>>>> It says the hoof must be natural, and gives an overall length, but I can't find where it says how long the hoof wall can extend past the sole.
Yes, I showed the FIZO rules to my farrier and he was pretty amazed. The lengths they allow are pretty long - up to about 3.75" toes. My Icelandic toes are mostly closer to 3", depending on the individual horse, his/her conformation, and how recently they've been trimmed. (I swear that I remember that one or two measure under 3" immediately after they are trimmed. My farrier and I measured a few the day I showed him the rules, just to see the variation.) They aren't all trimmed exactly the same, but as needed for their conformation. Those articles about cleaning up gaits are so...well, scary. That's all the writers you quoted seem interested in: gaits - and I recognized some as Holar graduates. They don't seem to realize (or care?) that all the angles in the horse's body are connected, so if you change one angle, you also change another joint angle somewhere else - or several other joint angles. They don't seem to know (care?) that these little misalignments can build over time, especially if you add in other body braces and/or tension. Like from stiff riders sitting on the loins, maybe riding in too-tight saddles, hanging onto the reins. It's cumulative. In my mind, a farrier is a health-care professional - hopefully mostly in a preventive-care way, but sometimes actively. I seriously think that Holly and Sundance had no major lasting problems with their laminitis bouts because they went into their respective illnesses with well-balanced feet. What difference would it have made had they "foundered" with that much extra toe? Gaits aren't THAT important to me, not to risk the horse's long-term soundness - especially when it's possible to get good gaits from good, sound breeding, with horses that are relaxed in their entire bodies. And if you read the risk factors for bone spavin, improperly balanced feet or odd trims, along with caulks and studs, are prime risk factors. No, it seems to me that there's just not enough margin for error in how a horse can be safely and sounded trimmed to be messing around with gait-tweaking. Karen Thomas, NC -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.16.8/621 - Release Date: 1/9/2007 1:37 PM
