Riley's new shoes

Talking about horse shoes is sort of like waving a red flag in front of a bull -- some people's opinions are very strong on the subject of horse shoes! But heck, I'm going to write about it anyway. If it's about hooves, you know it is about Riley :-).

After two years of completely routine hoof care and problem-free feet, the humid, hot weather has taken a toll.  At the last shoeing, we saw the return of the "hoof hole" at the two o'clock position in Ri's right front-- the result of surgery for a traumatic injury when he was three years-old. Oh well, we had a good run, I can't complain.

To be safe, the yucky chalky bits were pared away on the toe, and Ri was temporarily put in an alternate "new style" glue-on polyurethane shoe. These shoes are really interesting! The Sound Horse FLEXX®, is a new cuff-less glue-on from Sound Horse Technologies, the same company that makes the Sigafoos shoes. The FLEXX shoes look more or less like a regular shoe, and when I first saw Ri in them I thought the farrier had changed his mind about using glue-ons.  When I saw the product off the truck, it looked just like a regular shoe, but no holes, and black. I think they are polyurethane, but I don't know that for sure. What the brochures says about the shoes:

• 40% lighter than forged aluminum shoes
• Built with abrasive grit concentrated at ground surfaces for wear and traction (patent pending) (Therapy does not include grit)
• Better wear than forged aluminum shoes
• Better concussion reduction than aluminum and steel
• Bio-mimics™ the natural hoof wall

"All Sound Horse FLEXX® shoes are built without a toe grab or hardened wear plate, allowing our unique urethane shoes to protect the natural hoof wall and bio-mimic™ normal wear patterns.

Each shoe also features a thin, metal wire that provides additional shaping and support while retaining flexibility."

I like the idea of having more give and flex in a shoe, without compromising the protective features that shoes offer I've ridden Riley three times since he's had them on, and he feels pretty darn good. 

I joked that with these lighter front shoes we should have no trouble with piaffe! Riley, I suspect, will opt to "go like a hunter" instead.