How does barefoot "cure" navicular disease?

[TPO]

Thank you everyone for replying. I've certainly been given food for thought.

Nothing intelligent to add to the thread at this point (no point in changing a habit of a lifetime!).

cptrayes - would be interested in the before x-rays if you had then and if you had any before and after pics or videos if you wouldn't mind sharing?

What would barefoot peeps do in this case: Navicular syndrome causing pressure to be exerted on DDFT that could be alleviated by rededially shoeing with a wedged eggbar? The horse was currently unshod and feet were being attended to by vet and a trimmer. Would you try the shoes to help the horse or would you persist with barefoot?

With my QH (halter bred, Impressive was her grandsire so small upright boxy feet) that was an option given to me. Trying her barefoot hadn't helped and that was approx 6mth period so had nothing to lose. The shoes instantly had her landing heel first and she was happy as larry in all 3 paces in the field. I don't regret the decision as it definitely helped her but I don't/didn't have strong feelings towards keeping her unshod.

On other not people who are pro-barefoot are very encourging of others to have an open mind and try it for themselves but does the same happen vice versa; would pro-barefoots ever consider remedial or otherwise shoeing for the long or short term to ease discomfort or for any other reason?

Thanks again for all the replies and the links

 

[cptrayes]

The pictures are all on my blog smartiesdiary.blogspot.com, starting late February, along with the full details of what it took to restore him to health. I'd be happy to ask his new people to show him to anyone who wants to see him, and I'm sure they'd be proud to do that as he is looking so superb these days.

"Barefoot peeps" would say why bother with the expensive egg bars, which might not work, when barefoot most probably will?

Did you get your QH's feet with the frogs in contact with the floor? If not, the chances of successful rehab were hugely reduced as it did not have the correct work to build the back of the foot properly.

Why would we consider remedial shoeing when it has already failed the horses that we are bringing sound without it. Mine had bar shoes and was still lame, why would I put another in bar shoes?

You don't seem to understand where we are coming from ALL the rehabs that I know of have already been through the standard treatments, medical and shoes, and they have failed them. Why WOULD we want to consider remedial shoeing as an option when we know what we know about barefoot rehab of written off horses????

 

[LucyPriory]

Thank you everyone for replying. I've certainly been given food for thought.

Nothing intelligent to add to the thread at this point (no point in changing a habit of a lifetime!).

With my QH (halter bred, Impressive was her grandsire so small upright boxy feet)

Not exactly a navicular thing - esp as boxy upright doesn't particularly mean navicular to me.

But I had an Impressive horse - feet were the oppositive of boxy. But it did have HYPP - have you had yours tested?

 

[TPO]

Thanks, will have a look.

Yes, QH's frog was in contact with the ground. Also used hoof boots with a pad as advised by EP.

Re the remedial shoeing question, in my case the horse had never been remedially shod. She's been shod in front only until we got her when she was 13. I then tried her unshod and had an EP out, changed her diet, walked her out as advised so on and so forth to no avail. Meanwhile changed vet practices and new one said the changing the angle with wedges would help her. I tried it and it worked for her in that it made her more comfortable, her movement freer(sp??) and she was sound on all surfaces. Possibly not a long term solution if I'd wanted to do anything with her but I only wanted her happy and comfortable for the rest of her days.

Just out of interest how would you advise going about changing to barefoot? Would you do it in winter with these wet, soggy, muddy conditions or wait for better ground initially? What else would you advise? Just wondering if what EP told me had any grain of usefulness in it.

Thanks again

 

[TPO]

Not exactly a navicular thing - esp as boxy upright doesn't particularly mean navicular to me.

But I had an Impressive horse - feet were the oppositive of boxy. But it did have HYPP - have you had yours tested?

What were your QH's feet like? Impressive was her grandsire so there were other influences. Can post a picture of feet after wedges on but fear being shot down - they did help her though. Lots of papers I've read have said that QHs are very prone to navic (don't know if syndrome or disease off hand) due to their boxy upright feet and over zealous trimming, especially of Halter horses.

Yes, she tested negative for HYPP. She had at least 2 foals before I got her and I seen one filly up for sale after I lost her so enquired about it. Long story short and the mare had just been put down aged 5 with navic so I'm guessing there is something genetic about it too. I know she had a colt but I lost track of him, he'd be rising 4 now, so don't know if he was affected.

