Posted by Cindy Casey on May 25, 2000 at 22:44:54:
This is a question for Gene Ovnicek. (Other opinions appreciated too!) My farrier uses Gene's shoeing method. Last fall he had another client send a question to Gene asking about shoeing to land flat vs shoeing for level heels. The horse in question had a crooked leg causing one or other of these situations. Gene said shoeing for level is most important and that some horses will never land flat. My horse has a very minor amount of crookedness in her leg. She is "off" slightly on this leg in the round pen. (3 people have observed it but it is very slight) This is VERY intermittant and very minor. My shoer said that to him she appears shortstrided on that foot. He said he could even out the gait by shoeing for landing flat but he believes this would not be in her best interest long-term and to let things be. (she is not lame) Would you agree with this? This seems to be a controversial issue around this area and most tend to go for land flat. Now I'm not sure as I don't like seeing this little bit of "offness". The vet told me if I kept her this way I'd have problems down the road. My farrier thinks the opposite. (the vet is also related to the farrier and there is a bit of family fueding going on) Thanks for any input.