Re: RC: Re: Barefoot, reply to Bob Morris

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated Wed, 27 Jun 2001  6:45:42 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Abigail Aiyagari <abby1@itsa.ucsf.edu> writes:

<< Well, that is good shoeing in action--much shoeing is not done this way.
Even so, the expansion occurs throughout the whole hoof, even though it is
greater in the heel area, so ideally the quarters should be moving as
well.  I'm not saying that shoes don't allow the hoof to move AT ALL, just
that the movement is greatly reduced.  Less reduced with a good shoeing
job such as you describe, more reduced with a poor shoeing job where the
shoe is fit to the non-weightbearing (contracted) hoof.>>

I guess we've been preaching at our riders long enough in our area, and they've been preaching at their farriers long enough, that this is getting to be the norm we're seeing on endurance horses.  And in the area from which I recently moved, we were spoiled with several good farriers.  (Just had three head shod here the other day, and I can see I'm gonna have to work on this one--although couldn't gripe too much, as one horse was a pretty busted up "reconstructive" job, and we likely won't be riding him to speak of until his hooves have grown out at least one shoeing anyway.)  I know this isn't the norm in the rest of the horse world, though--I see some pretty "form-fitted" shoeing jobs on the show horses in particular, with the only "saving grace" being the sad fact that they don't go far out of their stalls anyway...  <sigh>

Heidi