On The Hoof

Natural Balance Shoeing

 

Support From the Ground Up

 

Does your shooting horse routinely stumble, forge, or otherwise interfere, despite your brilliant riding skills? Has he foundered, or been diagnosed with navicular syndrome?  Do his feet have subtle distortions such as flares, or bigger problems like sheared or underrun heels?  If so, he may well benefit from the principles of Natural Balance Shoeing.

 

So what is Natural Balance Shoeing, and how does it differ from traditional shoeing? 
The most significant difference is that traditional shoeing typically places the shoe on the perimeter of the horse’s foot, regardless of where the foot exists in relation to the column of bones stacked above it.  Natural Balance Shoeing attempts to mimic the wild horse’s foot.  By so doing, the shoe is placed in a position to best protect the structures in the foot, while at the same time reducing the toe length where necessary. Often times, the Natural Balance shoe is placed well behind the perimeter of the horse’s toe wall, directly over the sole, thereby reducing breakover, protecting the coffin bone and sole, while at the same time providing greater heel support. Most importantly, in my opinion, Natural Balance Shoeing reduces tendon strain and provides the horse with underrun heels with needed support for his boney column.    

 

Would your horse benefit from Natural Balance Shoeing? 
Take a look at her feet. Does she have a healthy foot, with a fat, firm frog, with heel bulbs that, when on the ground, support the leg above it?  If you don’t know the answer to this question, stand your horse square in front, and place a ruler at her heels. See whether the ruler is under the cannon bone in her leg, or whether it is in front of the cannon bone. If the ruler is in front of the bones in her leg, then her foot is not giving her leg, and ultimately her body, much needed support.  If she is flat footed, she is likely to suffer more than other horses from sole bruising, and has a greater potential for abscesses.  If her toes are long and her heels are crushed, she probably trips, frequently loses shoes, and has thin walls. Her farrier always complains about the quality of her hoof walls, that she has no heel, and that if he tries to take any toe, she won’t be sound. Natural Balance Shoeing can greatly assist your horse. 

 

When I am at shoots, I see many horses with feet that are not supporting the leg above them.  Over time, the hoof capsule has migrated forward, the heels have collapsed, and the entire foot has flattened.  Since the foot is so flat, there is little sole and therefore little protection under the last bone in the foot, the coffin bone.  As such, farriers cannot “shorten the toes” on these horses, nor can they “grow” heels.  It makes it impossible, therefore, to correct this condition with traditional shoeing methods.

 

First and foremost, this condition causes stress on the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) which is the tendon responsible in large part for making the leg flex toward the belly.   This tendon runs down the back of the horse’s leg like an elastic band and if stressed, can itself be irritated and damaged.  Our horse’s long toe is similar to us walking in ski boots or flippers. Since the DDFT also travels across the navicular bone, excessive strain and tension on the DDFT can ultimately irritate the navicular bone and navicular bursa as well.

 

Next, these flatfooted horses are generally sole sore.  Because their feet have migrated forward, the internal structures have collapsed, leaving almost no sole protection between their coffin bone (the last bone in the leg) and the ground.  If led across a gravel driveway, these horses will visibly wince!   Finally, these horses will tend to pull their shoes, not because there is something wrong with their hind feet, but because the front feet simply can’t get out of the way fast enough.  Imagine the arc of travel the front feet must take as compared the typically better heeled hind feet.  The four feet are simply out of sync.  By speeding up the breakover of the front feet, shoes are much less likely to get pulled.

 

How does a Natural Balance shoe differ? 
A Natural Balance shoe differs from a traditional shoe in several significant ways.  First, check the design of the shoe (see photo).   The toe of the Natural Balance shoe is thicker.  Since the shoe is going to be placed directly over the coffin bone, it is thick to offer maximum protection.  Next, the underside of the shoe is concave.  This alleviates any concerns about pressure being placed on the horses sole since the shoe is going to be placed across the sole.  Note how the toe of the shoe is also rounded.  This design allows the horse maximum ease in his movement, and provides for the most natural breakover.  All the edges of the shoe are rounded to prevent the horse from grabbing and pulling his shoe.  Notice too how many nail holes there are.  This is of great benefit if your horse does not grow much foot.  We all know how hard it is to keep fence up when you are using old nail holes!

 

My experience with Natural Balance Shoeing has made me convinced of its effectiveness in correcting a number of serious hoof problems.  Last year I purchased a long toed, mule footed shooting horse who tripped constantly.  Shooters know the joy of tripping around the rundown barrel with a loaded gun! I had my vet take lateral x-rays of his feet so that I could accurately locate his coffin bones. Once I knew where his coffin bones were, I placed his Natural Balance shoes directly over them and significantly reduced his toe length by moving his shoes back over an inch from his toe wall.  I also gave him greater heel support by giving him a much longer shoe.  Now he never trips, is completely sound, and has gone from a narrow hind pattern shoe to a regular round front pattern shoe.  He wears bell boots all the time, but has never pulled a shoe, despite the fact that his overstride is approximately six inches!

 

  Our shooting horses work hard for us under stressful conditions.  We owe it to them to give them every opportunity to do their jobs well, as easily and painlessly as possible.  More and more farriers are becoming aware of the Natural Balance shoeing method.  Ask about it.  Read about it.  It may just give you the edge you need to look and shoot like Chad Little (in your dreams!).

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