I do have in our animal family what was labelled as a Navicular Syndrome Quarter Horse mare. Some of her damage was the result of breeding very small feet on a very large horse, some of it from IMPROPER shoeing, some of it from being used as a futurity cutting horse at age 2. I don't believe in "throwing the baby out with the bathwater", so don't believe that ALL shoeing is evil nor do I believe that ALL barefoot is better for every ridden horse on the planet. It depends on who is doing it & how appropriate what they are doing is for that individual taking into account the entire situation they are in.
Being an equine/human holistic health care practitioner, I've seen damage done from both camps over the years, more so from the "barefoot trimmers" that have taken a few weekend workshops & set out a shingle in recent years. I'm sure not all of them are that way, but what "natural trimmers" that have breezed through our area in Calif. seem to be creating quite a few soundness issues with their methods. I think we need to educate ourselves so we can decide what is best for our individual charges & hire the best people in that field to do the work whether it be barefoot of shod or if you have the time/talent & are so inclined learn to do it yourself. My mare needs the support in front from properly applied shoes, but does better with no shoes behind. We had 2 well-trained/talented BF trimmers working with her fronts for quite a while (over a year), but when we switched to a farrier that had all that training + 20 years experience + training from Gene Ovnicek, she took a turn for the better. Also found the correct supplementation that works for her & twice weekly Jin Shin acupressure from me has helped her to be comfortable at 25 despite the Navicular Syndrome label 18 years ago. She is also partially blind from being hit in the head from a falling tree during a severe storm, otherwise I would lightly ride her still in an arena. Kaaren
