On Wed, Jan 10, 2007 at 04:01:13PM -0800, Kim Morton wrote: > --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > what, do you think gait is insensitive to farriery? > > i'm confused. > > It pretty much should be. Little changes in shoeing > should not make or break a horse's gait, it should not > be so sensitive, a well gaited horse should not (will > not) lose gait because of something the farrier did. > Not within the normal realms of shoeing.
i have no knowledge of farriery, but it seems that the "normal realms of shoeing" in iceland include practices you don't approve of. i guess i think being educated about the effects (whether or not they are within your idea of "normalcy", as long as they are things students are likely to encounter) is a good thing. fwiw, i noticed that when stjarni was overdue for a trim (he was evenly shod all around) his gaits all became a bit worse (he tripped more). right now he's barefoot in back and borium on the front, as are the rest of the horses at the barn. of course as a gelding he's not going for any breeding evaluations anytime soon, but i don't see why such shoeing should offend anyone or be considered abnormal practice. (it is pretty much dead standard for all breeds in new england winter.) he is going nicely at all his gaits. --vicka
