Saddlebred Horses: Lameness And Winning, The Truth About Foot Balance
Posted on January 9, 2009
If you are a Saddlebred show horse competitor or observer you very well noticed the intense methods used to shoe these horses. While these horses sometimes have a total of better than 7 inches of foot and weighted shoes close to several pounds it becomes paramount that shoeing be done with absolute understanding and clarity – if not, well it very well may be the deciding factor in winning or loosing and or a permanently lame horse.
Do a simple test. Hold your arm out in front of you, now simply add one pound of weight to your hand and continue to hold your arm out directly in front of yourself. You’ll notice within less than one minutes time that little one pound weight becomes quite significant. Now imagine that same amount of weight or more at the end of a horse’s leg while running or being asked to move through a series of controlled movements. Could be quite drastic taking into account the extreme length of foot on most saddlebred horses.
Would you like to win? Would you like your horse to win? Take a close look at the shoeing. Here is where things get extremely important if you wish to win. When studies show 98 percent of horses are genetically pigeon toed it becomes a serious issue to winning. When the foot of the horse points inwardly it creates an imbalance in the foot. The foot does not break over dead center but rather breaks over on the side. While the foot is pointing inward it leaves no hoof wall to support the foot on the outside where the foot wants to break over.
The Results: Twisting of the joint, load on the bones all of which can lead to permanent lameness as well as the foot winging outward due to lack of support to the lateral side of it’s foot. Winging out is serious to the way the horse travels, coupled with very long feet and extra weight these inaccuracies in shoeing can lead to the horses feet flying this way and that out of control and the judge of the show will fail you and your horse.
With this highly specialized styles of shoeing Saddlebred horses it becomes the Farriers responsibility as well as yours to have things done right. The results can be disastrous, not only loss of the contest but worse of all the horse can come up permanently lame from repeated use with incorrect shoeing.
The quick test to find out if you are at risk and your horse is at risk is simply to ask your Farrier how he is addressing the Pigeon Toed horse. If he or she says “Anything” like “Well you shorten one side of the hoof compared to the other side, or – you add a wedge pad here or there – you should RUN LIKE HELL. What he has repeated is what the textbooks teach and what the farrier schools teach and it’s OLD SCHOOL information and outdated, and it ruins horses.
You need to seek out the truth about horseshoeing. The new technology the new age thought. There is a method with a 16 year 100% track record – “Not one single lame horse” available. It’s the combination of years of experience and tested proven methods of shoeing. You will find this information below in the authors website. You want your horse safe from lameness/possible permanent lameness right? You want to Win right?
Then pursue the truth. You arrived here for a reason.
Author Bio: John Silveira a San Francisco Bay Area native has been serving in the capacity of Farrier after graduating from one of the world’s greatest horseshoeing schools since 1991. Having felt the Farrier industry was missing something John discovered something not taught in the schools or textbooks regarding shoeing horses. The results speak for themselves. Not one single lame horse in 16 years. You can experience the truth for yourself at the following web address: http://Care4Horses.com
Thank you very much and remember to Care4Horses
