Certifications

[Miguelhotstuff]

If there is such interest in NB shoeing, trimming etc. Why is there not a certification program for this way of shoeing put on by an association who believes in these. The AFA is working strongly to develop the basic skills needed to shoe a horse's foot. I beleive as a young farrier that one needs to get into hands-on clinics & competitions to develop these skills. No farrier should be working on the****utic cases straight out of school. They should have another farrier who can help out on these cases.

Everyone is scared to get into the shop and pound out shoes because they'll get banged up hands. Yet they'll spend thousand's of dollars in supplies to keep in their trucks just in case they need that size shoe. At least I can say I can build whatever shoe I need to nail on a horse and as a young farrier I have someone helping me on my "special needs" horses. A little sweat and blood could do a lot for farriers. But I guess a majority of farriers on here probably have another job or only do this part time.

The good thing about going to clinics and competitions is that you know exactly where you stand after three long hot days of hard work. One can then go home and work harder to get better. If you can't build it, chances are you can't shape or modify it either.

Miguel

[Mike Ferrara]

I don't build a lot of shoes and I tend to use a few modifications often and others almost not at all so I can't claim to be the best at general shoe forging. It doesn't have anything to do with not wanting to get banged up in the shop because I spend a lot of time forging all kinds of stuff and my left hand is all scared up from burns from weld splatter because I do a lot of forge welding.

I do carry bar stock in the truck so I can build a shoe if I need to and only carry the store baught stuff that I use often. Even without being the fastest at forging a shoe or being practiced at building every type of shoe under the sun, my intention is not to be stuck. I still don't need to build that many.

It's a long time since I've started shoeing but the number of really tough "thereputic cases" that I have handled is limited because they just don't come up every day. Very often, when they do, I consult other farriers (one in particular) and on rare occasions even get hands on help. It doesn't bother me at all to do that and you just can't be experienced, practiced and proven at everything...well maybe some one can but I don't claim to be.

I certainly see some clinics as worth attending but I have no interest at all in competitions...though I do have some archery and bass fishing tournement trophies on the wall left from the days when I did enjoy such things.

This is work. I enjoy it but it's still work. As a matter of economics I need to be good (including fast enough) at the things that I am required to do often. If there's is something that I rarely need to forge it's plenty economical to spend a little extra time on it the one time I may have to do it rather than a lot of time practicing something that I may NEVER need (and may get rusty at before I do need it). If I suddenly, for whatever reason, found myself in a situation where I was going to need something on a recuring basis that I'm not currently practiced at, I would simply take a bunch of stock and charcoal into the shop and do a couple of cram sessions in preperation. MANY of the things I forge are one time items and nothing goes the fastest or the smoothest the first time but I'm used to that and I can still get it done...though an attempt does get trashed here and there. Think it through, plan it and forge it. General forging techniques apply to most everything. Maybe it helps that I forge things other than shoes. It certainly helps with confidence.

It's possible that some farriers who don't have an interest in blacksmithing aside from forging shoes never learn general techniques other than as they apply to making shoes. They just never get to be good friends with their forge and hammer. If I practiced everything that I forge once in a while or might ever forge I would never be able to leave the shop. Again, speed comes with repetition and first attempts sometimes fail. That's not the end though. You figure out where your planning or technique went wrong and fix it. For me, repetition comes from the repeated need for the same item. If I don't need it, I'm not going to use up fuel and stock to practice it. To be honest I use my forge far more for non-farrier applications than I do for farriery.

A very simple example. I carry a 70 pound NC anvil in the truck and for many years it was the only anvil I had. Almost every clip I ever pulled was on the clip horn. Now I have 2 big Peter Wrights in the shop and it occured to me that to draw a clip in the way I'm used to I'd have to haul in my other anvil and I didn't want to have to do that. I don't have a bob punch so I made one the way I thought it should look. Drew some clips, modified the punch a little and drew some more. Then I took out a ball peen and did some that way. My clips on the clip horn are still faster and a bit neater but I'm ok with doing it in the shop without the clip horn. Now I'm kind of interested to get a close look at a store baught bob punch (it's been a very long time) to see how close I came. If I have steel, heat and a hammer, I'll get it made and I don't need a contest.

