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[RC] Shoes set back and forging - k s swigartKathie Ford said: They are heavy, she's forging and she's never done that before and the shoe is set so far back in the rears, ... It is entirely possible that the reason she is forging has more to do with the shoe being set so far back and less to do with the weight of the shoe. Many farriers make the mistake of thinking that if a horse is forging that the way to "fix" it is to either square off the toes in the back or set the shoe back on the foot. This is totally the opposite of what you really want. If your horse is forging, it is because the horse is not getting the front foot out of the way fast enough before the back foot comes up from behind. Consequently, speeding up the breakover of the hind foot (and making the hind foot come forward even sooner???) is hardly likely to "fix" this. If you are going to speed up the breakover of any foot in order to mitigate forging, it is the FRONT foot you need to speed up, not the back one. The only way that squaring off the back shoes or setting them back will keep a horse from forging is if by doing so and having tripped the horse slightly on every stride, it starts short striding with its hind feet as a defensive maneuver. Personally, tripping my horse into short striding behind isn't something that _I_ would be wanting. If my shoer ever "set back" my horse's hind shoes, I would probably hit him over the head with his hammer. You could, I suppose, SLOW the breakover of the hind feet by putting more shoe in front of the toe, but this will make it so breakover is more work. Much better (if you ask me) to quicken the front end a bit by making it easier for the front feet to breakover more quickly. kat Orange County, Calif. :) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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