From: John
Dear Jessica, I have a lovely Anglo-Arab. He's approx 14 years old and is a great endurance horse and listens very well. I have a question that is hopefully not too technical for you because it is all about shoeing. My horse has one foot that has a somewhat more forward growth of the hoof. For that reason he stands a little flat on that foot. He didn't have any problems with that foot at all so far, but never the less, my farrier recommended to put a little wedge pad between the hoof and the shoe to lift it up and correcting the foot more into the ideal angle. Although it is only a small amount that the wedge corrects, I wonder (and am a little worried) if this approach is the correct way to go. As I mentioned, he didn't have any problems so far, but by using the wedge it might create problems in future, this because of: 1. getting used to the new foot/leg angle, and 2. getting even more problems when I may want to stop using these wedge e.g. when I like to have him without any shoes at all for a little while. Do you know about those wedges and do you know if these wedges are used more often. Please let me know what your opinion is. Thanks very much. John
In shoeing, as in so many other areas of horsemanship, there are two principles that you can rely on. One is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". The other is "If it ain't broke, don't break it." In my opinion, your concerns are entirely justified.
If your horse is already a successful endurance horse, moving well and coming in sound at the end of each long ride, then he has obviously managed to come to terms with any unevenness in his foot growth. If he is 14 and has managed to remain sound under the stress of demanding work - which endurance riding requires - then I would be extremely hesitant to make any changes.
The "ideal angle" is a good thing, if by "ideal angle" your farrier is referring to the hoof angle at which the horse's feet are balanced and in line with his pastern angle. But there's an enormous difference between shoeing for soundness and shoeing for appearance, and whereas the former makes good sense, the latter often makes no sense at all. There's certainly a place in the world for good corrective shoeing, but it's generally best to correct when there is something functional that needs correcting. "Corrections" provided when there is nothing wrong are not really correcting anything, are they? What they're doing is CHANGING something, which may or may not allow your horse to remain as sound and happy and cooperative as he has been during his first fourteen years.
If I were you, I would want to know, first, why my farrier would suddenly want to change the horse's hoof angle at this time in the horse's life. I would want to know, in the most specific terms, precisely why the farrier thought that this "correction" was now necessary, and precisely what he thought it would accomplish. If the only answer is "It would make the feet look more similar and thus more aesthetically pleasing", then that would not be enough of an answer to suit me. It's entirely possible to change a horse's feet in an attempt to reach some "ideal", and in the process, damage the horse's movement and soundness. This isn't something you can afford to risk. My next step would be to consult with my veterinarian about the whole idea - and then I would want to talk with a veterinarian AND a farrier who specialize in maintaining sound endurance horses. Again, one person's "aesthetically pleasing" horse may be another's nightmare - I'm sure that, like many other endurance riders, you have, over the years, met individuals who felt that your horse was "too thin", and who would have loved to push feed to the horse until he assumed the sofa-like contours that some humans find attractive in equines. But for an endurance horse - for any horse really, but especially for an endurance horse - that sort of "feeding up" would be a quick path to illness, unsoundness, and the inability to dissipate the body heat that endurance horses build up during a long ride.
I'm not a farrier, but I know many good farriers, and the best ones all seem to agree that a horse that is sound and happy when performing in a demanding sport, and has been sound and happy for many years, and shows no signs of lameness or incipient lameness, is a horse that doesn't need to be "fixed" or "corrected" in any way. One farrier I know says that slight unevenness in the horse's ribcage, neck, shoulders, and hips will often create, over time, a slight unevenness in the horse's feet - but that "correcting" the feet with no regard for the horse's overall soundness or performance will, in many cases, CREATE problems of soundness and performance.
Having said all that, don't completely dismiss the notion of making a change. Talk to your farrier and your vet, and to a farrier who works with many endurance horses, before making up your mind. It IS possible that your farrier has a good reason for wanting to effect this change, and that he has seen something in your horse's movement that indicates an actual need to make such a change. But if he has a reason, it should be one that would make sense to your vet and to a specialist farrier - AND TO YOUR HORSE. Check, double-check, and triple-check his reasons before you make ANY changes to the feet of a horse that has no problems now and has had no problems in the past. Needed changes can be very helpful, but never make a change just for the sake of making a change.
Jessica
Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org
Please visit Jessica Jahiel: Holistic Horsemanship® [www.jessicajahiel.com] for more information on Jessica Jahiel's clinics, video lessons, phone consultations, books, articles, columns, and expert witness and litigation consultant services.