Shoeing for shin-hitters

I got a call recently from a concerned Hoof Beats reader. He said he had a 3-year-old trotter who breaks only in the turns, hitting above his shin. To find an answer, I sent an e-mail to Steve Stanley, author of Shoeing News, the Hoof Beats monthly shoeing column. Here is an excerpt of what Steve wrote:

"I would try to use a longer shoe on the hind feet. Possibly even double trailers. This is a starting point.

I would also take a hard look at the horses hoof angles to see if there is a reason to change them. That requires one to look at the horse because a proper hoof angle can vary from horse to horse and in some cases even from right to left leg on the same horse.

Hitting high on the shin is a tricky one so I definitely would like to see the horse before giving potentially damaging advice. I also think it best to try the changes on only the front OR the rear shoes/hooves at a time. Making wholesale changes to both ends at once(unless something obvious is there) can just create more problems.

The second thing to look at is how that horse is breaking over on the front feet. This could easily be the primary cause but trying the double trailer ind shoe is less risky to the horses overall gait and performance."

Hope this helps! Like Steve said above, it's tough to give shoeing advice without seeing the individual horse, but there are certain fixes that could work in most cases. Just remember, try ONE thing at a time, or you won't know what worked and what didn't!

TJB