Tell your farrier to make his own natural balance shoes using something he
already has that will give your horse traction. Natural balance shoes
themselves are smooth, slippery and dangerous. Nelson uses St. Croix
Eventers (w/clips), squares the toes, sets them back and it's the same concept
and much safer for the horse. This concept/method has been around for
years (Nelson has been shoeing/trimming for 25 years) but Gene Ovnicek coined a
phrase and made a funny looking shoe and I imagine made a pretty penny doing
it. My apologies to Gene Ovnicek fans. Again, keep in mind that your
horse may NOT NEED to have this done. I reiterate for the thousandth time
EVERY HORSE IS AN INDIVIDUAL. Trim or shoe accordingly. No ONE
method works for every horse. Don't start doing something new with your
horse because everyone else is doing it! One more note as I have been
reading this thread....someone mentioned that wild horses naturally have short
toes AND low heels??? I have never heard this....the research I have read
indicates wild horses naturally carry a 55 degree angle. That does NOT
indicate low heels to me....if there is other literature out there (not a FAD),
I am always interested in reading about it.
Maggie