Tierra
Well-Known Member
Jack had his new natural balance shoes on yesterday in an attempt to tackle his feet. He has a rather typical low heel, long toe foot conformation and this is the first farrier ive had who's ever attempted to do anything about it (hes not got anything actually wrong with him... his feet just are conformationally incorrect and its something that has always concerned me)
I must admit to being very sceptical - not least because a) Jack is 15 and i dont like messing with things (hes never been lame because of it) and b) ive read so much about a loss of stride length and big paces and as a dressage horse, thats one of the things i bought him for! ;p
Anyway, they were fitted yesterday but i didnt see him so i went up today to lunge and loose school so i could get a good look at how he was moving (and half expecting him to be quite pottery if im honest).
Well, looking at them on helps me see how they work. I didnt really understand them before but having seen them on really helps. He's not lame... hes not even slightly pottery on his feet. His trot extensions werent quite as wow but omg does his general stride look better!
He looks much much more floaty (best way i can describe it im afraid) and his action looked much sharper and more defined as he's really picking his feet up rather than ambling along. Im really really impressed! I was told to expect an eventual increase in performance as he settled into them and that often horses stride lengths and the "bigness" of the paces increases but i didnt expect the difference that i was seeing earlier.
I so wish id had them done sooner! Im going to snap some piccies tomorrow so i can keep a pictoral reference of the shape of his feet (and specifically, the depth of his hoof) over the next few shoeings. Ive been told he'll never have a deep hoof and nor should he with the shape of his feet... but just gaining a few mm's would be a massive improvement for Jack.
I must admit to being very sceptical - not least because a) Jack is 15 and i dont like messing with things (hes never been lame because of it) and b) ive read so much about a loss of stride length and big paces and as a dressage horse, thats one of the things i bought him for! ;p
Anyway, they were fitted yesterday but i didnt see him so i went up today to lunge and loose school so i could get a good look at how he was moving (and half expecting him to be quite pottery if im honest).
Well, looking at them on helps me see how they work. I didnt really understand them before but having seen them on really helps. He's not lame... hes not even slightly pottery on his feet. His trot extensions werent quite as wow but omg does his general stride look better!
He looks much much more floaty (best way i can describe it im afraid) and his action looked much sharper and more defined as he's really picking his feet up rather than ambling along. Im really really impressed! I was told to expect an eventual increase in performance as he settled into them and that often horses stride lengths and the "bigness" of the paces increases but i didnt expect the difference that i was seeing earlier.
I so wish id had them done sooner! Im going to snap some piccies tomorrow so i can keep a pictoral reference of the shape of his feet (and specifically, the depth of his hoof) over the next few shoeings. Ive been told he'll never have a deep hoof and nor should he with the shape of his feet... but just gaining a few mm's would be a massive improvement for Jack.
