Recognizing Hoof Distortions - 2 Minute Overview

Hoof Distortions are one of the most common root causes of lameness in modern day horses. This video is a brief overview of how horse owners or hoof care providers can quickly and easily map feet so that an evaluation of common hoof distortions can be made. There is a lot of follow up information that can be found at www.hoofcaretoday.com and www.edsshoofcare.com.
Other helpful links:
www.lamenessprevention.org
/ hoofcaretoday
/ hoofcaretv
/ lamenessprevention

[@EDSSHoofcare]

Forging usually is a pre-cursor to lameness of the coffin joint and/or navicular region of the foot. If it was purely a conformation or breeding issue, then how is it that farriers can use some common sense foot prep guidelines to address hoof distortions and then use a properly fit leverage reduction shoe and the forging goes away? We appreciate the comments but we seem to have different experiences from yours, however we thought much the same way 30 years ago.

[@EDSSHoofcare]

Not sure why bmc06239 would not think that a Natural Balance Shoe is not a good option for horses that turn. The NB shoes, PLR's, and Centre Fit shoes have been some of the first ones on the market that built Multi-direction Leverage Reduction into the shoe which actually takes strain off of the joints and attaching tissues in the turn and going straight. Properly prepared feet and properly fit leverage reduction shoes like the ones I just mentioned are a preferred application for treating joint problems and lower limb lameness so I think you might not have been given the proper information. Thanks for viewing though.

[@bmc06239]

You never addressed my concerns... the natural balance shoe shown at (1:48) puts more leverage at the pillars and when the horse turns on packed surfaces this has the potential to damage to the collateral ligaments of the coffin joint...over time the horse will change it's stride during turns to avoid this pain causing damage to other joints further up the limb.

[@EDSSHoofcare]

I thought I had addressed your concerns previously, as the NB shoe has leverage reduction built into the shoe all the way around the ground surface from the toe to the quarters. It is not a straight across breakover point as many actual "square-toe" shoes are. The foot surface of the NB shoes is actually quite round and contact & load is shared pretty even all the way around the foot, with the exception of feet that have extra long and distorted toes. If you look at where the inner rim or the point of breakover sits with an NB shoes as compared to most other shoes on the market at the pillars and in the turn, I think you would find that it does not increase the leverage. Perhaps some people have the illusion of it increasing the leverage if the toe quarters are not addressed and the front of the toe is over thinned as untrained people sometimes have done with that shoe. I have seen people misapply that shoe and end up with toe quarters that are flared out, heels left contracted and think they just did "Natural Balance" because they used the shoe. However, we are very specific about the foot preparation guidelines we recommend to be successful with our products. Never the less, our products get applied to poorly or incorrectly prepared feet and then the assumption by people that do not recognize the difference between proper foot preparation and improper foot preparation (at least for our shoes), think that the fault lies with the shoe. It just simply is not a correct assumption. The NB shoes and pretty much all of it's predecessors (which there are many and with many better features) are used time and time again to alleviate and treat collateral ligament lesions and other soft tissue ailments in and around the coffin joint. So I do not know how else to address your concerns other than to state what I we have experienced over the more than 20 years of using tens of thousands of these shoes (applied properly) and seen quite the opposite affects that you are describing.

[@bmc06239]

I see it now..my observation was incorrect when applied correctly on a long toe. I seldom see horses able to be removed from this corrective shoe or worse enter a cycle that spirals quickly out of control to natural balance shoe with pad...natural balance shoe with frog support ...career ending injury. Injuries seem to occur more with horses working in packed terrains or disciplines with sharp turns. I agree the shoe works well as a corrective device for long toe. If I understand you correctly it should not be used long term because it cannot be installed correctly on hooves with correct toe length therefore will create the problems I described.

[@EDSSHoofcare]

That is actually not what I said. I said if it is applied correctly then it does not cause the problems you were describing and in fact is often times used to successfully treat the problem you had described. You mentioned that the shoe only puts support under the pillars and I mentioned that the shoe makes contact and supports the foot all the way around with the exception of horses with long distorted toes. I will say that we offer a lot of other shoes that may do a better job and may be more appropriate for horses competing in hard terrain or have other lameness or performance requirements. Every horse and every situation is an individual and should be treated as such. The NB shoes have a place to be used as do PLR's, Centre Fit, Vulcans or most other shoes, pads, etc. on the market. You seem to obviously have a problem with Natural Balance shoes, so my suggestion would be for you not to use them. Like any shoe or pad, they are a tool. The skill, training and expertise of the person using them as they are intended will yield the corresponding results. People that use our shoes or any other shoe for that matter and apply it to an incorrectly or poorly prepared foot are going to have less than desirable results. If you get apply the correct apparatus to a correctly prepared foot, you will have better results.

[@bmc06239]

Can you provide video evidence to support that the shoe can be installed correctly on a horse with correct heel position and toe length. I do not have a problem with the natural balance shoe. I just think it should come with a warning that says this is a corrective device and instructions to transition the hoof out of them when their time has past.

[@Harry-ei7os]

Natural ballance fixes everything

[@bmc06239]

You use a "Natural Balance Shoe" at the end of the video to bring back break over...does this horse not turn...because most horses I know do. This shoe will only create more joint problems.