# Shield Shoe



## JoelSanderson (Oct 3, 2015)

I really don't know what to call this shoe. I'm a blacksmith, not a farrier, but my farrier and I made this together Thursday. My arabian has some confirmation issues which cause him to strike the front of his rear foot against the bottom of his front foot as he trots. It happens most when he gets about 20 miles or so down the road and is starting to get a little tired. Before that I can keep him in a longer gait which avoids the problem. But anyway, here's a shot of the shoe we put on. We just took a standard shoe and welded a dished 1/8" plate to its front to cover the part of the hoof where he hits. I adjusted it with heat and a hammer to fit the hoof closely, the drilled holes for ventilation. I took this photo this afternoon after a 17 mile trip. You can see the wear it took by how polished it is. 

This comes back to my belief that a horse with a level head and poor confirmation is many times more useful than a horse with a nutty head and great confirmation. You can deal with the first; there's not much to help the second. 

So now tell please tell me if you've seen this before and any ideas you have about it.

Sorry about those dirty hooves. He's a worker, not a shower.


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

Well that is very interesting!


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## ChitChatChet (Sep 9, 2013)

Dan Patch had to have a special cart and a special shoe to make him a winner. His confirmation caused issues too.


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