>>Wouldn't it be accurate to say that the
horse's physical structure (horse needs) control where the
breakover should be, and the activity and ground
surface determine how quickly it shows up? <<
The mechanical breakvoer has been shown to be ¼”
forward of coffin bone (Barbara Paige) in all horses.? That being said, many
things constitute breakover……….. no horse’s hooves are
that short.? On a barefoot horses most after many miles, they will wear a
subtle “rocker” beginning at the true toe quarters (where Gene
Ovnicek / Rick Redden have identified that there are “toe pillars).? On a
shod hoof that is shod with the breakover too far forward a similar thing will
begin to happen, but it takes many more miles and more subsequent strain on the
soft tissue until the front of the shoe is sufficiently worn.? So, paying
attention (via x-ray or expert knowledge) where the breakover should be and
then shoeing/trimming while taking that into account will save the horse many
miles of wear and tear on the joints/soft tissue while adapting the hoof/shoe
to the correct breakover for that hoof.
>>The correct trimming is key, whether
barefoot or shod, is it not? <<
Of course.
>>And if it is not too far forward? The Epics
are not that thick, and they have a beveled toe for breakover. <<
They have a beveled to around the edge, but that doesn’t
ease breakover much at all from the bottom of the hoof.? In my opinion, the
Dallmer Clog boots have the best breakover of any of the boots on the market.?
The rocker on those boots starts in the toe quarters just like it would on a
horse that has worn his own hooves on abrasive terrain.? In this way, the
length in the front of the boot (past where the actual hoof breakver ends) is
not quite as much of a negative as it would be if the roll on the bottom of the
shoe weren’t ther.
>>Also, my horse's feet are not symmetrical,
and the breakover is not dead center on all hooves. How would a shoer set the
shoe "back" to allow for that need?<<
As I said, Barbara Paige (and others) have found through
research that the correct mechanical breakover of the hoof is ¼” forward
of the coffin bone.? That is on all FRONT hooves (rears are shorter and I can’t
remember the exact number just now) regardless of asymmetries.? To some extent,
all horse’s hoof pairs are assymetrical.
>>It's not like horses with shoes don't go lame
. . .<<
Horses go lame for various reasons.? I think we all agree on
that.
I’ve done many experiments with my own horses over the
past 4 years using x-ray.? One of the experiments I have not done is to see how
much a shoe affects the boney column aligment.? But, in an effort to confirm
what Barbara Paige found in her studies, I have played around with changing the
breakover on my horses (both barefoot and shod) to see how it changes the
alignment of the boney column.? On one of my horses, subtle changes make a HUGE
difference on some of the others, it took more of a change before there was
significant changes to the boney column alignment.?