Does anyone know anymore about the genetics of navicular?

 

[LucyPriory]

Dish plates - cob feet stuck on the end of stubby little legs and a big backside

QH suffer routine manky human intervention. Biggest problem they have is chopping the bottoms off to make the feet appear small for the halter classes and shoeing from far too young so the feet don't develop properly.

QH can have great feet, if they are managed correctly.

I actually do an Appy X Warmblood. Both breeds I am routinely told have terrible feet.
(by owners)

And when I first met this horse he was rapidly heading into an adult life full of trouble because he was a big boy on foal feet long past when they should have become more mature.

However his carer is great - is hand walking him (he is young) 2/3 times a week and his feet are transforming into wonderfully tough structures.

As a bonus his whole outlook on life and behaviour have improved tremendously. He loves his walks and is a sweetie to trim. Which is just as well because he is huge.

 

[cptrayes]

HYPP guys??????? Translation please

 

[TPO]

HYPP guys??????? Translation please

http://www.vgl.ucdavis.edu/services/hypp.php

Much better than my attempt at explaining it.

Some of the images of it:

http://www.lotsofpinesfarm.com/stallions/bucky/buckyfrm1ds.jpg

http://www.bertonqh.com/skipforwb.jpg

You'll find more cases on Fugly blog

very sad what we do to animals

 

[TarrSteps]

I actually do an Appy X Warmblood. Both breeds I am routinely told have terrible feet.
(by owners)

Not singling you out but this is the part that's tricky about conversations like this . . .

Where I'm from and in my experience generally Appaloosas have super duper feet. I'm sure some don't but I don't see how someone could generalise that for a whole breed.

Ditto "warmbloods" - a group that encompasses literally hundreds of thousands of horses, including Trakehners which traditionally have iron feet, although I knew one line which had consistently awful hoof quality. But, then again, an old horse in that line won a couple of Olympic medals with two upright, mismatched feet while later on, much effort was spent making the others "look normal" as foals . . .

I'm not trying to be pedantic, honestly, it's just that "evidence" like this is so anecdotal. Perhaps many, many horses have their feet "ruined" for a long time before they actually go lame and that's why the barefoot works to "cure" them. But then it's not really a "cure" in the medical sense of treating a malady successfully, it's a return to normal - for the individual - function.

Personally, I've seen lots of horses "chucked out" on pretty severe going as a latch ditch attempt to see if they'll sort themselves out. It's not an intentional attempt to address hoof growth, balance etc, it's the ultimate "turning away" on big pasture and a general agreement not to look at the problem for awhile. It's interesting how often their feet (even if that's not the obvious problem) look absolutely wretched initially and then grow from that point in a completely different way, eventually ending up functional if not "text book". But it takes AGES in many cases and lots of people lose their nerve when things look messy.

 

[cptrayes]

I'm not trying to be pedantic, honestly, it's just that "evidence" like this is so anecdotal. Perhaps many, many horses have their feet "ruined" for a long time before they actually go lame and that's why the barefoot works to "cure" them. But then it's not really a "cure" in the medical sense of treating a malady successfully, it's a return to normal - for the individual - function.

.

EXACTLY!

But if we said this we'd be accused of being evangelical fanatic anti-shoers

The shoes damage the horses or allow them to damage themselves with soft tissue injuries. We remove them. The horse cures itself. (Many navicular cases start at 5 or 6 so we aren't talking that "long term" here.)

Just what we have been trying to tell you!


ps do you think diabetes isn't a disease just because people give themselves it by overeating? And that they are not "cured" of diabetes by a sensible eating plan? Medicine is not ALL about treatment with drugs.

 

[lillith]

On the science side it is difficult for me to swallow a lot of the anecdotal evidence because of the presentation. Many of the 'Case Studies' offer no facts, the degrees of lameness prior to treatment, the extent of the treatment tried/failed prior to barefoot, the changes in lifestyle aside from hoofcare are not listed. It makes it hard to pull together any information to get stats out of. Also I tend to find the cutsey language and overuse of adjectives puts me off a lot of case studies.

