Re: Re: traction (way too long, sorry)

["Dave & Abby Bloxsom" <cyclone@snet.net>]

> I have an endurance horse that consistently pulled shoes for several
years.

> we put a smaller shoe on him, rolled
> his toes, squared his hinds, even rolled the ends of the fronts so
> supposedly he couldn't catch them,

Here's my spin on this situation:

As Dawna's farrier did, if I have a problem with a horse *who has healthy
feet* and can't keep shoes on, I'll assume there's an overreaching problem.

Solution #1 - The smaller shoe is supposed to address the question of "too
much heel" hanging out behind the foot in front, but I was taught (I'm
fairly new at this) that there's really only one right size shoe.  This is
like saying I should wear a smaller shoe to keep from tripping on the front
steps ... that doesn't make it the right size shoe, right?  I honestly don't
believe this is an appropriate solution. (IMHO, of course)

Solution #2 - Rolling the front toes gets the front foot up off the ground
and out of the way sooner, before the hind hoof can catch it to pull off the
shoe.  Well, again IMHO, most horses should probably have at least a rolled
toe to begin with, or a rockered toe. (rolling is done with a rasp,
rockering with a hammer)  I think this is especially true of horses who work
hard, like our distance horses, especially if the going is unforgiving.
This relieves the strain on the laminae inside the hoof wall at the toe, as
the flexor tendon pulls at the coffin bone when the foot breaks over
forward.

Solution #3 - Squaring the hind toes just gives a little clearance between
the hinds and fronts.  Ti admonished me a while back that we shouldn't be
doing this with any ulterior way-of-going motives (actually he went a bit
further than that).  On my own mare, who drags her hind toes behind and
squares them for me, I'm now using Eventer shoes, which are a (sort of)
half-round rim shoe, and setting it back on the hoof.  She still drags her
toes, but at least doesn't go thru so much steel doing it.

Solution #4 - Rounding off the front heels on the hoof side with a rasp
(called "boxing" the heel) is intended to remove the Square Edge where the
hind toe can grab.  Again, this is something I almost always do anyway, just
to be safe (and because I generally fit shoes on the big side).

BUT THEN - as Dawna also found out, ya can't really fix a balance problem
with any of these other solutions, and if the horse isn't set up right you
can CREATE problems with forging, stumbling, interfering, and resulting shoe
loss and poor hoof growth.

But than Donna (our guest) really has two problems.  First, her horse is
losing shoes, and second, she needs a shoe that provides enough traction for
the faster work of a cross country course.  From the original story, it
sounds like farrier #2 was on the right track with shoe size (#1) but that
the hoof flight is not squared away yet.  So (of course just from what I
read here ...) I'd say make sure that the foot is balanced laterally, use
the Eventer, rocker the front toe, box the front heel, and maybe set back
the hind shoe *just a wee bit*.

As far as "do the Eventers have enough traction" - I'm gonna say yeah.  I
trot right down the middle of the macadam in 4 of 'em every time I go out
(my mare would like it if we cantered instead, but I have limits) and there
are only about 3 or 4 spots around here where it's too slick to do that.  We
have several sections of trail that go straight over ledge rock (solid
bedrock - mostly granite) and while I make the horses walk, they don't slide
at all even when it slopes to 45 degrees!  The soil that packs into the
groove around the shoe is VERY grippy, and it's even there on the toe after
the toe rolls down some with wear.  The toe on your flat shoe just gets
slicker with wear.

Be careful of *too much* traction, because as the hoof twists and turns over
the ground, it puts strain on the nail holes, weakening your
already-weakened wall.  I use a very thin, small nail on the Eventers - a
size 4-1/2 race head nail - because the head fits way down in the groove and
I can get a lot of miles on a distance horse before the head flattens and
allows the shoe to loosen.  Also *if they do* grab a heel or get the shoe
caught on a root, or something untoward, the nail will release the shoe
before it damages the wall or the horse's flexor tendon.  I'd REALLY rather
use an Easyboot and pay a couple bucks for a new shoe than have to epoxy the
wall back together or wait out 6 months for tendon damage to heal.  I have
my priorities.

Also, Dawn said she uses pads to protect from rocks.  Actually, we have
INCREDIBLY rocky gravel roads (hard underneath, too) and trails, and the
Eventer (being a fairly thick, wide webbed shoe) provides a lot of
protection for the sole.  I haven't ever needed pads with them, even on the
most flat-soled feet, as long as the feet were healthy to begin with.

So ... it sounds to me like both farriers leave something to be desired ...
but whoever you use, I'd dump the caulks and pads, go with the size 1
Eventers (actually, the 0s may be just a half size bigger than the 0 lite
shoes he's likely using now), balance all 4 feet (watch the horse walk
before nailing on the shoes!), rocker the front toes, box the heels in
front, set back the hind shoes a bit, and maybe square off the hind toes too
if you need to.  GOOD LUCK.

This advice comes from a person who's ridden forging horses (grrrrr) for 25
years, and has (in the last 2 years) taken up shoeing, losing LOTS of shoes
to inexperience.

Abby Bloxsom
Connecticut
cyclone@snet.net