Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Lots of horses over reach when they travel, the problem with shoes being 
pulled off comes from them not breaking over in time, and then they step on 
the shoe pulling it off.

It could be a combination of things.  Does the horse travel straight 
behind?  Many travel over to one side, and/or the rider spends more time on 
one diagonal or lead making one side dominant or uneven.  Is the shoe being 
pulled off under similar circumstances -- such as at a certain speed of trot?

If the horse has to be shod so that he has no heel support, over time that 
could be detrimental to the well being of the hoof and heel.

Adding additional weight by adding an easyboot, or other type of boot will 
probably not solve the problem, and could cause the horse to trip even 
worse.  The extra weight can slow the breakover.

I've had to deal with a similar issue with Chief over the last three 
years.  He is short backed and over reaches.  He doesn't interfere (by that 
I mean that he doesn't whack himself), but when he was first started he did 
'click' going down the trail.  He has never pulled a shoe off <knocking on 
wood>, and when I first put easyboots on him he literally fell down to the 
ground in the arena on the flat -- convincing me that he was not going to 
go out on the trail with them on until he figured out how to coordinate 
himself!  I kept working him so that he got stronger and better developed 
and was able to carry himself without forging.  We put him in Ground 
Control shoes, and he's done a lot of miles this ride season in them 
without any problems -- they work well for him because he has good quality 
feet and a nice thick hoofwall.  The shoes have also helped his breakover 
because they are lighter.  I think that now he is strong enough and carries 
himself well enough to handle easyboots, and at some point he may end up in 
them but for now the GC shoes are working and I'm afraid to change.  Over 
the course of a few shoeings, we have also been able to allow quite a bit 
of shoe to stick out on the sides and back, giving him plenty of 
support.  He still has not pulled a shoe off, one of the benefits of 
plastic is that it flexes.

Karen
in NV


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