# Natural Balance Shoes



## ilovehorse's (28 June 2012)

Hello,

I want to ask fellow owners what there opinions of natural balance shoes are. I havent much knowlege on them but they seem to be very fashionable. I do know that they change the break over point. The only time i have heard of using them was for a friends horse with pigeon toes this horse use to trip a lot too. They seems to work for that animal but i was asked if i wanted my horse shod with them and i wasnt sure. I have no problems with my horse and has had hunter shoes for 7 years and never had a problem.

All advice much appreciated thanks for reading


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## KSR (28 June 2012)

If it is not broke, don't fix it?

7 of my 8 have never had shoes.. However the one that did (lost him 5 weeks ago) NB were the best shoes for him.. Even when he got pedal rotation and my old farrier commuted from Brighton to Hinckley to try and help him, horse went from crippled to field and yard sound as soon as the bar shoes came off and the NB went back on..


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## Miss L Toe (28 June 2012)

I tried them with a horse [I had had no problems], just sucked in by the marketing hype, horse looked OK but felt as though he was "on tiptoes", I never used them again 
The horse has a slight twist and I think it is easier to deal with using a hunter type shoe.
PS. farrier was the remedial farrier as used at vet school.
PPS. now barefoot


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## cptrayes (28 June 2012)

If you have to have shoes on a horse, I like the idea of Natural Balance shoes because they bring back the breakover to more like where an unshod working horse puts it for itself.

They aren't, though, a good idea for horses with flat feet and thin soles, because the point of the pedal bone can end up pressing through the sole directly onto the shoe and make the horse lame. 

Knowing what I know now from working horses with no shoes on, if I had to have shoes I would choose natural balance positioning, but if your horse has been happy for 7 years I have no idea whether I would choose to change if I were you.


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## The Fuzzy Furry (28 June 2012)

Have had BF in natural balance last year & tho they did the job, I find centre fits suit her better - pin toed & a few other minor probs but these are the right ones for her.

But, as said above - dont change for the sake of changing, if you have something that works well - why change it?


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## Always Henesy (28 June 2012)

cptrayes said:



			If you have to have shoes on a horse, I like the idea of Natural Balance shoes because they bring back the breakover to more like where an unshod working horse puts it for itself.

They aren't, though, a good idea for horses with flat feet and thin soles, because the point of the pedal bone can end up pressing through the sole directly onto the shoe and make the horse lame. 

Knowing what I know now from working horses with no shoes on, if I had to have shoes I would choose natural balance positioning, but if your horse has been happy for 7 years I have no idea whether I would choose to change if I were you.
		
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This ^^
My TB came to me with NB shoes on and it left him crippled with bruised soles and terrible lameness. A TB that had point to pointed for 13 years and never seen a natural balance shoe until the stoopid woman thought it would be a good idea. It wrecked him and the veterinary investigations proved it too. You could press in the soles of his feet with your thumbs  The poor lad was bilaterally lame and probably had been for the entire year she had him. I noticed the moment I got him home. His heels had collapsed and folded in themselves, his toes were red raw with bruising (where he had tried to take the pressure of his heels) and the actual shoe size was too small for his feet.
Thanks to my really good farrier and putting double clip shoes on the front with a rolled toe, lots of heel support and 6 weeks turned away he came right.
I am so pleased I bought him. It is a credit to his lovely temperament that the poor soul didn't go mad with pain.

If it ain't broke - don't fix it!


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## coss (28 June 2012)

Always Henesy said:



			This ^^
My TB came to me with NB shoes on and it left him crippled with bruised soles and terrible lameness. A TB that had point to pointed for 13 years and never seen a natural balance shoe until the stoopid woman thought it would be a good idea. It wrecked him and the veterinary investigations proved it too. You could press in the soles of his feet with your thumbs  The poor lad was bilaterally lame and probably had been for the entire year she had him. I noticed the moment I got him home. His heels had collapsed and folded in themselves, his toes were red raw with bruising (where he had tried to take the pressure of his heels) and the actual shoe size was too small for his feet.
Thanks to my really good farrier and putting double clip shoes on the front with a rolled toe, lots of heel support and 6 weeks turned away he came right.
I am so pleased I bought him. It is a credit to his lovely temperament that the poor soul didn't go mad with pain.

If it ain't broke - don't fix it!
		
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So was it the fact they were too small or the fact they were NB shoes? 
I have mine without shoes but for a short time I had a horse in NB shoes and she was fine in them. The farrier tried sheos with a toe clip but her toes would run forwards pulling the shoe off the heel and pulling it forwards so she was better having NB shoes where her toes could do what they liked without affecting the placement of the shoe.


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## foxy1 (28 June 2012)

I think lots of farriers don't fit them correctly, but fitted properly I think they are far far better than a traditional shoe. My horses are also barefoot but if I chose to shoe for any reason it would be with an excellent farrier eg. David Nicholls and with a NB shoe.

But for now I choose barefoot.


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## Always Henesy (28 June 2012)

coss said:



			So was it the fact they were too small or the fact they were NB shoes? 
I have mine without shoes but for a short time I had a horse in NB shoes and she was fine in them. The farrier tried sheos with a toe clip but her toes would run forwards pulling the shoe off the heel and pulling it forwards so she was better having NB shoes where her toes could do what they liked without affecting the placement of the shoe.
		
