Ridecamp: Re: [RC] shoes reopened...NOT

All this really depends on where you ride. I can assure you that down 
here on the big sand bar call FL you get plenty of sole and frog 
pressure when you ride in steel shoes. The sand packs up in there on 
every stride. Now as far as "plastic" shoes, or even easyboots for that 
matter, as soon as you hit wet grass in these things you might as well 
be on ice.

The type of shoe that will or will not work is a function of a lot of 
things - including the type of terrain you ride on.

Truman

sharp penny wrote:

>  Sorry..I really didn't mean to reopen this can of worms.
>
>  Yes... you still get some expansion with steel shoes but
> it is limited and not to the extent a barefooted horse
> experiences. And some materials do allow for more expansion
> than others.
>
>  On the growth issue..yes the toe grows on a shod horse
> but often times you limit the heel growth due to not being
> able to completely expand when meeting the ground and
> decreased hoof circulation due to no frog stimulation. 
> Over the years you begin to see some contraction. With a
> good farrier this may be very slight over many years but
> nevertheless it is there. I have yet to talk to a
> knowledgeable farrier who will disagree with this.
>
> More importantly with steel (and most shoes) you get no
> frog pressure which encourages circulation.Which by the way
> is the main function of the frog. Another hoof mechansim
> that is compromised by shoes. This was what drew my
> attention to the ground control shoes when they were
> discussed on RC a few weeks ago.




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