Shoes - tipping the scales of the argument

 Caymen's feet caused lots of excitement when I first posted his photos, when he was in remedial shoes. In fact the controversy was at one stage so heated that I had to post a much longer, explanatory blog a couple of weeks later: http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/why-we-dont-use-shoes-to-rehabilitate.html

The important thing for me - and for Caymen - was that in his "supportive" remedial shoes he was landing like this - toe first. So much for the "support". 

After 4 weeks out of shoes and in rehabilitation he is landing better - not as heel first as I would hope to see eventually but its a start and will allow his foot to strengthen further.

Its a pattern I see consistently but I also still see owners, farriers and vets arguing that shoes provide support. It might be a more compelling argument if they could provide some evidence.

Just as a reminder, here is Caymen's "supported" left foot - landing toe first in the still at the top.

The same foot completely "unsupported" - and doing much better. The full footage is below for those interested. By the way, its not the floor sloping, just a poor camera angle, for which I apologise. 

Caymen landing from Nic Barker on Vimeo.