Well-Shod Food

The shoe should have been made to fit the foot, and not the other way around. The feet should be balanced, and as far as the conformation dictates, should appear to be in pairs. There needs to be a straight foot to pastern angle.

If this is broken then it affects the horse's natural way of moving and will put stress on the internal structures of the foot and lower limb. As a rough guide, the front feet should have an angle of 45 degrees at the toe, and the hind feet should have an angle of 50—55 degrees.

The bearing surface of the foot should be level, with no gaps between that and the surface of the shoe. There should be no evidence of excessive use of the knife on the sole or the frog, which should come into contact with the ground. There should be no evidence of excessive use of the rasp, or dumping of the toe.

The clenches should appear level, approximately one third of the way up the foot, and should be smooth with no sharp edges. The heels of the shoe should be neither too short, which will not support the foot sufficiently and will lead to collapsed heels, nor excessively long, when the horse may overreach and pull the shoe off.

It is important that the correct size of nail has been used for the shoe. If they are too small they will not fill the nail hole, and if too large they will wear away too quickly — both instances lead to loosening of the shoe. The horse should be shod with a weight and type of shoe suitable to the job it performs. The toe and quarter clips should be well drawn and fit the notch made in the hoof.