Shoes

Trainers and many horse owners, as well, are aware of the fact that the fairly common issues of forging, scalping and overreaching, are all caused by the same problem; the front feet cannot get out of the way of the haind feet.

There are many remedies for this problem, but they are all means to the same end; enable the front feet to break over fast enough to get out of the way of the hind feet.

I have had tremendious success throughout the years, using the following general proceedure, progressing from the most subtle corrections, to the more severe.

1. Stand the horse up in front and set him down in the rear.

2. Rolled toes on the front shoes.

3. Rocker toes on the front.

3. Raised heels and rocker toes, (roller motion shoe) on the front and extended toes on the hind.

There are, of course, other methods, but all must be considered with respect to the work of the horse, at least in my humble opinion.

Another common problem resulting in faulty gait is toe-in/toe out. I have found that in most cases, this problem may be overcome by corrective trimming/shoeing...again progressing from the most subtle to the more severe.

Side weighted shoe. I have used this shoe for many years, (as a severe correction) to correct horses that either wing in, or paddle. If simple trimming with normal shoeing doesn't do the job, this shoe generally works very well.

This shoe is a most severe correction to a winging out or paddling problem. If a basic side weighted shoe does not produce the desired result, this shoe will. I have found that if this shoe will not work, further, more severe correction attempts usually result in lameness.
In other words, there are some times when the horse must live with his conformation, (and they usually do just fine)!

In the case of toed in or toed out horses, I have, (probably 90% of the time) trimmed the hoof slightly lower on either the lateral or medial side of the hoof and shod the horse with a tight fitting shoe, (in the case of a toed out horse), fitting the shoe full on the lateral side, and fitting the shoe normally for a toed in horse.
I have had success with these two shoes, but generally, they create a pendulum effect, resulting in a more severe problem than before. If they do work...they seem to work well.

These are some common therapeutic shoes that I have used to facilitate the recovery of various lamenesses such as laminitis and to provide sound comfort in horses suffering from afflictions such as navicular syndrome and ringbone. The application of such shoes is generally determined by the attending Veterinarian. This type of work is, to a Farrier, very interesting and rewarding, especially when positive results are accomplished.