 

[cptrayes]

Lilith we aren't presenting "case studies". We are just, for the most part, ordinary people telling our stories. We aren't scientists! The case studies which ARE case studies are on Rockleyfarm.co.uk with just the information you are demanding. And if you are truly interested they are reported on week by week with photo and video on rockleyfarm.blogspot.com It's an amazing resource for people who really want to see what happens to these horses and we are lucky that Nic Barker takes the time to do it. You might say she has plenty to gain in that she runs a commercial rehab yard but I can tell you that she does this for the good of the horse and she earned an order of magnitude more than she does now in her previous career.

The rest of us are just trying to give an alternative to people who have been told to put their horse down, or retire it prematurely. As for the language we use, well I'm sorry but when a horse has been failed by £5000 of conventional treatment and the owner is about to have it put down, I do feel, myself, that there is cause for some superlatives when I rode that horse around a six mile farm ride, and jumped, only just over twelve weeks later. If I could have bottled the look on my vet's face when he happened to bump into us at the end of the ride, I could sell it.

Are you prepared to stump up some money to pay for the research you are demanding? Because if you aren't, I'm struggling to see where it's going to come from and apart from Rockley, anecdotal is all you are going to get. How many anecdotes is it going to take being ridden around the world for the sceptics to start to believe?

 

[amandap]

I'm not trying to be pedantic, honestly, it's just that "evidence" like this is so anecdotal. Perhaps many, many horses have their feet "ruined" for a long time before they actually go lame and that's why the barefoot works to "cure" them. But then it's not really a "cure" in the medical sense of treating a malady successfully, it's a return to normal - for the individual - function.

My understanding is that is exactly what is going on. These are not 'miracle cures' they are just allowing the horse to be a real horse if you like.

Personally, I've seen lots of horses "chucked out" on pretty severe going as a latch ditch attempt to see if they'll sort themselves out. It's not an intentional attempt to address hoof growth, balance etc, it's the ultimate "turning away" on big pasture and a general agreement not to look at the problem for awhile. It's interesting how often their feet (even if that's not the obvious problem) look absolutely wretched initially and then grow from that point in a completely different way, eventually ending up functional if not "text book". But it takes AGES in many cases and lots of people lose their nerve when things look messy.

It might takes ages and I have a feeling the 'severe going' may be a factor here but why leave it to take ages when if you can replicate conditions of low stress to the horse (I mean all stress here both physical and mental) and allow and promote full functioning of the hooves then surely it's better for the horses...

The way I see all this is if we look at what we do to horses from birth and see how often this is working against the horse and only for our benefit then a whole new perpective on all this opens up...

Lol cutesy is bad of course. We have to be strict, unfeeling, matter of fact do we? I find that boring and uninteresting. The emotional part of all this for the horse and us is important imo.
Anecdoatal evidence may not be convincing or 'scientific' for some, but the fact still remains that there are increasing numbers of written off horses around the world alive and happy that would otherwise have been pts.

 

[Orangehorse]

I don't think that the OP realises that these "cured" horses have reached the end of the road from previous treatments. Either they would be retired to the field if sound enough or PTS. They are being offered no hope of ever being ridden and in hard work again. The vet hasn't said "Turn him out and we will have another look in 6 months time." They are saying "Do you want me to shoot him?" or words to that effect. They have reached the end of the line with no hope at all.

Rockley Farm, and others, only take on horses that they have X rays for. That is presumably so they don't try to rehab a horse with extensive bone damage that could not be repaired. These horses are returning to full work. The horses don't care about X rays, they only care that they can trot around and not be in pain, or go hunting again, or eventing or endurance rides. How much evidence does anyone need?

It would certainly be an interesting research project, but I think you might find that some of this has been done in the USA already.

 

[amandap]

This may be 'cutesy' to some but this man was my inspiration when I first took the shoes off two horses I had bought and was floundering. An old 1992 article from a Farrier's Journal in USA, now on line.
ihttp://www.aanhcp.net/SpiritoftheNaturalHorse.pdf

Note the incongruous adverts on the same pages.

 

[TPO]

I don't think that the OP realises that these "cured" horses have reached the end of the road from previous treatments. Either they would be retired to the field if sound enough or PTS. They are being offered no hope of ever being ridden and in hard work again. The vet hasn't said "Turn him out and we will have another look in 6 months time." They are saying "Do you want me to shoot him?" or words to that effect. They have reached the end of the line with no hope at all.

