GTD
thanks for the suggestion re bell boots.
she never needed them when she was shod, but i think i’d want to use them just as a precaution. as i mentioned we never had issues w/ forging until we put the boots on:(
[QUOTE=gothedistance;3136481]
You might also tell the farrier not to have the heel of the shoe sticking out past the foot – I would probably even set it in just a fraction. It won’t hurt her hoof to have a tiny bit of overhanging the back of the shoe if it prevents her from catching the end of the shoe and ripping it.
You can also ask your farrier to snub the back toe, or put NB shoes on the back.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn’t attempt to tell a farrier to short shoe the horse. That is a no no.
The toe can be snubbed back or dubbed but a rocker or roller shoe would be better. It is easy for him to rocker the toe.
Again don’t short shoe the horse.The base of support needs the longer shoe.
Actually if the horse is stepping off the shoe lowering the heals gets the foot off the ground quicker. If you have an arab with good long heals cutting them down speeds up the foot, leaving them long slows the foot down.
I agree. I cringed just reading the suggestion to short shoe the horse. I would go with bells first if the horse was stepping them off. Or I’d bring the toes back more to speed up the fronts. But I would definitely not want the horse short shod. Of course that’s from my own experiences. Everyone’s is different.
I would do everything you can to increase biomechanical efficiency before resorting to short shod. This is one of the major causes of heel pain and eventual lameness.
Also I don’t like the suggestion to put NBs on the hinds. Again - only personal opinion. The hind pedal bones are spade shaped. They are not round and flatter across the front like the front pedal bones are. The hoof capsule is intended to be spade shaped to dig into the ground and propel the horse forward. Lopping off the hind toes increase pressure at the dorsal tip of the pedal bone. You can shorten the entire toe, respecting the shape of the bone, certainly, but I would not want squared toes on the hinds.
Th
This was marked for me by a very knowledgable lady NB farrier. She changed the way I think and shoe
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Shadow14 is very right about how to speed up the front feet! With a forging horse the goal is to get the front feet off the ground quicker and slow the hind feet down in a way that doesn’t harm the horse.
I had a super nice Arabian mare that was long legged. She forged terribly at a medium trot. At her big extended trot she would spread her hind legs and her hind feet landed to the outside of her front feet. But at a medium trot she would loose shoes. I really understand Marta’s frustration!
I finally made an appt with Dr. Stephen Bradey in VA to shoe her. He analyzed her movement first then we went into his shop with the mare. He explained that her front feet were shod right, she had NB shoes on her fronts, her heels were trimmed right for good frog contact and she had an apprpriate angle for her pasterns. She had nicely sloped pasterns and shoulders so the matching foot angle had her heels trimmed down.
The lower the angle of the front feet the sooner the hoof has to lift off the ground because of tension on the tendons. You can’t go wacking off a lot of hoof and radically changing angles without hurting your horse but may farriers leave too much heels and there is room for a moderate change.
He simply changed the shoeing of the back feet. Many farriers will square off the hind toes in an effort to avoid pulling shoes. This actually worsens the problem because it actually speeds up the breakover of the hind feet and speeds them up. So he shod her hind feet all the way to the front edge of the toes, (hind feet are naturally pointed unlike front feet). Then he made the hind feet longer. Basicly he built a shoe that had extended heels, they went straight back, they didn’t grab or twist the foot like a bent extension does. This longer shoe works like a bigger foot and keeps the foot on the ground a little longer. Oh, he also mad sure that the angles of her hind feet were higher than the fronts, which is typical of most horse’s conformation anyway.
The mare moved beautifully, NO FORGING!!! I had some success getting my farrier to duplicate his work, but it was a struggle. Now I have a short backed, long legged youngster. With his first full set of shoes he was forging and pulled a shoe while trotting around the round pen loose. I explained to my current farrier what I wanted done with his hind shoes and he reluctantly extended the hind heels a bit. Of course, NB shoes on the front. BINGO!! No forging. You know I’m going to tell my farrier how happy I am and how talented he is.
Bonnie
that’s a great explanation chicamuxen1
on the barefoot endurance group folks suggested that i play withe boots by beveling them accordingly to help with the forging issue. i’m going to play with that although i think that the real culprit for her is the weight of the boot, not just the breakover. otherwise, she would’ve been pulling the shoes, too, and that was never a problem for her. the boots are considerably heavier than the shoes. i guess i’ll find out when we put the shoes back on.
she does not forge when barefoot. unlike your arab, she’s long backed and short legged (my dad says she looks like a dachshund;)). she only forges w/ boots and only on the right front.
Marta,
ask someone to ride behind you while you trot. Leave your horse absolutely alone, no legs, no reins and have them look at her as she trots down a straight line. I’m wondering if she moves straight or with her hindquarters slightly to one side. Just curious.
My young horse only forged on his left front. That foot is slightly clubby and it’s heel is slightly higher. The other foot has a lower heel and he would never hit that one.
Bonnie
Bonnie - Great explanation! I will certainly try this method next time. Of course, this means you have to shoe all the way around, and I tend to leave my others barefoot behind, but… what’s a few more minutes of backache to put on back shoes, huh? :lol:
My young horse only forged on his left front. That foot is slightly clubby and it’s heel is slightly higher. The other foot has a lower heel and he would never hit that one.
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Yup, same here with my youngest, except it is the right front. :yes: I will certainly try this, Bonnie. Thanks a million!!
GTD - I tried having the mare who pulled shoes go barefoot behind and it was actually worse since the non-shod feet moved forward even faster! A barefoot can pull a shoe as I found out the hard way. I wonder if aluminum on front and steel behind would help speed up the front feet? Luckily, I may not have to try that theory. Heavens, I’m riding my young horse Wynne so little right now that he doesn’t even wear out his shoes but he’s tender on the gravel roads around here without shoes. And because he creates a club foot with his grazing stance, front shoes helps retain a better shape to his feet. The club shape is minimal and doesn’t involve the coffin bone. $#&**! long legs and short neck!!!
Bonnie
i was debating whether to put just fronts or all 4’s on her.
the rides we plan to do probably don’t call for all 4’s but the training rides may. however, based on what you’re saying, and w/ her tendency to forge w/ boots, maybe i’m better off putting on all 4 shoes.
on another board someone said, that they’re not sure if their horse forges when barefoot b/c she doesn’t hear it. but wouldn’t there be evidence of forging on the horse’s leg, even if barefoot?
No, forging for a large part is stricking of the bottom of the hoof. Both of my forgers didn’t appear to forge while barefoot but once shot I could hear the shoe strike shoe. On the one horse I could occasionally hear a muffled thum when shod only in front and then suddenly loose a shoe.
Bonnie
