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Re: [RC] Circulation to the hoof - heidiHeidi, does any of this make sense??!! I hope I am explaining it right...... Well, yes, to a degree. The key word is balance. Too many horses DO run under at the heels and have too much toe--in which case, one must encourage the heels and get the toe back where it belongs to achieve what is balanced for that horse. By the same token, as you said, it makes no sense to "back the foot up" (whacking off the toe and having TOO much heel) PAST the point of good balance, either. The foot should be such that P3 is a logical extension of P1 and P2, not rotated forward (long toe, low heel) or rotated back and down (short toe, long heel). The bruising behind the toe is a pretty individual thing. On most horses with well-balanced feet, the shoe in a normal position will be a bit ahead of where the edge of the coffin bone sits, but will be close enough that only the really odd rock can reach up in there and bruise. I agree with your farrier with regard to the packing--for horses with pathologically thin soles, it is likely a good thing, but it isn't needed in a healthy foot. I'm leery of anything that covers too much of the sole--one, it can trap moisture and encourage anaerobic bacterial growth, and two, it cuts down on the horse's natural "feel" of the ground. I do compromise the "feel" in extremely rocky conditions when EasyBoots over shoes provide extra protection--but I don't like to lose that "feel" (which is one of the reasons why I prefer shoes to boots in the first place) in normal everyday riding. Jonni's point is well-taken with regard to why don't we see more pathology in shod horses. In truth, most of the pathology we see in shod horses is a result of inactivity, or BAD shoeing, or both. In properly shod horses, we see no particular gait alterations, etc. when shoes are removed--the only thing we see is that the wear will once again exceed the growth if the horse is put to hard use. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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