Farriers Horses Lameness And The Natural Balance Shoe A Case Study
There are a lot of blogs on horseshoeing on the internet.
What typically takes place on the blogs is quite a bit of arguing, it's as if the industry itself can not come to terms with each other.
It's whether or not horses should only go barefoot or whether they should be shod.
It's whether or not this style over that style of shoeing is correct compared to the other.
Obviously there is a reason for the differences.
The industry still struggles for the truth.
One particular blog post was all about a negative opinion of the Natural Balance shoe.
The Natural Balance shoe was developed with many aspects of shoeing taken together as a whole.
1.
The shoe has wide side bars which help protect the sensitive sole of the horse.
2.
The toe of the shoe is rather square which helps stabilize the foot going forward on the ground (travel).
The toe area of the shoe also has a very wide web which protects the most subject area to soreness of the foot after trimming - the toe.
And finally the shoe has a built in rocker at the toe to aid break over thereby reducing stresses within the fetlock joints and coffin.
It's all about education.
The blog posters negative remarks about natural balance shoes were that the square toe showed a wear pattern that was directly across the outside square point of the shoe rather than directly center of the square toe.
The argument was the horse had to walk on this "Point" of the shoe which would have no stability until the horse wore the point off the shoe during use.
The blog poster is actually moving in the right direction of discovering for him self more truth about shoeing by recognizing wear patterns of shoes.
Of course wear pattern is something that should be observed.
He was being astute.
However, this is where the lack of education of the poster making the remark starts.
It's not a problem of the shoe if the wear pattern is diagonal rather than straight.
The problem lies with the horse being Pigeon Toed.
The problem with the blog poster assuming he or she was a farrier is that he or she does not know how to correct a pigeon toed foot.
With more education and a deeper understanding of horse anatomy and how to correct a pigeon toed foot the Natural Balance shoe can be positioned in a way that the wear pattern of the shoe would be correct.
The result is a foot with protection, stability, and ease of break over.
Now this is where the Farrier industry is still behind the learning curve.
What's not being taught in the schools is the correct way to address pigeon toed horses.
What is being taught in the schools will actually ruin a horse.
Textbook information requires the Farrier to lower one side of the foot over the other to force the foot into a more conformational correct position.
Problem with this is it forces twist and bind into the horses joint at the coffin bone and both pastern bones fostering a tremendous risk of lameness.
The blog posters comments are going in the right direction but lack the complete picture.
It also reflects the Farrier industry/schools are not up to speed thereby the truth is not common place within the practice.
The good news is the truth about the correct way to handle these problems is available.
It's the result of years of scientific study and breakthrough understandings.
If you are looking for the truth and the way to promise your horse it's safety and soundness you should seek the truth out.
The very last thing horses deserve is permanent lameness due to our lack of education of horseshoeing.
Ask your Farrier or any Farrier how does he fix the condition of a horse being pigeon toed or toed out.
If he or she tells you that it's an easy fix all that's necessary is to lower one side of the foot opposite the other side then you know you are putting your horse at risk and you are heading for trouble.
You should seek out more information at that point.
What typically takes place on the blogs is quite a bit of arguing, it's as if the industry itself can not come to terms with each other.
It's whether or not horses should only go barefoot or whether they should be shod.
It's whether or not this style over that style of shoeing is correct compared to the other.
Obviously there is a reason for the differences.
The industry still struggles for the truth.
One particular blog post was all about a negative opinion of the Natural Balance shoe.
The Natural Balance shoe was developed with many aspects of shoeing taken together as a whole.
1.
The shoe has wide side bars which help protect the sensitive sole of the horse.
2.
The toe of the shoe is rather square which helps stabilize the foot going forward on the ground (travel).
The toe area of the shoe also has a very wide web which protects the most subject area to soreness of the foot after trimming - the toe.
And finally the shoe has a built in rocker at the toe to aid break over thereby reducing stresses within the fetlock joints and coffin.
It's all about education.
The blog posters negative remarks about natural balance shoes were that the square toe showed a wear pattern that was directly across the outside square point of the shoe rather than directly center of the square toe.
The argument was the horse had to walk on this "Point" of the shoe which would have no stability until the horse wore the point off the shoe during use.
The blog poster is actually moving in the right direction of discovering for him self more truth about shoeing by recognizing wear patterns of shoes.
Of course wear pattern is something that should be observed.
He was being astute.
However, this is where the lack of education of the poster making the remark starts.
It's not a problem of the shoe if the wear pattern is diagonal rather than straight.
The problem lies with the horse being Pigeon Toed.
The problem with the blog poster assuming he or she was a farrier is that he or she does not know how to correct a pigeon toed foot.
With more education and a deeper understanding of horse anatomy and how to correct a pigeon toed foot the Natural Balance shoe can be positioned in a way that the wear pattern of the shoe would be correct.
The result is a foot with protection, stability, and ease of break over.
Now this is where the Farrier industry is still behind the learning curve.
What's not being taught in the schools is the correct way to address pigeon toed horses.
What is being taught in the schools will actually ruin a horse.
Textbook information requires the Farrier to lower one side of the foot over the other to force the foot into a more conformational correct position.
Problem with this is it forces twist and bind into the horses joint at the coffin bone and both pastern bones fostering a tremendous risk of lameness.
The blog posters comments are going in the right direction but lack the complete picture.
It also reflects the Farrier industry/schools are not up to speed thereby the truth is not common place within the practice.
The good news is the truth about the correct way to handle these problems is available.
It's the result of years of scientific study and breakthrough understandings.
If you are looking for the truth and the way to promise your horse it's safety and soundness you should seek the truth out.
The very last thing horses deserve is permanent lameness due to our lack of education of horseshoeing.
Ask your Farrier or any Farrier how does he fix the condition of a horse being pigeon toed or toed out.
If he or she tells you that it's an easy fix all that's necessary is to lower one side of the foot opposite the other side then you know you are putting your horse at risk and you are heading for trouble.
You should seek out more information at that point.