Natural balance shoes?

[0206558k]

Anyone know anything about them? We've been recommended them for a horse with bone spavin. They're about £15 more expensive for the set, are they worth it?

 

[Lisa2manyponies]

My Farrier put these on a pony I had on loan the difference was unbelivable would recormend them

 

[Dolphin]

I guess it depends on what you are trying to achieve by having them but the answer for me was definately yes.
My mare had slight bi-lateral front feet lameness, xrays were inconclusive so my vet recommended natural balance shoes on the fronts, but advised not to expect overnight results.
You can only see her lameness when she is lunged on concrete and on a circle. She is now on her 4th set, and I have lunge tested her every week since she had her xrays. Last week for the first time on the lunge I could see no lameness at all, so they were definately worth it to me.
I am paying £10 extra per set for fronts only.

 

[Evadiva1514]

One of my boys has recently gone onto NB shoes as he started to forge quite badly only 2-3 weeks into shoeing despite having nicely shaped up feet. He is doing really well with them and his forging has now stopped. My farrier doesn't charge any extra per set, but i would definitely recommend them to anyone who has been advised to try them!!

 

[0206558k]

Hmm, they definitely sound worth a try! Does anyone know what makes them different from ordinary shoes?

 

[Ariella]

Well what makes them different from other shoes is that they are a completely different shape - they are a very wide webbed shoe with a squared off toe....

They can be useful in some circumstances, but they are not a solution to every horses problem..... they can do damage in the wrong circumstances.

But, if a good farrier reccomends that they may help your horse, they may well be worth a try - after all, your farrier knows your horse!

Best of luck!

(and have to say its nice to see that a thread about NB shoes can be on here and not have it turn nasty!! lol..... Over here any mention of them causes major probs for the mods on the forums! lol)

 

[Laafet]

One of our farriers shoes everything with them regardless of the work the horse is in, but my farrier only uses them on certain horses and to correct foot shape in my dodgy ex-racers. He doesn't charge any more and has kept one in them permanently and the other one is back in normal shoes - but as there is no difference in price I let him do as he wishes and my horses are all sound and keep their shoes on.

 

[eekmon]

I have had them on my horse for about 3 years now! They don't look too pretty as the toe sort of overhangs the shoe. My horse felt very different in these shoes, I think they are great if they have been recommended! Just a warning though, they do seem to be the 'in' thing at the mo and I know my farrier had been on a training course to fit them, but also heard of farriers who have not been trained in nb shoeing fitting them with bad results!!

 

[pootler]

One thing to be aware of is that some farriers fit natural balance shoes but don't have any training in the specific trim. Worth looking at this website and seeing if you can find out if you have a trained NB shoer nearby.

http://www.hopeforsoundness.com/

 

[Safina]

MY farrier is a trained NB farrier as well as traditional style.

He suggested that the boy was shod with NB shoes on the front as his heels were flat on the floor and he constantly tripped over even if his toes were cut back.

He improved straight away and the tripping stopped quite quickly. It took about 3 months to re-shape his feet so his heels were lifted but now he has a good shape and no longer goes lame if he has walked on stoney ground.

I pay an extra £10 for NB shoes.

 

[sally2008]

You could always ask what, if any, NB qualifications they hold - the grades are:

Live Sole - Hoof Mapping Certification (LS-HM Certified)
Certified Natural Balance Barefoot Trimmer (CNBBT)
Certified Natural Balance Farrier (CNBF)
Certified Lameness Specialist (CLS)