Ask yourself , has NB shoeing really done anything so different to traditional rim fit shoeing ? Good farriers have always taken into account hoof distortions and shod the horse accordingly . Even with a rim fit shoe the farrier should still strive to obtain a minimum 50/50 ratio and often 90 percent of the time with a frequently shod horse 60/40 is normal . Most NB shoeing I have seen has been nothing more than NB shoes fitted poorly and pulled back excessively from the toe because that’s what owners have been conditioned to believe NB shoeing should look like . I have seen gene overnick himself shoe a horse and rim fit the NB shoe because the ratio was in check . Unfortunately though even with a hoof in balance some of these self titled NB farriers keep fitting shoes set back excessively from the toe of the hoof . Shoeing horses is nothing new and good farriers have been getting it right for the last couple centuries , the problems arise because farriery is unregulated in most countries around the world and Tom dick and Harry is out there making a living by trading on the horse owners ignorance . Horses are no more sound , don’t jump higher , run further or faster than they did before NB came along . NB shoeing has been nothing more than a fad amongst horse owner who generally don’t have a single clue about the role of a farrier . If a shoe stays on they think the farrier is fantastic . Go figure .

@@deanwitt7903 what I have learned through studying hand drawings in old shoeing manuals is that the balance parameters that NB/EDSS shoes all try to achieve were forged into quite a lot of shoes of antiquity. What I noticed is that as people quit using horses for transportation and more for recreation that changed. Perimeter fit shoes ignored the break over needs and heels were allowed to run forward. It became so common that it was (and still is) considered normal or ideal. The ideal drawings in Butlers book are a mess. Then Gene came along and took a good look at feet that were self maintaining in an ideal environment and said “how do we mimic that?” What he came up with was the same conclusion that farriers have had for ages. Then guys like Bowker come along and lend some physiology to the equation so we understand some of the details as to why. If you read David Robridge’s The Foot of The Horse nearly every EDSS/NB shoe is in there, including the freedom shoe and the evante. That was published in 1897ish so... All that adds up to what folks are calling a fad actually being the traditional/normal way of doing things and perimeter fitting a distorted foot the Butler way is the departure from normal. You are right though, sizing and setting the shoe is critical and a lot of folks don’t know how to do it. That said I would never advocate any kind of regulation for any kind of livestock husbandry. That would open up a can of worms that we don’t want. I would say its actually more critical to set a shoe well when the shoe has some kind of mechanical advantage built into it than it would be if the horse was just wearing a flat shoe.

@@LiveEquestrian1 I believe regulation would bring a lot better caliber of farrier in general and that can only benefit the horse . However right now in my country we have semi and poorly skilled men and women making a living at the expense of the horse . The bigger issue is that the owners don’t have a clue and that’s what’s keeping the quality poor . The best ,most skilled and knowledgeable farrier isn’t always the busiest and that’s a shame . Regarding NB vs traditional rim fit ! Heels etc ,As you will know the growth of the heels is downward and forward , a horse hoof starts growing out of balance from the minute the farrier packs his tools up no matter what shoe it has or what method and principals the hoof was trimmed to , so long as it’s re shod regularly before it negatively impacts does it matter ? Balance is balance and it don’t mater to the horse how it’s achieved .There are millions of horses around the planet shod traditional with rim fitted shoes (in balance) and competing at very high level and in daily training . There are also millions horses that have spent their lives shod this way with no negative impact at all . You cant argue with the evidence . Rim fitting a shoe isn’t about fitting to distortions and in fact a good farrier will address distortions as he goes . The goal is no distortions and near perfect balance for the horse no matter what shoe . It is all achievable , the problem is not all farriers can achieve it . I don’t call NB a fad from a shoeing perspective , I call it a fad from an owner perspective as owners are always flip flopping around in the hope even a shoe might make their horse do something they can’t achieve through training . The best thing that came from NB was a more solid guideline in trimming , reference points etc that weren’t taught before . Balance was once about how it looked to the eye and even though that’s perfectly achievable the reference points are more definite . Just my two cents worth .

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