[beslagsmed]

I have to agree with Mike. I spend time in my shop doing a lot of things other than making shoes. Many times I will make a pair of shoes just to warm the forge and anvil to weld. I buy 90% of all my shoes, but have bar stock in my van if needed. I would venture to say if a 100 years ago if all farriers had the chance to buy ready mades at a reasonable price, they wouldn't have spent so much time making them as well. I beleive every farrier needed to know how to make a shoe or modify to better service the horse. It's work and when I am off work, I want to relax by doing something else.

Who knows, maybe someday there will be a NB certification. Maybe some of the big boys ought to think about it.

Mikel

[SlowShoe]

Miguel

Hey my fine freind to the north.

I learned to shoe from my father initially. I spent years shoeing my fathers horses before I even saw a forge (im serious too). My father never used one. He'd buy the cheapest shoes he could and beat the h3ll out of em. Thats how I learned initially, on an anvil on a rickidy stand, without a square edge on the whole thing. Guess you could say I learned the hard way in a sense. My dad didnt mention much about anatomy. So I bought some books, spent time with other farriers, and one thing led to another. I eventually bought a forge from an Amish guy in PA for 50 bucks, I didnt use it much at first. But when I upgraded my shoeing rig from a VW Jetta (im serious) to my truck I mounted it on a swing arm and started useing it frequently. But I still dont make any shoes. I have done a few, they didnt come out so well. =] I can draw clips, and modify a shoe in any way necisary, but turning a shoe from barstock is tough for me. Probably becuase I have not had anyone do it with me or help me with it really to tell me what Im doing wrong.

But I deal with lamness cases with great success. Ive got a great customer base of sport horses, pleasure horses, and working horses. For the most part they are all sound. They werent all sound when I got there.

So not being able to make a nice shoe doesnt really reflect upon your ability to modify a kegshoe, or apply whats in your truck.

Josh

[SlowShoe]

Almost every clip I ever pulled was on the clip horn.

If your reffering to the round clip horn, how the heck do you use that thing anyway?

[George Geist]

Just a little historical note for those that are interested. It is popularly assumed that horseshoers of yesteryear made all the shoes they used.
This is factually inaccurate.

Old time blacksmith shops had firemen (shoemakers) and floormen (horseshoers). Guys who didnt work in large shops bought shoes from blacksmiths who spent their days making shoes to sell.

For busy horseshoers there never was enough time to be making shoes.
George

[Redd Mcintyre]

As a beginning farrier I spend alot of my time watching my mentor use his forge, anvil, and stall jack to make, modify and create a shoe. I would like to see/attend a clinic or class to instruct a beginner apprentice. I get frustrated while learning on my own the proper stance, tong hold, hammer blows ect. it takes to create a speciality modification :confused: . On the road with my master he tries to take the time but time is money! The more I can learn of the basics will help me do more for my mentor. Does anyone know of onee near the Va. or NC area?
Redd

[George Geist]

Josh,
The round cliphorn is used by placing the redhot shoe against its edge at about a 45' angle. Drive the shoe into it hard. After getting a good bite of steel gradually turn your shoe perpendicular while drawing your material into a clip.

