Ridecamp: [RC] Natural Balance Shoes (To Howard)

You're learning a lot, Howard!  Good for you!

Karen




One of the reasons why I'm trying the barefoot thing
is for similar reasons explained by Karen when she
talks about the natural balanced shoe.  I do believe
that when you put shoes on a horse, you mess up the
proper action the hoof is supposed to make with the
ground.  The way of thinking goes that the heel and
the sole need to make contact (firm contact) with the
ground while the horse is traveling.  With a shoe,
that contact isn't what it should be.
 
The other problems with shoes are with the alignment
of the coffin and short and long pastern bones.  The
shoes throw off this alignment because a normal shoe
creates a "long toe" which forces the joints within to
bend, overloading the tendons in the heel.  There was
an exceptional article on this in EQUUS, Feb, 2001,
titled "Hooves Under Pressure".  Reading this and some
other similar articles on the Internet motivated me to
make some changes in this area.  Most of ya'll
probably think they're drastic ones, but I have yet to
see a subtle head bob while doing a trot out with any
of my 4 horses since I started.    
We'll see.
 
The sad thing is my next ride is so rocky I will be
forced to put on shoes and pads to get through it. 
But, that's the only ride I intend on doing till
Leatherwood next year where I need them, so, the day
after that ride the shoes and pads will be removed.  
I'm trying not to become a "Barefoot Extremist" but I
must say, when you do them yourself, you really start
to get into the whole experience.
 
I swear I see hoof walls getting thicker and the
concavity of the soles developing riding barefoot. 
When I look at a horse's hooves now, I see things that
I never noticed before.  I will say that high heels
are not the way to go, on a horse,  barefoot or with
shoes.  I'd compare it to wimmen wearing those things.
 It might make their legs look great, but try running
in them.  
 
cya,
Howard (amazed that MSN has yet to pull my plug)
 


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