Rockley Farm, and others, only take on horses that they have X rays for. That is presumably so they don't try to rehab a horse with extensive bone damage that could not be repaired. These horses are returning to full work. The horses don't care about X rays, they only care that they can trot around and not be in pain, or go hunting again, or eventing or endurance rides. How much evidence does anyone need?

It would certainly be an interesting research project, but I think you might find that some of this has been done in the USA already.

Don't know why this was aimed at me but I can understand that this is a sensitive subject for some.

My point is that I'm well aware of the "end of the road" scenario. In the case of some posters on this thread they, and others they know, have had horses at this point and rehabbed them back to soundness and full work by going barefoot and altering their diet if I've understood correctly.

I was asking if anyone had any scientic proof of the changes in the horse's structure that perhaps how going barefoot had enabled repairs to take place and/or any boney changes.

I appreciate that repeat MRIs are out of reach of most owners and not a part of insurance afaik but I thought most people with navic horses might have had x-rays and/or ultra sound scans showing changes - for good or bad. It appears from some replies on here others would like to see this information.

It's not a "dig" at barefoot or anything of the sort; it's simply try to aquire further information and resources.

Perhaps just me but I would have thought at least one vet would have channelled their amazement at the recovery into something productive (said scans, x-rays, MRI) so that if they come to that point with another client's horse they have another proven option available.

I don't know if that makes as much sense written out as it did in my head. Probably not!

 

[TPO]

This may be 'cutesy' to some but this man was my inspiration when I first took the shoes off two horses I had bought and was floundering. An old 1992 article from a Farrier's Journal in USA, now on line.
ihttp://www.aanhcp.net/SpiritoftheNaturalHorse.pdf

Note the incongruous adverts on the same pages.

Thank you for the link.

How do horses in the wetter climates cope with having their shoes taken off? What are the differences in their feet compared to others who live in hotter climates with harder ground? Obviously the horses in his article had very hard ground to content with but how do horses over here adapt considering our ground conditions? Especially in soggy Scotland!

I worked with feral horses in Oz and their feet were tough as nails although they insisted on shoeing all the horses who were in work. It took me 2 hours to put my first shoe on and that was after tubbing the hour for ages. I never understood why when their feet were so hard naturally they'd bother shoeing them but they did and rules were rules there.

 

[criso]

Perhaps just me but I would have thought at least one vet would have channelled their amazement at the recovery into something productive (said scans, x-rays, MRI) so that if they come to that point with another client's horse they have another proven option available.

It would appear not and the same applies if they horse comes right from other treatments, they trot them up, put them on a circle on the lunge and see how they cope with work.

That's a question for the vets I guess.

BTW you may want to look at today's blog for Rockley as it talks about the difficulty in getting funding for repeat scans.

 

[amandap]

Thank you for the link.

How do horses in the wetter climates cope with having their shoes taken off? What are the differences in their feet compared to others who live in hotter climates with harder ground? Obviously the horses in his article had very hard ground to content with but how do horses over here adapt considering our ground conditions? Especially in soggy Scotland!

It seems that feet in wetter, softer climes seem to be bigger (??flared) and flatter. Domestic horses are often helped by dry areas in which to spend part of the day. The main thing (as always) seems to get the diet right and enough movement. Of course those feet wont be reproduced unless the horse lives and works on similar ground with similar diet. Horses feet adapt to where they live and work as well as their diet. This is my understanding from my reading.
You might find this link interesting. http://www.tribeequus.com/ Photos of hooves of feral horses in different environments.
I suppose having a look at wild Exmoor feet etc. in England will give clues to adaption in wetter climes.

 

[nicbarker]

TPO, you've raised some very fair questions - I don't come on here often but as the previous poster pointed out, I've tried to answer the ones that relate to Rockley Farm here: http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/11/of-research-and-soundness.html

Hope this helps, and thanks to all on here who have been so supportive

ETA: Just seen your last query, and we are also VERY wet up here on Exmoor ;-)

 

[Orangehorse]

Sorry about that OP, your questions are valid.

I know one of the horses that was rehabed and literally that was what happened. It was lame in the field, maxed out its £5000 worth of insurance, went 30 miles to have remedial farriery at an equine hospital every 6 weeks and was just as lame at the end of the year as at the beginning. The vet said that she would PTS as she couldn't offer any more treatment.