It will draw a toe clip but side ones dont usually come out too good in my experience anyway. It is easy to tell clips that were drawn this way as they have the tell tale gouge on the ground surface behind them.
George

[T.L. Buck]

Well Miguel, Though I like your opinion I totally disagree with your thoughts. I do this on a fulltime basis. I carry a forge, welder etc. Most of the mods that I do to shoes, I do on sight with my equiptment. Like what Mike and others have said, this is a job. It is work. I love doing what I do. I must also make a living and support my family. It is not ecomonical to make a shoe from bar stock for every horse that I do. I too make lots of things in the shop. I practice darn near every day with the forge and anvil. I do not believe you can judge a persons ability soley on contests. Everyday at work is a contest modifing a shoe that works right for the horse. That is why I do what I do. I don't try to prove myself to anybody other than my client and the horse. They are my judges. If I do what's right for the horse and and do it correctly and in a timely manner to still make a living then I did something right. Yes sweat and blood is an OK way to learn a lesson but so is NO BLOOD. I have been around horses one way or another all my life. I still learn something new everyday. Clinics are a good source of info. Read a lot and pay attention to everything around you and you will learn.

[calshoer]

If there is such interest in NB shoeing, trimming etc. Why is there not a certification program for this way of shoeing put on by an association who believes in these.
If anyone were to offer certification on any technique such as NB, it should probably be the person/people who developed it ,not some independant organization.
Gene has been asked the question about NB certification many times. He has stated a couple of reasons he does not offer certifications in NB principles.
One is because you cannot guarantee that a certified NB farrier wouldl go out and do it correctly once they passed the ceertification, and poor applications would more strongly eflect back on the NB program .
No one would know whether their "certified" NB farrier was actually doing it the way they did it to pass the test.

Another reason is that NB is not a static, finished protocol. As more information comes in from both ongoing research and farriers' field expriences, it evolves and refines.
So what a farrier might test on this year may change a little by next year.
I know several parts of NB that have refined or evolved since I was first introduced ten years ago.
So, the goal of the folks at EDSS is to inform, to educate and encourage people who want to try it to to use the protocol correctly. Not to force any kind of certification.
Patty

[calshoer]

If you can't build it, chances are you can't shape or modify it either.I don't agree. Thats just another one of those lines fed to young farriers to justify handmades.
Before I learned handmades I learned first to modify keg shoes hot. Then what I learned doing modifications greatly assisted me in building handmades.

All the same skills are required to modify as to build.
Turning the metal where you want to to go (without smashing the nail holes), punching extra nail holes,
cutting then finishing heels,
adding fullering across the toe of a keg shoe,
building in a sole relief on a flat shoe
rollng, squaring or rockering a toe,
making a trailer,
forgewelding a bar shoe out of a long heel keg shoe,
modifying a store bought egg bar into a straight bar, etc,etc etc.
Whatever the modification, the same forge skills are used to build one from scratch.
Patty

[Mike Ferrara]

If anyone were to offer certification on any technique such as NB, it should probably be the person/people who developed it ,not some independant organization.
Gene has been asked the question about NB certification many times. He has stated a couple of reasons he does not offer certifications in NB principles.
One is because you cannot guarantee that a certified NB farrier wouldl go out and do it correctly once they passed the ceertification, and poor applications would more strongly eflect back on the NB program .
No one would know whether their "certified" NB farrier was actually doing it the way they did it to pass the test.

Another reason is that NB is not a static, finished protocol. As more information comes in from both ongoing research and farriers' field expriences, it evolves and refines.
So what a farrier might test on this year may change a little by next year.
I know several parts of NB that have refined or evolved since I was first introduced ten years ago.
So, the goal of the folks at EDSS is to inform, to educate and encourage people who want to try it to to use the protocol correctly. Not to force any kind of certification.
Patty

The same things can be said about any training. A certification or degree only says that this person was taught x material and demenstrated the ability to do Y skills at the time of training. In other words that they met the specified requirements on the specified date...that they completed the training. No certification or degree says anything about what the person will do or will be able to do in the future. All technologies and disciplines change and evolve. I received a degree in electronics in 1989. Want to bet they teach some different things today? My degree stands though. Staying current is something that is always up to the holder of a certificate or degree.

The only way to control what some one does on the job is to take them on as an employee in order to establish authority and then actively check and control their output.

