Fw: Re: barefoot

["Maggie Mieske" <mmieske@netonecom.net>]

Tracey,

I have been off the list for a few months so some of my comments are also based on the previous years I was on the list when we DID have people enthusiasticly recommending what worked for their horse as being the cure all for all ills.  We even had one gal write to us privately about a year and a half ago who experienced a problem with a farrier who went to a NBS clinic and came back and shoed every horse in the barn using NBS principles...lamed about 1/2 of them. (BTW, Nelson has used those same principles for over 25 years and still does but does not use the fancy aluminum shoes).  So, I guess I am still trying to remind people to do what works for THEIR horse.  You wouldn't believe the people out there who ask Nelson to shoe their horse in some new way they heard about and  they just wanna try it.  Nelson does not shoe a horse unless it is necessary.  Newbies can be very impressionable and want to do everything right.  I was not implying that you or anyone else is being a zealot or anything less than responsible horse owners.  My post was simply a reminder and Abigail DID write the following:

most importantly (for comfort over
rocks, etc.) excess sole, frog, and bar material MUST be removed

and I was reminding people to pay attention to the difference between excess and cosmetics.  We have had people request that Nelson pare out sole because they feel it should look "cupped".  Nelson will refuse to pare out sole that does not need to be pared out. 

I would also like to add that shoes do not "prevent" expansion, they LIMIT it which was the point of my comment...using all 8 nails will limit that expansion more than if you use the front 4 or 6.  It is using those last two nail holes by the heels that turns those shoes into casts.  If a horse must be shod, use as few nails as needed. 

I have only sought to add my opinions tempered with Nelson's many years of experience and am sorry if I have offended you or anyone else.

Maggie