traction

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Donna Lee jdc@nb.sympatico.ca
Would any of you knowledgable people out there help me!!!  Please!!!!  I have a 15.3 hd Paint that I do low level eventing with, I also do JP's and CTR's with him.  The problem I am having is twofold.  First... I had a problem with him pulling shoes all the time, couldn't rely on getting the farrier back in a reasonable amount of time and so changed farriers.  Both of these guys used a #0 on his front feet.  The second guy (R) began to underrun his shoes (particularly the left front) to avoid the pulling problem and in doing so rasped away some of  the medial aspect of the hoof wall.  I no longer had any problem with him pulling shoes but after 3 weeks his shoe was riding on the inside of the hoof wall making Mommy not a happy camper.  In comes farrier #3, S (I used R for over a year). S says that in rasping away the hoof wall R has weakened it to such a degree that it will eventually seperate from the hoof and crack.  He also up'd his shoe size to a 1.  Problem... he has lost 3 shoes in two weeks, taking great chunks of hoof wall with it.  R was using heel and toe shoes.  S is using flat shoes.  I really liked the traction of the heel and toe and absoutly hate the insecure slidding of the flat shoes, as well as I feel that my horse does not have the same confidence as he is slipping over stuff that he never has before and his stride has become  somewhat shorter.  I have checked into using rim shoes or eventers but am seriously considering going back to the heel and toe but after searching the net for 3 days now I am totally confused and at a loss as to what to use.  Heel and toes provide too much "grab" resulting in prolonged long term fatigue and trauma to my partner.  I feel S left his toe too long resulting in prolonged breakover time hence the pulled shoes.  The terrain we ride in is VERY rocky and I always use pads.  Because I also like to event I am concerned that I truely do need the "grab" as he covers the cross country in differing conditions.  Just how much grab to the full rim shoes have.  Do you expe
eople have any opinions as to what I should do?  I am probably going back to R as he was cheaper than S and I didn't have this problem with him (I know I know cheaper is not better!!!)  S has been coming back to replace the lost shoes at no charge but... The last time he trimmed up the lost and broken hoof, (we epoxied in the "holes" after), replaced the two hind shoes with flat plates with small corks and left the r front hoof alone.  I questioned him on it as it looks abviously longer than the left but he said he checked it and it was tight and it had only been 8 days since he had refit the hoof.  Several other people as well as myself think it is noticably longer that the right. HELP!!!!