I don't see any of that as reason not to issue a do***ent that is evidence to one having completed the training.

Of course the actions and abilities of a former tranee are sometimed viewed as a reflection on the training institution. That's one reason that degrees from some schools are prefered over others in the work place. That is as it should be. Attending the best training should be an advantage for the graduate and the training institution should have some accountability when it comes to the students they turn out. Training will effect how one does things and good training will effect it in a good way. If a training institution or instructor is unwilling to place their name next to yours on a certificate or diploma it may very well be that they don't have much confidence in what they are teaching or how they are teaching it. I taught scuba diving for a number of years and my name, instructor number and the name of the agency is clearly printed on every single certification that I ever issued. There is a certain accountability implied there and scuba diving, when done poorly, can result in dead people which, in my judgement is a far bigger deal than anything that anyone could ever do to a horse. I excersized GREAT care in deciding where I placed my name. In my opinion, it's not a good sign when a trainer is unwilling to accept that accountability by placing their own name on a certificate.

[stephenson forge]

[QUOTE=calshoer]If anyone were to offer certification on any technique such as NB, it should probably be the person/people who developed it ,not some independant organization.
Gene has been asked the question about NB certification many times. He has stated a couple of reasons he does not offer certifications in NB principles.
.
Patty... Do I understand you are saying Gene developed the principles used in the NB protocal? What about JON. A. W. Dollar, M.R.C.V.S., Mr. Russell
or Mr. David Duckett?

Steve Stephenson CJF

[Derin Foor]

Does anyone know of onee near the Va. or NC area?
Redd


Redd,

Join the VHA (Virginia Horseshoers Assoc.)... they have great clinics all year and a lot of outstanding farriers willing to help you

their website is :

http://www.vahorseshoers.com/

e-mail me your mailing address and I will send you a copy of the updated 2006 schedule

Derin

[calshoer]

Patty... Do I understand you are saying Gene developed the principles used in the NB protocal? What about JON. A. W. Dollar, M.R.C.V.S., Mr. Russell
or Mr. David Duckett?

Steve Stephenson CJF
He developed most of them. No, he did not develop ALL of them, and he always gives credit where credit is due,(if you went to any of his lectures there is a long list of credits) but he certainly did develop a great portion of what is now known as Natural Balance.
As well ,a lot of NB is built based on much more modern research than those you mention.it is a compilatiopn of lots of different peoples work , including much if it his own, that as far as I know no one put together before in such a consistant, easy to understand package.
The work of the old researchers you mention make up a very, very small part of NB (as well as any decent shoeing). Ducketts work is also just a small part of NB. Much more comes from other, more modern works.
So NB is a whole package of research and principles ,old AND new, taken together as a whole.
I answered a very specific question concerning certification for NB, which was mentioned by name.
Gene developed that specific protocol , which is based on lots of different information. It IS a specific protiocol ,not old. Just because a few parts are similar to parts of some old works , does not mean it is the same.
As well he developed shoes which support the principles, and which are all too often misapplied. (hence the question about certification, I am sure).
Therefore if there were ever to be a certification in applying NB, specifically the NB shoes with the principles for which they were designed, Gene should be the one to develop a certification for applying that protocol , if there is ever going to be a certification.
Rather than "some organization which supports NB" developing their version of what should constitute certification requirements for that particular protocol.
THAT was my point.
Patty

[Mike Ferrara]

Therefore if there were ever to be a certification in applying NB, specifically the NB shoes with the principles for which they were designed, Gene should be the one to develop a certification for applying that protocol , if there is ever going to be a certification.
Rather than "some organization which supports NB" developing their version of what should constitute certification requirements for that particular protocol.
THAT was my point.
Patty

If the term "natural Balance" is a legal trademark then no one else can teach it under that name. Aside from that, why does the developer have to be the training or certification agency. I have a degree from a university that didn't develop a single thing that it teaches.

