Arabian got shoes, first time in his life (he's 11), the other day. According to farrier, we just couldn't get his heel to remain up and under him, his toe tending to get long and his heel too low. He also reaches really far under himself and "clicks" his feet together, back foot hits bottom or side of front foot (not heel bulb, just the hoof part). We had hoped that by putting shoes on him it would stop the "clicking".....nope. Not a bit. He still clickity-clacks walking around, and will click when trotting if I don't keep him "up" off his forehand. It's one of those things that isn't so much like nails on the chalkboard, but more like the incessant tapping of someone's pen on a desk. We are trimming every 6 weeks. Shoes are being used to correct the low/underrun heels issue not clicking per se, but I had hoped they would have that effect as well. I did notice that his rear toes still looked longer than the fronts. Formerly when trimming barefoot it would get corrected for a very short time until the horse grew a bit of toe out again (week or two) then right back to clicking. He had low heels and a long toe when he came from lack of care, but we've kept him trimmed up & his feet had been looking pretty good IMHO except for before this last trim where I noticed they were getting underslung and it looked like his heel was more in the middle of his foot than towards the back where it ought to be. I believe he is toe/toe clicking not heel toe. He has never hurt or injured his front heel in any way while clicking so I am grateful for that. But for him to be clicking at all is where I am just feeling (not knowing per se) that something ain't kosher with his feet. I am not sure I believe the clicking will stop if it hasn't already stopped with a trim & shoe. I called, talked to the farrier, expressed my concerns.....now he believes he should come back & put pads on his rear feet to raise the heels there. ??? He did put shoes on front on crooked because horse runs the inside of the wall off before the outside(true), but I don't know if that is ok. He pretty much told me he knew what he was doing & I didn't....which isn't entirely untrue, I don't know what I'm doing for sure. He also wants me to duct tape his feet & find out where they are hitting so I can tell him. So I decided to post pics to other farriers and see what you guys think I should do, or if you think this trim/shoeing is ok. (Sorry for the dirty feet, I was in the pasture with no hoof pick!) Front Shoes: 03-06-12_1733.jpg by Buffalocolt27, on Flickr 03-06-12_1739.jpg by Buffalocolt27, on Flickr 03-06-12_1741.jpg by Buffalocolt27, on Flickr Back Shoes: 03-06-12_1734.jpg by Buffalocolt27, on Flickr Front underside: 03-06-12_1735.jpg by Buffalocolt27, on Flickr 03-06-12_1736.jpg by Buffalocolt27, on Flickr Back underside: 03-06-12_1737.jpg by Buffalocolt27, on Flickr 03-06-12_1738.jpg by Buffalocolt27, on Flickr 03-06-12_1740.jpg by Buffalocolt27, on Flickr
What kind of show is on the front feet? Is that some sort of a wedge? Can you get any pics of the bottom of the feet when their cleaned out?
There appears to be quite a few things you can try to stop the forging. I'm on my phone at work right now. When I get home tonight I will take a closer look at your pics. Hopefully someone else will respond before that. Eric Russell
Hoof growth starts from up by the hairline. If the end of the heels look like they are in the center of the foot it means they are too long. It looks like there may be some more toe to come off on the hind feet. If not blunting / squaring the hind shoe may help. You may want to try flat steel up front also. Changing the foot angle, shoe position, rolled square toes..... all these little things can get a horse to stop forging. Sometimes you may need to play with it a little and see what works.
Buffalcolt27, I shoe a horse that is bad to forge. Forging is where the hind toe hits the front toe. Alot of times it is because of the horse's conformation, they will usually be short backed with long legs. It is hard to totally stop them. Squaring the toes of the back shoes sometimes helps, but it usually just masks the sound while the feet are still hitting. What has worked for me is to put a little weight on the toe of the hind feet. It seems to change the flight time just enough to make them quit hitting, but as the foot grows it can come back. Keeping the horse on a tight schedule is usually helpful. The shoeing on your horse looks past due to me. I would recommend not using the Natural Balance shoes because they do not fit the foot, but that is just me. With forging, in my experience, you just have to try different things until you find what works for an individual horse. Good luck!!!
Eric said it quite well that there are a lot of adjustments that can be instituted to reduce or eliminate the forging. L.Clayton made a remark about natural balance shoe's and Although I don't believe it has anything to do with the forging, I also agree with him that (and ton's of discussions have made forums over NB shoeing) the shoe is nailed on and the foot is made to fit the shoe. Some times it is a good shoe and sometimes another shoe will work better. In many cases an Arab is shorter in barrel length andhas long legs. This is what most farriers will see when an animal is forging. In other cases, it is how the animal is trimmed. Long toe with a low heel creates a lever and will, because of the change in the arch of break over, will have the toe still in the way of the hind foot during stride. Another scenario is the terrain the horse is traveling over. Another is how the person rides the horse. Another is the shoe choice. Another is confirmation of the horse or deformity of legs etc... So you can see it is or can be a puzzle to figure out at first. A good trim with the animal balanced and properly set under itself is the beginning. A good selection of shoe's, which have been adjusted to work in a manner to aid in proper break over. Roll toe's of shoe, Shorten heels, Regular shoe's on front and aliuminum shoe's on rear (concept is heavy makes animal pick foot up higher-higher arch and a light shoe horse picks up less and a lower arch during stride). You can and will hear of other methods from other farriers that work for them. The more methods you know, the more chances you have of correcting a problem since each animal is different. my 2 cents worth
You've got a good eye and already have seen and stated much of what is incorrect, ie: the feet are in need of a good, balanced trim. At what point in the shoeing cycle was the horse when you took those photos? The horse looks long past due for some quality farrier work. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using an NB shoe that has been properly fitted and is an appropriate choice for the 'hoof in hand'. Contrary to [some] popular opinion, they can be shaped to meet the dictates of the hoof. From what I can see in the photos, there are some hoof conformation issues as well as shoe fitting issues that have not been addressed and that alone is enough to cause your horse to forge, especially if he is a short backed, tight coupled, leggy arabian who tends to go heavy on his forehand in the first place. Based on the photos presented, the shoer should not be applying any NB shoe because he doesn't know how to do it correctly. ymmv. And, since I went back and re-read the original post where the OP stated that the horse got shod 'the other day' I am drawing the conclusion that these photos were taken soon there after. If that is indeed the case, the OP needs to find a farrier who knows what they are doing. ymmv Eric: The front shoe looks to be a wedged Natural Balance PLR. Also, the hind shoe missed the lateral heel by a bunch
