Shoeing is like riding, dentistry, or a feed program, where balance is the most important thing.
Balance of the foot depends on not only your farrier, but the team work of the people around your horse. In achieving good feet for your horse, all possibilities should be considered: riding, vet, body workers, dentist, diet, etc. Unfortunately, if a healthy foot is not achieved, there are no consequences to us, the rider, farrier, trainer… only to the horse.
The majority of people are confused about the design of the hoof, so when evaluating your horse’s feet, follow these simple rules.
The horse’s foot should have a sensitive and insensitive frog, with a nice well-defined cleft. The foot should have a sensitive and insensitive sole. The depth of the sole and hoof wall should be at the same height as your insensitive frog. The white line should be of equal distance all the way around the foot. If your horse’s foot looks like that, you have a balanced foot. If you have chips, cracks, or flares, you have an imbalanced foot. This tells you the horse is out of balance, and you know then you have not completed the wellness circle (body workers, chiropractor, farrier, dentist, feed, etc).
