CRS Horseshoes

10/13/2026

10/13/2026

It’s important to understand what’s happened when we encounter a fully pr*****ed frog.

The structural arch features in the sole have been fully exhausted, and in some cases, inverted.

It’s common to see pasture pets with marginal sole depth and thickness. Flat soles predispose the horse to traumatic injury from the ground, and is commonly associated with excess body weight and a hint of subclinical laminitis.

A fully pr*****ed frog usually belongs to a working class horse that gets no vacation time.

That’s the result of applying a short term solution to a long term problem.

Time is the enemy when the frog is suspended inside a perimeter shoe. The unsupported structure begins to fail on day one.

This mishap can be avoided by seasonal shoeing, but most people don’t have time for that. More often, we continue the training regime year around.

“My horse can’t go without shoes.”

Is a common phrase used by enthusiastic riders.
Translated it means, we’ve already exceeded the structural limits of the hoof, so the horse has to stay in shoes. This is the feedback cycle that leads to a horse that’s in trouble.

A good test is, if the horse is uncomfortable being barefoot, it’s because of inadequate structural quality.

Rehabbing this type of failure takes careful attention and time, but in most cases the architecture can reestablish to a more normal function.

The question remains, why would we allow this to happen in the first place?

10/12/2026

Good news from across the pond!

10/12/2026

There can very often be a disconnect between the problems we need to solve, and the way we go about solving them.

A long time ago, horses served as transportation and were used in agricultural production. The farrier/blacksmith could solve almost any hoof related problem by applying a steel shoe. That was because the problems were immediate and short term.
The central theme was, “how do we extract the maximum work from each horse.”
For those purposes, the steel shoe is the clear answer.
Economic pressures put the needs of the horse in a secondary position.

That’s no longer the case.

Customers now want a long term relationship with their horses.

Perimeter shoes often satisfy short term needs, but too often they come with an accumulated cost to everyone involved.

10/10/2026

Without testing in a deformable surface, it hard to predict how much wedge is appropriate.

10/08/2026

Alignment and equilibrium is information that flows between the horse and its environment.

Machines are complicated but predictable.

Biological systems are complex and full of unintended consequences.

When we only view the hoof like a predictable mechanistic structure, we guarantee decline.

It’s a mindset of observing the outcome versus imposing the outcome.