Owner sent it for rehab, and within a matter of weeks it was sound and working and it has returned to be a successful endurance horse. Not to sure what the vet said when she saw it again, alive and well and sound (I get the feeling she wasn't that enthusiastic). Next time I see the owner I will ask if she had any follow up X rays.

 

[Luciejjkk]

I havent read all the replies but my horse has navicular and I have tried literally every treatment available for it and all have had little/no effect whatsoever.
He was described by one of my vets as 6/10ths lame at his worst and was no where near field sound. I couldnt put him out for long periods of time as he literally would come in crippled. He hated being stuck in his stable but could not go out for sustained periods, it was a catch 22 situation really.
He is currently rehabbing at Rockley Farm and when he arrived there he was described by my other vet as being anywhere between 1-5/10ths lame depending on surface/speed etc. He has now been there for a month and a half and is showing great improvement.

All I know is that my horse was in a lot of pain and without the option Rockley Farm offered me, he probably would not be here right now.

 

[cptrayes]

It appears from some replies on here others would like to see this information.


Perhaps just me but I would have thought at least one vet would have channelled their amazement at the recovery into something productive (said scans, x-rays, MRI) so that if they come to that point with another client's horse they have another proven option available.

!

We'd all love to see scans and MRI's. Bring on someone with a bottomless purse !!

There is nothing for a vet to gain by using a barefoot rehab. When I told an old country vet about it he said "you'll put us out of business".

A typical navic case will max out a £5000 insurance claim entirely in vet fees. Now that we shoe 52 weeks a year, the disease is so common that treatments account for a substantial proportion of the income of any practice. Is it any wonder that no vet so far has wanted to stump up any free scans to prove barefoot is a cure?

 

[TarrSteps]

It might takes ages and I have a feeling the 'severe going' may be a factor here but why leave it to take ages when if you can replicate conditions of low stress to the horse (I mean all stress here both physical and mental) and allow and promote full functioning of the hooves then surely it's better for the horses...

To be fair, by "ages" I do mean about the time it would take a horse to grow an entire new foot, so pretty much the time "no hope" horses would usually be turned out for anyway before anyone expected any change.

And this was in parts of the world (and at a time) when that approach was much more "in fashion", if only because we had far fewer other options. On the "stress" side of it, the horses were usually relatively used to the conditions anyway. I knew someone who bred good racehorses that were literally raised on the side of a mountain out 24/7 with minimal care until they went into training and/or if they were out of work. If you told people to do that now their heads would explode.

I guess my point was this sort of situation is what the "new" idea of track paddocks etc seeks to replicate. These horses walked a long way, both turned out and ridden, on rough terrain, and ate relatively little hard feed. Many people did their own trimming (NOT recommending this, it was born of necessity, but nor did the majority constantly lame their horses either) and generally the horses lived what people here and now would consider a very hard life. Having been exposed to this and seen how many of these horses seemed to thrive in the circumstances (for which, to be fair, they were born and bred), I am a little less convinced progress has always been for the horses' good. Don't get me wrong, there are many, many improvements to be had now, but by many people standards horses ridden up the sides of mountains with no shoes or very basic shoeing should have all been crocked and they simply weren't.

 

[TarrSteps]

Just what we have been trying to tell you!


ps do you think diabetes isn't a disease just because people give themselves it by overeating? And that they are not "cured" of diabetes by a sensible eating plan? Medicine is not ALL about treatment with drugs.

Um, you've not been trying to tell ME. I just got here and I haven't argued with you. I've ridden lots of horses without shoes but mostly because I'm cheap. (That's a joke, btw. Why fix what ain't broken. )

But I also understand enough about the industry (and people) to know there's no sense trying to convince people of anything, just present the evidence (anecdotal or otherwise) and let them sort themselves out. There are many, many practices that aren't technically speaking, in the horses' best interests, but sometimes that seems to be as much about situation and perception as anything else.

 

[TPO]

TPO, you've raised some very fair questions - I don't come on here often but as the previous poster pointed out, I've tried to answer the ones that relate to Rockley Farm here: http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/11/of-research-and-soundness.html

Hope this helps, and thanks to all on here who have been so supportive

ETA: Just seen your last query, and we are also VERY wet up here on Exmoor ;-)

Hi. Thanks for taking the time out to reply on here and write a blog entry.

