Natural balance Shoes and center crack

[shadowateit]

1. I have been told that the 2 inch crack starting at the bottom and splitting down the center of my mares hoof is caused by the Natural balance shoe. THis foot is upright, not quite a club. Could this be true?


2. Lots of farriers are using the natural balance shoes, but are not listed on the nb site as certified. Does this mean they are not properly trained to use this type of shoe? Is it important for a farrier to be properly trained in the NB methods? If so why?

[calshoer]

1. I have been told that the 2 inch crack starting at the bottom and splitting down the center of my mares hoof is caused by the Natural balance shoe. THis foot is upright, not quite a club. Could this be true?NO. Shoes (any type) do not cause cracks. However incorrectly applied shoes can. As well, a lot of other things could cause a crack. Properly applied shoes, including Nbshoes, help heal toe cracks.

2. Lots of farriers are using the natural balance shoes, but are not listed on the nb site as certified. Does this mean they are not properly trained to use this type of shoe? NO. The NB certification process is fairly new and not many farriers have had the opportunity to take the tests yet. Those who are not yet certified may have a lot of training in the mehod, but may not. It is important top interview a prospective NB farrier and ask that question.As well, a commopn problem is farriers who decide on their own to change recommended parts of the NB application protocol, sometimes causing problems.
Is it important for a farrier to be properly trained in the NB methods? If so why?Yes, because NB is more of a principle in hoof balancing and trimming protocol than it is the shoe.
The shoe and shoe fit is only part of it. Every part of the NB recommened application is designed to work in unison. Mixing NB shoes with non NB application principles usually results in problems. Patty

[shadowateit]

Thanks Patty!!! I live in Orlando and we have quite a shortage of Farriers. They seem to do the interviewing and they can take you or leave you. Most of them are not taking new clients. I don't even mind hauling if I can find a good farrier. It's so hard, because a horse NEEDS a farrier!!!

[Gary Hill]

Where did they all go? Back in 79-80 they were thick as thieves? Pull into Tusscawillow (forgive my spelling it has been awhile) and there was a Farrier rig at all four doors.

[Kevin L. Wyatt]

I just met a Farrier from FL last week out at Chris Gregory Heartland shoeing school In Mo, and what I got from talking to him was their was more than enough work in FL, and not enough Farriers. I did not get his last name, but his first name was Lexy, and he was originally from Cuba (pardon my spelling). He was a tester for the AFA certification test.

[calshoer]

We can't keep them here either. The young guys go to school, get out all gung ho and go shoeing build a nice repeat clientelle, then only last a year or two.I mean a couple who literally had half their clents handed to them by other farriers.
They start not showing up, not making return phone calls, and so on, then soon after quit for a quarry job, or a government job with benefits (in one of the many prisons here) ,construction, or go rodeo or whatever. And the ones who are not that young are retiring , some early due to burn out.
We have lost probably a half dozen darn good local farriers in the last year right around here and everyone left to try to cover the clients is swamped. Patty

[Ryan Stoops]

As a general rule...The foot with a toe crack is most likely the up-right or clubby foot. This happens because the toe isn't growing as fast as the heel. Therefore you tend to get fungus in the toe, I think this is what causes the crack. I feel that an improperly applied NB shoe could contribute to the crack. Only because I see shoers set the shoe across the sole behind the white line. Why if you can't get the breakover where you want it without setting the shoe back behind the white line, Don't you just rock the toe??? Can't you put the breakover wherever you what with a rocker-toe?

[Dances with Hooves]

Why if you can't get the breakover where you want it without setting the shoe back behind the white line, Don't you just rock the toe??? Can't you put the breakover wherever you what with a rocker-toe?

The rocker toe continues to place leverage against the distorted toe.

The whole term "setting the shoe back" is faulty logic. NB principles call for the foot to be diagrammed and the shoe placement is made in relation to landmarks such as the true frog apex, widest part of the foot, or if radiographs are available brakeover is placed 4-6mm anterior to the distal boarder of P-3. The dorsal wall is not used for shoe placement as it is subject to distortion and cannot serve as a landmark.

[calshoer]

Only because I see shoers set the shoe across the sole behind the white line. If the toe, anterior sole between the pillars,and white line are stretched forward of where they should be elative to the bone,it is perfectly OK to set the shoe behind it and it will NOT cause cracks unless the farrier over dresses the dorsal hoofwall, thinning it excessively. The NB guidelines state to not do that.
Two common shoeing errors can cause toe cracks.
1) Leaving the long toes and fitting a shoe to that, or
2) Over-rasping of the dorsal wall to try to bring breakover back that way, instead of setting the shoe where it belongs and leaving the wall strong around the front.
If you can drive nails through the sole well behind the whiteline in a particular foot (which I have done as a demonstration) and not hit blood, it is perfectly harmless to set a shoe behind the whiteline in that foot too, as long as the shoe is relieved and the foot properly trimmed to prevent sole pressure. Why if you can't get the breakover where you want it without setting the shoe back behind the wite line, Don't you just rock the toe??? Can't you put the breakover wherever you what with a rocker-toe?Sure you can put the breakover wherever you want with a rocker toe,but that only takes care of the distoprted hoof's internal breakover mechanics. It doesn't help the distorted capsule reform to a better relationship with the bone.
If you fit the shoe to the distorted toe wall, even if it is rockered it still loads the wall of the toe it and will not help the wall remodel and grow in to its correct parallell relationship with the bone as well as setting the shoe back and totally unloading that part of the wall. Setting the shoe back to the correct place *and with the proper method* will allow the wall to remodel faster.
And think about this: In order for a crack to form, the wall has to be loaded. It can't really crack if there is no stress on it.
Therefore Unloading s not cause cracks, and is an important part of preventing them.
That is why we 'float heels' for quarter cracks, it is the same principle, just in the toe instead.
Patty

[Red Amor]

Like you all say
tidy up the foot balance the hoof keep it that way shod or no n bobs your uncle

But how many times have you seen shoers/trimmers leave the often present seedy toe unattended and the crack always there