I've never been taught to use any shoe by the one who developed the shoe either. I don't see why this should be any different.

[calshoer]

If the term "natural Balance" is a legal trademark then no one else can teach it under that name. Aside from that, why does the developer have to be the training or certification agency. I have a degree from a university that didn't develop a single thing that it teaches. Then why should the 'Butler textbook' farrier schools have to have Butler develop their testing? :D
First, I did not say that NB should only be taught by the person who developed/ built/ trademarked /put it together (or however you all want to see it ) the protocols.
Gene teaches it ,but as well there are other people who have worked closely with him who also teach it (including myself).There AREproblems with some people teaching it who are NOT well educated in it,and are passing on misinformation.
That's a growing problem only Gene can try to sort out and I certainly can not speak for him as to what he may do about that.
EDSS IS in the process of developing a standardized curriculum for instructors to follow, to try to maintain some consistancy in what is being taught. I know of schools who advertize that they offer NB in their curriculum, in which the instructors perhaps have only been to one three day clinic many years ago, and therefore have very limited hands on knowledge of the intricacies of the system.
It would be like me trying to correctly teach applying banana shoes. I wouldn't even try , because I don't have detailed hands on instruction in them myself from Dr.Redden .
The question here was why not certify farriers in the NB system. I will try to keep the discusion on that track.
I've never been taught to use any shoe by the one who developed the shoe either. I don't see why this should be any different.Again, many people besides Gene teach NB. Most who teach it (fortunately) do have long term training directly from him. As it should be with ANY system being taught by someone other than the developer. (think banana shoe or heart bars)

And remember again, Natural Balance is NOT only a shoe. The NB shoe is only one tool in making the protocols easier to apply. It is not necessary to use the NB shoe to correctly apply NB protocols (but is sure a far sight easier).
Therefore teaching NB is NOT just teaching how to apply a certain shoe, it is teaching a whole package of protocols, including using various shoes to do it.
Patty

[stephenson forge]

Patty.....I don't mean to be argumentive, but I strongly disagree that Gene has developed most of the methods used in the NB protocol. Just because you attach descriptive terms to parts of the hoof or style of preparing it does not mean it's an original thought.
Some Examples:
Gene....."The only time any removal of sole is done with a hoof knife is when large cracks are present in the sole. The size of the cracks will determine the amount of exfoliation that will be necessary (with very small cracks, very little or no exfoliation is needed)."

Dollar....Page 345 "Of the latter class of errors perhaps the most serious is weakening the bars and frog by excessive paring, and next, thinning the sole. It may be laid down as a principle that to remove more than loose horn is a fault".

Gene...."Start by identifying the true apex of the frog, either by probing or by removing a small amount from the tip of the frog pad if necessary."

Dollar....Page 205, 206 "All portions of the wall lower than the margin of the sole can be removed; if no part projects below this point nothing should be removed. The bearing surface then consists of the thickness of the wall, including the white line, and a narrow strip of the outer margin of the sole. This should be completely levelled with the rasp and only rounded off slightly at the toe. In case of doubt as to how much to remove, the horn of the sole can be tried with the knife at a spot close to the apex of the frog.

Gene....."Be careful to leave as much of the upright, healthy bars as you can."

Dollar....Page 206 "The bars should be spared and their connection with the wall under no cir***stances weakened, much less cut through."

Gene...."The only area of the frog that is routinely trimmed is the cleft of the central sulcus. Keeping this area open seems to lessen the chance of bacteria forming in horses that are less active. The rest of the frog should not be trimmed at all, unless there are parts that are hanging by a small attachment from the live frong structure."

Dollar....Page 207 "The frog is left sufficiently strong to project below the bearing surface of the heel, a distance equal to the thickness of an ordinary shoe. If weakened, it atrophies, and the hoof contracts. It should, therefore, only be pared when diseased; in other cases loose parts alone are to be removed. It needs scarcely be pointed out that, if strong, the frog will soon wear to proper proportions."