The only reason I didn't email Rockley, or any other rehab establishment, is that I felt I didn't have any exact questions. As you can no doubt tell from my previous posts I don't have a firm view point and was just looking to learn more. It wasn't my intention to "out" you on a forum; I was just using the forum as a means to gather more information, experience and view points from others who undoubtedly know more than me.

I noticed in your blog you mentioned some unshod horses came to you. Was that with navicular? Was it purely poor foot balance that caused it; if not what else was a contribution factor in your opinion?

Have you ever had a horse, shod or not, come to you that couldn't/didn't return sound or sound enough to be comfortable? I know you've had a lot of sucesses but sometimes there is more to be learnt from the perceived "failures"? By "you" I don't mean purely Rockley, just anyone with experience of barefoot rehab.

RE the scans. I get that people don't want to/can't afford to shell out for regular scans but wouldn't this be the norm for tendon injuries (I know not strictly navic and I'm veering off subject)? It was my understanding that a vet would scan a tendon once swelling subsided, then again a set period later and if, for example, the horse was to be given 12mths of Dr. Green it would be rescanned before bringing back into work. Now my understanding could be very wrong so this would invalid the forthcoming questions but hey ho! If this IS somewhere around the norm then are there any scans showing faster/better healing when horses are rehabbed barefoot? I know every horse is an individual as are the injuries they've suffered but I just think if the information was available it would be very interesting.

Thanks again to everyone who has taken the time to reply even thought at times it have veered off topic. I'm finding it all very interesting so thank you again

PS - can anyone recommend further reading on this topic?

PPS - is there a different way of transitioning horses when they are on wet (muddy) ground?

 

[soulfull]

Interesting thread. My horse is barefoot but trimmed by regular farrier.

There have been so many threads on whether to let someone who isn't a qualified farrier trim horses feet and an awful lot of people are afraid to move away from this. Its understandable as like any other practioner in any field you just don't know if they are REALLY any good.

In years gone by I have had different vet/farrier/physios/chiros/dentists ALL qualified AND recommended only to find they were not so good after all and it is my horse that suffered despite me trying to do the best I could!!

So how on earth am I supposed to make this move safely for my horse

I've tried to look on UKNHCP but says the webpage needs to renew its subscription (not a good sign) I did manage to find a list of registered trimmers ( no one covers Staffs) and a copy of the training schedule.

However I have also heard bad reports on another site that argue there is not enough training and qualifications gained through this.

So how the heck am I supposed to decide?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

[Oberon]

This is the UKNHCP site http://www.uknhcp.org.uk/

I think you stumbled upon the old one.

The only way to find a good trimmer is on reputation. Not all trimmers (like farriers) are greated equal.

 

[soulfull]

This is the UKNHCP site http://www.uknhcp.org.uk/

I think you stumbled upon the old one.

The only way to find a good trimmer is on reputation. Not all trimmers (like farriers) are greated equal.

oh I think I followed link from Rockleys

yes but I don't know anyone in my area who is barefoot and doesn't have a regular farrier

 

[Orangehorse]

TarrSteps the conditions you describe for the young TBs - rocky, undulating land, sparse feed and lots of exercise are EXACTLY the right conditions to produce good strong feet.

I went to a weekend clinic a few years ago with Pete Ramey from the USA who was among the first "barefoot" advocates (and he was a farrier first) who described the above as the ideal to produce good feet.

It was theory only and no, we didn't do any trimming. It was very intense and a huge amount to absorb. And I was sitting next to a lady who was nearly in tears as she had lost a horse to navicular at the age of 10 and Pete described the conventional treatment and how the disease progressed - the remedial shoes, the various treatments and the inevitable progressive deterioration. Which was exactly what had happened to her horse. He has been rehabing horses for years. He used to go to the local abbatoir and buy up horses with foot problems with the aim of rehabing them and over the years he had lots of success. The only one he didn't succeed with was one that turned out to have extensive bone damage and he mentioned that one as a warning to anyone trying this to have good X rays first to see what you are dealing with. I expect there is lots of info on his website.

Think of most horse studs - nice, level grass fields which is about the opposite of what a growing foot needs. The fact that many TBs are shod for racing from a very young age doesn't help with their foot development either. Nor does all the year round shoeing of any horse.