Home Current News News Archive Shop/Advertise Ridecamp Classified Events Learn/AERC
Endurance.Net Home Ridecamp Archives
ridecamp@endurance.net
[Archives Index]   [Date Index]   [Thread Index]   [Author Index]   [Subject Index]

[RC] natural balance shoes - Chris Paus

Before I begin, yes I did start with the Rc archives.. there were about 25 posts in the archives from the same two people. sigh...Looking for a little wider range of experiences here.
 
My tried and true guy, Star, is stumbling badly on his right front foot. Today he and I almost went down at the canter. It was pretty scary.
 
I had his shoes reset tuesday. The farrier shortened the toe and set the breakover back because Star was forging badly. He was tripping before the shoes were reset, so that's not the problem.
 
I've got an appointment with the chiro vet next week. Starting there and will move up the diagnostic chain if we have to.
 
I wouldn't be surprised if Star has some arthritis in his right front foot, leg or shoulder somewhere. He's 18. We had a really bad wreck 8 years ago when we were trotting through the woods at a good clip and he stumbled on that right front and pitched us both forward. I came rolling off. He was wearing Pro Choice bellboots then and one of the boots got hung up on a tree root and it nearly killed us both! since then, I've never put anything around his feet or legs...but it wouldn't surprise me if he's got some arthritis brewing there.
 
He's not lame. He's always passed soundness checks, he just trips on the same foot. We are a solid back of the pack team ..  not hotshoes at all.
 
A non endurance friend suggested using the natural balance trim and shoes on him, that this would fix whatever's wrong... I'm not against changing approach to shoeing, but I'm not sure it's a panacea either. I'm thinking of going through some diagnostics first to determine what the problem might be, before we start tinkering with shoeing.
 
Conformationally, Star is a tall, 15.1H horse, long legs, short back. Long stride. Nice pasterns, not too long or too short. big, solid feet. No major conformation defects. Here's a link to his online photo album. Maybe someone with a better eye than mine can see something:  http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=4292093203&page=0&g_Offset=0
 
What are some of your thoughts on this?
 
a. Have you had a horse who consistently stumbled on one side and what was the problem?
b. Have you used the Natural Balance trim and shoe system.. advantages, drawbacks? Is this a good suggestion?
 
chris


I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. Louisa May Alcott
 
Chris Paus
Lake Region SWA  http://lakeregionswa.fws1.com