Gene...."Be conservative when you rasp or nip the hoof wall to the back edge of the sole callus. The rocker or roll you prepare in the foot should not exceed 10 degrees to 15 degrees from the flat plane of the sole, or in simple terms, what is normally found on a well-worn shoe."

Dollar....Page 207 "Goyau gives the following directions (which have been summarized) for the preparation of the foot. Imitate the effects of natural wear. Natural wear produces a flat foot of a form best suited to the conformation of the limb it terminates."

Shall I continue?

Cite a natural balance principle and I will find it in Dollar & Wheatley's "Horse Shoeing and the Horses Foot", published 1897.

Steve Stephenson CJF

[Jason Maki]

Steve,
I am aghast! It is truly ungentlemanly, cruel and just plain mean to bring historical data into a discussion of NB. Do you not realize that the true history of horseshoeing started in about 1990! The bumblebrained butchers of the last two millenium only managed to allow man to build the modern world from horseback by shear luck. The Dark Times before 1990 should be left in the past, history is what we say it is here in the land of Oceania. Smoke your Victory cigarette, and allow the Ministry of Truth to reduce the lexicon of horseshoing to "Hopeforsoundness.com" like a good patriotic citizen, will ya! :rolleyes:
Jason

[Phil Armitage]

Patty.....I don't mean to be argumentive, but I strongly disagree that Gene has developed most of the methods used in the NB protocol. Just because you attach descriptive terms to parts of the hoof or style of preparing it does not mean it's an original thought.
Some Examples:
Gene....."The only time any removal of sole is done with a hoof knife is when large cracks are present in the sole. The size of the cracks will determine the amount of exfoliation that will be necessary (with very small cracks, very little or no exfoliation is needed)."

Dollar....Page 345 "Of the latter class of errors perhaps the most serious is weakening the bars and frog by excessive paring, and next, thinning the sole. It may be laid down as a principle that to remove more than loose horn is a fault".

Gene...."Start by identifying the true apex of the frog, either by probing or by removing a small amount from the tip of the frog pad if necessary."

Dollar....Page 205, 206 "All portions of the wall lower than the margin of the sole can be removed; if no part projects below this point nothing should be removed. The bearing surface then consists of the thickness of the wall, including the white line, and a narrow strip of the outer margin of the sole. This should be completely levelled with the rasp and only rounded off slightly at the toe. In case of doubt as to how much to remove, the horn of the sole can be tried with the knife at a spot close to the apex of the frog.

Gene....."Be careful to leave as much of the upright, healthy bars as you can."

Dollar....Page 206 "The bars should be spared and their connection with the wall under no cir***stances weakened, much less cut through."

Gene...."The only area of the frog that is routinely trimmed is the cleft of the central sulcus. Keeping this area open seems to lessen the chance of bacteria forming in horses that are less active. The rest of the frog should not be trimmed at all, unless there are parts that are hanging by a small attachment from the live frong structure."

Dollar....Page 207 "The frog is left sufficiently strong to project below the bearing surface of the heel, a distance equal to the thickness of an ordinary shoe. If weakened, it atrophies, and the hoof contracts. It should, therefore, only be pared when diseased; in other cases loose parts alone are to be removed. It needs scarcely be pointed out that, if strong, the frog will soon wear to proper proportions."

Gene...."Be conservative when you rasp or nip the hoof wall to the back edge of the sole callus. The rocker or roll you prepare in the foot should not exceed 10 degrees to 15 degrees from the flat plane of the sole, or in simple terms, what is normally found on a well-worn shoe."

Dollar....Page 207 "Goyau gives the following directions (which have been summarized) for the preparation of the foot. Imitate the effects of natural wear. Natural wear produces a flat foot of a form best suited to the conformation of the limb it terminates."

Shall I continue?

