That's very interesting Lollykay, and I'm glad you weren't one of the people so obsessed with barefoot that they wouldn't consider shoeing.
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Not at all, lol. I was a die hard, go where there wasn't a trail, trail rider. My heart horse always wore shoes. While I could ride the other ones barefoot, they got shoes if I had company coming and knew we would be doing some serious riding.
I had a pretty bad accident in 2006 that left me with really bad vertigo. I wasn't able to look up to see what was on the overhead shelf in the closet without passing out. That meant no riding therefore no need for shoes.
I had kept my own horses trimmed, off and on over the years, but had to give that up and have the farrier trim them.
It got to where the farrier didn't "see" what he was doing with my foundered horse's hooves and the hooves slowly started to regress and he rotated again.
I showed pictures to my vet, who is a leg/hoof specialist. He's known my horses since 2007. When I saw his face slowly turn purple, I knew I had better do as he said and bring the horse to the clinic, lollol
Those aluminum full rocker shoes are the greatest thing since peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But it's crucial to keep the vet involved, as I have learned. If the vet is standing over the farrier and taking X-rays before and after a re-set, the farrier shouldn't be able to screw things up. I have witnessed my vet order the farrier to take the shoes back off and shave more off here or there.
The farrier learned to just tack the shoes on before the X-rays, in case he has to pull them off again, lol
It's nothing short of a miracle that my horse is able to be lightly ridden. I will never take him off the property but we have fencing that ranges from 300 feet long to nearly 1/8th mile so I can ride him "on the rail", so-to-speak. Now if I can just find the time --- I am retired and I'm pretty sure New Years Day was only two weeks ago. Mom always said to not wish my life away because the older one gets, the faster time goes, lol
Here's the link to the shoes, if you care to read. He does do overseas consultations.
http://www.nanric.com/when_to_use_the_rocker_shoe.html