| Your horse comes up lame, he limps, bobs his | | | | security. You'll be setting yourself up for a fall if |
| head, is obviously in pain, won't run and all you can | | | | the above conditions of improper shoeing are not |
| do is wonder just how serious will this be, will we | | | | addressed and taken care of. |
| ever ride again. Not your best case scenario. | | | | The repetitive use, the constant little need for |
| Maybe the horse put its foot in a hole, maybe it | | | | adjustment, the little bit of wear that's occurring |
| just tripped, but many times lameness creeps in | | | | because the joints aren't lined up correctly, the |
| over time as a result of incorrect horseshoeing | | | | little bit of stretch that turns into too much |
| practices. Your horse's foot is not balanced, the | | | | stretch over time, and this is how lameness |
| hoof wall is not level, the heels have been left too | | | | creeps into your life and the life of the horse. If |
| short, and too much toe on the foot stretches | | | | ligaments tendons or a bone of the horse blows |
| the tendons. Maybe the horse has pigeon toes | | | | there may be no coming back from it. All your |
| that have been left untreated. All of the above | | | | months possibly years of training gone- a huge |
| over time can lead to lameness and permanent | | | | setback possibly with no comeback. You can |
| lameness. | | | | blame your Farrier but what about yourself? |
| If the toe of the foot grows too forward the | | | | Shouldn't you have known- after all isn't the horse |
| foot labors before breaking over which stretches | | | | your responsibility? |
| the deep flexor tendon and can rotate the coffin | | | | You can save yourself a lot of heartache, save |
| bone. The same holds somewhat true for too low | | | | many hours lost and save a lot of money in |
| heels. The uneven hoof wall puts pressures into | | | | veterinarian bills by getting some simple facts and |
| the joints which through repeated riding wears | | | | understandings about how to prevent horse |
| away normal function of the joints. The pigeon | | | | lameness. Then you won't have any guilt, won't |
| toes cause a foot to break over its side which | | | | have to place blame, sidestep all the sadness and |
| also stresses joints and ligaments. | | | | best of all you're horse will be sound. The right |
| Any of the above issues all by itself can lead to | | | | information is available, it's not taught in the farrier |
| lameness but when joined with all the others the | | | | schools or textbooks but it has a 100% 16 year |
| odds of a lame horse increase. All of the above | | | | track record of |
| issues can be present on a horse's foot at the | | | | "Not One Single Lame Horse". Without this |
| same time. Shoeing and trimming a horse must | | | | information you're only "Playing" in a world with |
| be correct. | | | | serious possible consequences. |
| The horse might very well have "all" the issues | | | | Just click the link in the author bio to take |
| present and yet not immediately come up lame. | | | | yourself where you can make a difference. |
| In fact the horse may continue for months of | | | | Take care, safe sound riding and remember to |
| riding even years and stay sound even with the | | | | Care4Horses |
| problems. But don't be lulled into a false sense of | | | | Reprint rights allowed providing nothing is changed. |