Posted by Patty Stiller on May 12, 2000 at 22:45:49:
In Reply to: barrel horse with tendon injury posted by Brenda Edmondson on May 11, 2000 at 13:13:50:
: I have had 2 barrel racing horses in the last 2 years
: affected with tendon injuries. I am having them shod
: differently now, more heels, less toes & standing them
: up straighter, and was wondering if the Natural Balance
: shoes would help keep them sound?
Applying natural balance *principles* would help, and the shoes make applying those principles easier.
Please aware however that leaving long heels, and "standing the feet up" is not a correct way to shoe any foot. The practice of standing the foot up by leaving long heels is a mis guided attempt to reduce strain on the tendons. What really happens when you do that is the frog can no longer function as a part of the vital support system of the coffin bone,and navicualar bone,and circulation is gravely affected.it also adds stress to the suspensory ligaments. The heels will eventually get contracted, and the horse could get sore in the coffin joint and navicular area.
Natural balance principles involve trimming the foot correctly to the live sole plane, (in which case your horse would probabay need the heels trimmed back down)while carefully preserving some vital structures in the sole,the frog and the bars. This gets the whole back of the foot functioning in a more healthy manner. It also insure correct balance internally through the boney and tendon structures.
Then the natural balance shoe, or a shoe of similar design is applied to get the breakovr in a specific place under the foot. THIS is what relieves the tension on the tendons. Long "too far in front of the frog " breakover is the most detrimental to the tendons. I would suggest you get the book, New Hope for Soundness" available from this website, before you try the natural balance shoes. It is a basic overview of the principles. Please do not have Natural balance shoes applied unless the proper natural balance foot preparation is used. Patty