thing past only a easy iron shoe nailed to the hoof of a horse.

“I can keep in mind very early on making an attempt to find or implement a method that I might slide small items of plastic in between the shoe and the hoof of a horse to assist keep a correct gait, or enhance some deficiency that will assist the horse total – it was greater than only a shoe, it was a software to assist a horse past only a veterinarian or surgical choice for correcting a problem.”

As a result of the hoof of every horse is as distinctive as they’re, a mass-produced resolution wasn’t but out there – there was no ‘one measurement suits all’ resolution in the marketplace, and even when there had been, the quantity of modification wanted for every shoe would make it unsustainable as a enterprise mannequin.

That being stated, most of the improvements in “farrier-tech” are attributable to Derek throughout his 30+ years within the occupation. In 2008, earlier than utilizing 3D printing to create customized sneakers, Derek created a moldable, versatile shoe constructed from urethane that was poured right into a latex mould, primarily as a therapeutic software. “This strategy allowed me to switch the outdated glue-ons and plastic sneakers that have been in use on the time. It made it a lot simpler to suit, in addition to customise, for every horse.” Every shoe may very well be poured immediately across the hoof of every horse for a really customized match.

As a important element of the coaching that the Godolphin horses obtain, coaching with out sneakers is prime of the listing. “Horses developed with out sneakers and run their greatest with out sneakers, that’s very well-known, however coaching for a race previously meant shoeing the horses off the monitor throughout coaching. The forces {that a} horse’s limbs expertise in a full gallop place a monstrous load on the forelimbs and the hooves. In case you add a shoe to that equation, the horse nearly can’t assist however change into injured. A lot of the power from the forelimbs comes down in the course of the hoof – including a shoe will increase the space between the purpose of power and the bottom, which will increase the space the hoof has to get well from, which throws all the pieces off.”

From the peak element of a horseshoe – though they’re small and light-weight generally – they improve the danger of damage, particularly when horses race. Enter 3D printing. As a farrier, Derek has designed progressive options many instances over for horses, and was launched to new 3D design instruments by his son. “My son is an AV Integrator and he satisfied me to purchase an IPad Professional and pencil. I then began tinkering with designing and the prospect of 3D printing as I used to be at all times making an attempt new issues to make horses sounder and sooner. With Shapr3D, I quickly had a number of working fashions for the designs I had in thoughts.”

This led Derek to buy his first 3D printer in January of 2020. “I purchased a Creality Ender 3 Professional. Within the first hour, I used to be hooked! However I used to be a bit restricted because of the restricted sorts of filament  that the inventory Creality might print.” Derek iterated his new designs with dozens of supplies. “I attempted all the pieces – PLA, ABS, nylon, PETG, you title it, I threw it on the machine looking for the suitable materials for my wants. A lot of the supplies have been a lot too brittle to resist the forces and have been damaged in moments. Fortunately I examined with NylonX, a carbon-fiber infused nylon filament, and it labored like a allure.”

Whereas the designs are meant for the hooves of horses, they aren’t to switch the shoe itself – they merely act as a brief manifold to the metallic sneakers, permitting them to be taken on and off rapidly and simply with solely 4 M4 screws, ‘Method One’ pitstop fashion. “We will now in a short time change out a shoe on a horse with out the necessity for nails. We connect the 3D printed interface to the hoof with casting tape, and the interface has sockets that permit us to make use of screws as an alternative of nails, protecting the hooves wholesome and intact.”

Along with racing-inspired interfaces, Derek has designed 3D printed interfaces to assist rehabilitate a number of points which will come up over the lifetime of a horse. A number of designs embrace an interface mannequin with a heartbar for horses which might be experiencing laminitis. Different designs comprise extra help or much less help for the ‘frog’; the triangle of tissue on the underside of a horse’s hoof that gives shock absorption, traction, safety, and extra. He has additionally designed a ‘yarbroll’ 3D print for the entrance and rear hoof for hoof casting to assist facilitate much more critical rehabilitation. Most of those designs are nonetheless connected with conventional nails, with design choices out there for the M4 screw attachments – one other benefit of 3D design and printing.

With a small quartet of Pulse XE 3D printers buzzing away, Derek is ready to print the shoe manifolds he wants on-demand. Relying on the dimensions of the hoof, the design file can simply be manipulated with free 3D modeling software program and printed in hours. Derek has additionally shared his new designs with farriers all over the world. He at present has prospects and farriers utilizing his printed designs on their very own Pulse XE 3D printers in Australia, Dubai, Bahrain, and the UK. As a result of the design information are digital, they are often despatched wherever at any time.

“I’ve been inventing totally different horseshoeing strategies over the previous 30 years and with 3D know-how and the power and adaptability of NylonX I can now create bespoke horseshoeing merchandise that haven’t been out there earlier than. Traditionally we have been actually restricted as designing and making use of would take weeks if not years. However it now will be carried out in hours.”

Derek has seen a staggering quantity of curiosity in his strategies over a brief time period – he has solely been growing and processing his 3D printing designs for less than 8 months on the time of this text. “It has been life altering for me. The actual fact I can design, print and apply myself, as an alternative of counting on somebody distant to manufacture my designs, has minimize the educational curve and switch round time so I can now educate others to do the identical course of successfully in a really brief time.”

“The 3D printed designs have helped horses get sounder sooner and created an enormous curiosity in my commerce, and I’ve made this know-how out there to all Farriers across the globe so horses all around the world can profit from these advances.”

As a result of Derek is an innovator, he sees far more room for enchancment in 3D printing know-how. “Attending to a degree of sooner printing, with wi-fi, distant entry to printing controls could be extraordinarily handy. As well as, it will be implausible to have quick-change swappable hotends which might be precisely the identical z-gap to remove paper hole testing for nozzle adjustments. That method in case your nozzle clogs, you undo one screw/clamp/lever and alter the complete hotend so prints proceed seamlessly. Then you possibly can spend time cleansing/repairing the issue whereas the printer continues.”

We sit up for the success that Derek is having together with his newfound enterprise, in addition to more healthy horses, and extra aggressive races from these wholesome horses sooner or later.

To be taught extra about Derek and his 3D printing farrier improvements, go to his web site or the very energetic 3D Farrier and Horseshoeing Fb group – hyperlinks under.

3D Farrier Web site: 

https://www.3dfarrier.com/

3D Farrier and Horseshoeing Fb Group:

https://www.fb.com/teams/303982844111742