Natural Balance shoeing

[Twiglet]

Views? The good/bad/ugly?

My vet is half recommending it for my boy at the moment, and I'm very much not a fan of it at the moment, so wondered if you lovely lot had any relevant stories.

 

[dieseldog]

I would ask your farrier about it and whether it would suit your horse.

Personally I would never do it as I don't want my horse to be running free over the american praire.

 

[sally2008]

I am very much a fan, but ONLY if applied by a farrier who has properly trained in the techiques. Now that I understand the principals behind it and have seen excellent results with a large number of horses, especially those with soundness issues, personally I wouldn't go back to traditional.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of farriers out there who say "I can do that but it won't work" and just put a NB shoe on a tradional trim, which is a total waste of time and of course it doesn't work. This group also seem to have a tendency to charge more for NB - if I was cynical I might think it is in an effort to put owners off from trying it, maybe because they haven't been trained?

 

[dieseldog]

I think the NB shoes are more expensive to buy than traditional shoes.

NB used to be called the 4 point trim until the negative publicity surrounding it got so great that they rebranded it as NB.

 

[Twiglet]

Farrier thinks that vet is recommending them for the wrong reasons. He is a remedial farrier, and shoes a number of his clients' horses with NB.

He said that when they work, they work really well, but they just don't suit every horse, and he's not convinced they'll suit mine.

Main foot problem we have is low/thin soles and rather narrow feet.

But ned is 16 and although he does have typical TB feet, he has rarely lost shoes, and not lost one since the introduction of Keratex. He's hardly ever been lame or footsore in all the time I've had him.

I'm just trying to work out what to do for the best.

 

[maisiebo]

My vet doesn’t like them but after speaking with my farrier he recommended them for my horse diagnosed with navicular. Does my farrier need any special qualifications other than his normal qualifications to fit these shoes?

 

[sally2008]

My farrier tells me the shoes are only about 50p a set more to buy than traditional so there is no real reason for charging extra. I know there was alot of negative response to the idea in the early days, as there often is with anything "new" but I have to say that the NB movement does seem to be dedicated to continual research and development. All those I've met who are involved have been only to happy to explain and demonstrate, a far cry from the non-descript grunts I've been used to from most traditional farriers in response to questions!

 

[princesskelly]

my mare has natural balance and touch wood she has been fine on them. farrier recommened them 5-6 years ago because she had problems with feet(long story) vet also agreed with this.
agree though that there not for every horse.if i was you i would leave it up to farrier to sort out.

 

[sally2008]

Any qualified farrier can buy and fit the shoes but won't necessarily be trained in the techniques. There is an official certification scheme in place now so to be sure it's probably best to ask your farrier what courses he's been on and what qualifications he has.

 

[Twiglet]

For the people on here who do have them, do you mind me asking what the issues were with your horses feet, and why you moved away from traditional shoeing?
Thanks

 

[sally2008]

Originally my chiropractor recommended I try them for a horse who looked like he moved in two halves - the back end was just like a trailer and just didn't "work".

I repeatedly asked my tradional highly qualified farrier if there was anything we could do to help him and received little response so I did some research into NB and found a farrier I'd used many years ago who's work I trusted. He came and saw the horse, discussed it at length, then rebalanced the feet to achieve correct skeletal alignment and shod him with NB and alll I can say is WOW!!!!! I was quite shocked at the transformation, so much so that I had my own horse done with NB, even though I didn't consider he had any problems as he was happily winning at novice/elementary dressage and he significantly improved too!

 

[the watcher]

I have mine done this way as two of them were inclined to trip over their toes (no they weren't overlong). My farrier is a star, he brings in normal shoes, then works them on site to change to NB and fit, and doesn't charge me to do this

 

[princesskelly]

vet and farrier both said to put my mare on them. it was something to do with pedal bone.(please dont ask what because i cant spell what was wrong!

)anyway same with sally noticed big change for the better been on NB ever since and touch lots of wood been sound ever since no more foot problems.
touch lots of wood again!

have a brilliant farrier answers all my questions and has been trained to trim and fit NB's.he is same price for NB as he is for traditional shoes.

 

[Twiglet]

THis is why I'm a bit confused as to why he's recommending the shoes. Ned was at the vets because he'd trodden on something and bruised the sole - I really can't see how Natural Balance could have prevented this?
Also, farrier is inclined to think that because of the shape of the feet, there's a chance NB will actually interfere with the pedal bone.

 

[sally2008]

I'm sure fellow HHOer Benjamin won't mind me telling the tale of her lovely horse -check out her blog link through her signature. Her horse had soundness issues and after the vets spending all her insurance money doing xrays, nerve blocks and MRI scans they told her he'd got DJD and navicular syndrome and was pretty much going to be a pasture pet.

Being an obsessive

I persuaded her she'd got nothing to loose by giving it a try and put her in touch with my farrier. Benjamin (horse) has had NB on since the New Year, hasn't had a days lameness since, is on no medication and is out and about doing riding club dressage and showjumping.

No, I'm not suggesting they are a cure-all but in the right hands they can be a very useful tool in resolving soundness problems.

 

[sally2008]

I'm confused at those reasons given for the recommendation too

Correctly applied NB shoes should correct the position of the pedal bone, not interfere with it. Are there other issues involved?

 

[Twiglet]

Work servers ban blogs, boo

Thanks for all your input everyone.

 

[princesskelly]

no agree with you on that i cant see how NB would prevent that from happening.

is your farrier trained to do NB? if he is then i would listen to your farrier and go with what he say's. if he's sound and not losing shoes then why change?
sorry i'm not very good with advice i can only go on whats happened with my mare or what i would do if i was in your position.

 

[Twiglet]

None apart from thin soles, and quite weak horn growth.

He doesn't stumble or trip, the only lameness we've had this year was from a minor shoulder injury, he doesn't lose shoes, and he's sound and fit - apart from this weekend's sole bruising. His schooling - at the age of 16 - is getting better all the time, he works well on all surfaces and he's never footsore.

 

[princesskelly]

sally 2008 thats such a nice story.so nice when you hear storys of horses that can become right.

fingers crossed things carry on like that.

 

[sally2008]

Maybe your vet is one of the enlightened generation that are seeing the benefits of correct skeletal alignment to alleviate wear and tear even for horses that don't have any particular problems? They are a rare but growing breed!

 

[Parkranger]

OK, NB shoes are the ones without the toes yes and thicker?

Ty had these and I found that it helped him with his brushing on the back legs....also didn't stumble at all when he had those......

 

[sally2008]

Next time mine is shod we're going to be road-testing one of the new developments, designed to reduced collateral ligament damage.

Really looking forward to seeing if I can feel a difference in the horse. Oh, and the fact that they are super-shiney and bling like has nothing to do with it, honest........

 

[Ferdinase514]

From what you've said and what your farrier says...I wouldn't bother!

 

[Twiglet]

That's what I'm thinking......it feels like the vet is saying 'one remedial shoeing fits all'!