Cite a natural balance principle and I will find it in Dollar & Wheatley's "Horse Shoeing and the Horses Foot", published 1897.

Steve Stephenson CJF

Steve, I do not recall Gene claiming he discovered or invented it, he is just expanding on what is already known, new research and doing a hell of a good job teaching horse owners and farriers. How about the following, what does Dollar and Wheatly say about.

Toe Calouse
Subluxation
60/40 ratio
Breakover
Slight heel first or flat landing

[calshoer]

Steve, first, some of your quotes are stretching it a bit, because what Dollar says in your quotes and what Gene says (and shows in his videos)that accompanies your carefully chosen short excerps is a little dfferent.

Next, I have never disputed that SOME parts of natural balance are similar or the same as some parts of some extremely old shoeing texts.
As well, I have said whenever Gene speaks he gives credit to many, many people besides himself for their contributions.

He openly takes very little credit for himself, but I personally think he deserves more credit than he takes, or gets.

Natural Balance is a far more advanced and refined technique than those old texts. They sure knew some PARTS of the story back then, just by trial and error mostly, but had a lot of the pieces missing.

Like heel first landing vs toe first and WHY.
Show me a quote from Dollar on that important bit , and if i there IS one, please incluse Dollar's reasoning behind the importance of a slight heel landing.

Including the importance of the proprioceptors in the heel area.

And the full role of the frog . And how the foot really expands more at the coronary band than the bottom edge, and how the frog is part of that.

They hadn't a clue back then about the role of the sole callous. They only left dead sole there because they knew it was protective.

The NB BAREFOOT trim, which I believe is what you are citing, does leave more dead sole covering, similar to Dollar, but the NB hoof trim for SHOEING is quite different.

The sole is very much more cleaned of all chalky material with NB, down to the level of the live sole all over. Unlike Dollar who I believe recommends leaving the dead stuff,even when shoeing.
Therefore the older texts could not possibly be referencing the true live sole plane for medial lateral balance.

Balancing the foot to the sole plane rather than sighting it is one of the biggest, more important parts of NB and is not going to be found in the old books. I don't know any protocol prior to NB that uses the live sole to accurately balance the coffin bone to the ground M-L.
And Mike Savoldi in his completely seperate UST studies has verified that it is true. And that is one of the most important things at least in my lifetime that has come down the pike to change shoeing for the better of horses.

AS WELL,show me a citation from something in Dollar about aligning the hoof pastern axis by LOWERING the heels and allowing the frog to move the distal end of P2 forward in the joint.
Or treating negative palmer angle coffin bones with frog support pads.

Or treating mismatched feet as individulas rather than trying to make them match.
Or treating acute laminitis with construction grade styrofoam.

OR the importance of medial lateral breakover in addition to breakover at the toe in routine, non the****utic shoeing.
The old books only mention the toe breakover, not the sides.
Look at the shoes back then there were no rolled edges.

Those are huge parts of NB that I never read nor heard anywhere else before NB.

Every text I have ever seen in the past uses the height of the heels to raise hoof angle to try to align the pastern hoof axis by sight from the lateral view.
I believe that is one of the most important innovations developed in NB.....LOWERING the heels of the foot and using the frog to align the coffin joint instead of just eaving more heel on the foot.

Like I said, Gene gives credit where credit is due unlike so many other practitioners.
A lot of NB IS quite new , not out of any of the old books. The science behind a good portion of NB is quite recent,as are some of the techniques. Leaving frog and other functional structures as cited from the older texts is only a very small part of NB,aswell as part of any common sense barefoot trimming .
Sure you can pick out a few old parts of old texts that are the same, because EVERY scientific innovation including in new horse shoeing protocols is built on a base of older information. ALL science takes old available information ,then re-studies it, adds to it, changes it ,and then refines it to something new.
I think you should look into NB a lot deeper than just the few parts in the basic barefoot trim before you make judgement .
Patty