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I have had many a shoer, try and curl the ends of the shoes under the heels, 
rather than shape and clip the shoe properly.  Shoes placed improperly, such as 
bending the ends of the shoes under the heel, or improperly placing the shoe, 
will result in contracted heels.   Some shoers hate to fire up the forge, some 
hate to haul around a forge.  The foot of the horse is not supposed to be 
round...the shape of the hoof is such as to engender the proper dissipation of 
the impact forces of locomotion, particularly locomotion bearing forward 
weight.  Visualize a round hoof loading during weight-bearing 
locomotion...where does the forward-loading of weight dissipate in a round 
hoof?  A round hoof actually serves to impede the forward flow of locomotion 
when each hoof is loaded.  Whereas, a hoof properly shaped and properly shod, 
will impede the dynamic flow of forward energy much less, allowing for the 
dissipation of that energy in a manner which impacts the horse less.  If the 
hoof can not serve to immediately dissipate the impact forces of forward 
locomotion, the pastern, the fetlock, the sesamoids, the navicular bone, 
somewhere in the leg, shoulder, back, stifle, hocks....somewhere there will be 
a compromise in function, i.e., the horse's ability to do what it's supposed to 
do without undue degradation to the "platform".

On a horse who routinely pulls a shoe, I'd venture to say that for some reason 
the loading and unloading moments of forward locomotion are being affected.  I 
always start at the feet...even before saddle fit, rider weight, etc.

The hoof angles of a horse in motion should be so similar to the pastern and 
shoulder angles as to be considered the "same".

I'm no "expert," but the above opinions are observations I've made over the 
years.

Frank >

You've got the picture, Frank. I've never gone so far as trying to match 
shoulder/pastern/coffin bone angles. My approach has been to focus on the foot 
itself, and the gaiting balance achieved, or not achieved, with a given set of 
numbers. With Standardbreds it was not unusual to reset the shoes two or three 
times in a single day to get the balance right. Then, a couple of weeks later, 
you look at shoe wear and reset again. Once you've got the right numbers for 
that individual horse, then they stay pretty much the same.

Another little "trick of the trade" is to soak the feet in water, shoes pulled, 
for about a half hour before the farrier gets there. The compressed areas where 
the foot was trimmed too long at a certain point, expand and become very 
obvious. Coinciding with these points will often be excess shoe wear at that 
place and a shiny spot on the coronary band above the too-long area.

ti


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