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Re: [RC] hoof angle issues - Karen Sullivan----- Original Message ----- From: "Sisu West Ranch" <ranch@xxxxxxxxxxx> I have seen this type of problem with unshod horses. The easiest, if not cheapest, is to keep him in steel shoes that are reset as required. Resetting every 6 weeks may be required. Ed *Hi Ed and all....not sure I believe this anymore...due to my observations over the past year. Formerly I had a great farrier who did his best to keep toes back (natural balance type shoeing)and heels fairly low. The feet always looked fairly balanced (for years); he never trimmed out too much sole or frog as we ride on rocky ground. But had one horse that had horrible gaits and starting to trip badly (7 years in shoes), and another who also never seemed to move right (short strides); we tried different things on both horses. What I discovered when shoes were pulled, and I started transitioning them to barefooot, with initial trims by Linda Cowles; then myself was the following: All feet had some flare, and noticeable hoof rings, plus jammed hairlines at the quarters. The shoer was always shoeing to the hoof shape and white line shape...so he was not doing anything wrong.....BUT, as the hoof relaxed over time and started to grow in without shoes; you could see a straighter hoof wall (no flares or rings),and slightly steeper angles, and the feet also widened, especially at the heels. I used sole, collateral grooves and white line to determine where to trim; never took sole away, or lowered heels into live sole, just basically kept heels even,hoof wall rolled, etc. Pretty common sense type stuff. When the hoof was half way grown out, on all of my horses, you could see the following: The foot came down at a straight, nice angle, then scooped out like a duck foot (not that extreme,but that gives the idea)....which is either toe flare from not-tight white line, or wrong angle. All I could do was keep the hoof wall well beveled, with a slight rocker on bottom, to keep horse from catching it. Finally hoof all grew out (year)....to stronger hoof wall, straight from hairline down, stronger heel buttresses and no growth rings....plus level hairlines. I noticed with with my own 4 horses, plus about another 10 or so horses I trim.... There is no doubt in my mind that an unshod hoof is stronger and healthier....no matter how correct or perfect the shoe job. Now, to avoid getting flammed, I am NOT stating barefoot works for all endurance or distance horses, due to terrain, problems with boot fititng....but it's currently working for me (no competiions this year).but a lot of riding on tough terrain. I was a total barefoot skeptic too before I started this. The benefit also was all my horses moved better, smoother gaits, longer strides...the trippy mare totally stopped tripping Seems when a farrier is trimming and shoeing; they are only guessing as to where that horse should ideally be. After about a year of shoeing; all natural makers as to hoof shape and form can be subtley altered by the way the farrier trims.... Karen =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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