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Both! The shoe stopped about an inch back from the heels. He had no heel support at all and the shoes totally screwed his feet. 
To be honest just because NB shoes suit some horses - with others as with my TB they are totally inappropriate.


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## LucyPriory (28 June 2012)

I tend to find that hooves that have been long term NB shod are the most deformed.  They can and do successfully transition to unshod/barefoot but also seem more likely to get 'pins and needles' in the first two weeks as the circulation to the hoof restores.


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## cptrayes (28 June 2012)

LucyPriory said:



			I tend to find that hooves that have been long term NB shod are the most deformed.  They can and do successfully transition to unshod/barefoot but also seem more likely to get 'pins and needles' in the first two weeks as the circulation to the hoof restores.
		
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That's interesting Lucy. Can you describe how they differ from feet long term shod with normal shoes? I'd be very interested to know how they affect the foot long term, I've never seen a  horse in them long term myself.


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## Jnhuk (28 June 2012)

One of my horses has been in natural balance shoes for the last four years after advice from my equine vet practice following a lameness work-up.

Certainly they have helped my lad and wouldn't change as he has never been lame since his original issue.


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## Wundahorse (28 June 2012)

Our WB has natural balance shoes which were first put on in december 2011 as he has a slight pigeon toe caused by a twist from an old injury,and he also dishes on that foot.After steroid injections in his coffin joints as well,the shoes have really helped although the only thing i would say is that the shoeing is,according to the vet,realigning the wonky foot which puts some pressure on the joint during the transitional period. I have to say the dish is much improved and he is straighter in his front movement.


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## paulineh (28 June 2012)

All mine are normally in NB shoes. At the moment I have one mare in a egg bar shoe due to an injury. She will go back to NB once we are sure she is fine.

The problem as already said some farriers do not know how to put NB shoes on correctly.

I think it is shoes for horse for courses and they suit some horses and not others.


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## Tnavas (29 June 2012)

Farriers here in NZ won't touch them with a barge pole!

Mentioned to my friends hubby - he's a farrier and he says they cause more problems than they sort.


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## chestnut cob (29 June 2012)

My horse was shod with NB shoes last year.  I changed to a remedial farrier who immediately took him out of standard shoes with toe clips to NB shoes in front.  I can't even describe how quickly and how much he improved.  He was clearly so much more comfortable.  Farrier shod him with NB until autumn/winter last year, so for about half of the year, and then changed him to wide webbed rolled toes.  He told me NB shoes are great for dealing with serious issues but he doesn't like to use them long term.


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## LucyPriory (29 June 2012)

cptrayes said:



			That's interesting Lucy. Can you describe how they differ from feet long term shod with normal shoes? I'd be very interested to know how they affect the foot long term, I've never seen a  horse in them long term myself.
		
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The foot can actually deform to a triangular shape with the 'point' at the heel.  Now I know that is in part to how they are applied - but it does seem the 'fashion'(?) in this area to fit them tight and to pull the heels together.  And the toe gets very straight.


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## chestnut cob (29 June 2012)

chestnut cob said:



			My horse was shod with NB shoes last year.  I changed to a remedial farrier who immediately took him out of standard shoes with toe clips to NB shoes in front.  I can't even describe how quickly and how much he improved.  He was clearly so much more comfortable.  Farrier shod him with NB until autumn/winter last year, so for about half of the year, and then changed him to wide webbed rolled toes.  He told me NB shoes are great for dealing with serious issues but he doesn't like to use them long term.
		
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I can't edit my post now so just to add... the horse has some quite serious issues, he isn't a bog standard horse who's fine in bog standard shoes.  He has ringbone and coffin joint arthritis in front so needs careful management.  I can't see why you would ever need NB shoes for a horse without any problems.  My new horse has cracking feet, just sailed through a 5 stage vetting (vet said "soundest horse I've vetted in a long time"!) and farrier says his feet are very strong.  He most certainly won't be going into any remedial shoes and in fact his back shoes will hopefully be coming off next time... we don't have much roadwork, all our hacking is off road, so I don't see the point of keeping him shod.


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## foxy1 (29 June 2012)

LucyPriory said:



			The foot can actually deform to a triangular shape with the 'point' at the heel.  Now I know that is in part to how they are applied - but it does seem the 'fashion'(?) in this area to fit them tight and to pull the heels together.  And the toe gets very straight.
		
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I can visualise exactly that foot! That is NB incorrectly applied. The shoe can only be as good as the person putting it on...


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## Dingding (30 June 2012)

I train with a top dressage trainer who says if he goes to view a horse that is wearing them they walk away, they completely destroy a horses way of going making them pick up and put down in front far to quickly. I also have read about this way of shoeing and can't quite get my head round the latest fad of putting wedges under a NB shoe , when they cut the heels down to the widest point to fit the shoe, so why would you if you need to apply wedges why would not not leave what the horse naturally has there rather than applying and plastic wedge!!!! And as for a centre fit shoe, if my farrier needed a line on the shoe to fit it, well need I say more. The art and skill of a farrier I thing is being lost, or maybe lazy!!!!


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