Gaited Shoeing Article

by Sherian Frey, BWFA CJI

I am a certified farrier that grew up and spent most of my life in the mid-west (Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska). The horses I have experience with (for example: quarter horses) move diagonally.

That means they move opposite feet while traveling left front and right rear at the same time.

A gaited horse (Tennessee Walker) travels laterally, dominantly moving the front and rear feet on the same side similarly or together. Having no experience with this type of horse, I made a point to attend one of the Gaited Horseshoeing schools offered at The FNRC (on May 4th-5th). The guest instructor, Stan Trimble, from Pulaski, Tennessee, is a highly recognized and much sought after specialist with Gaited Horses. He works exclusively with show horses.

Stan starts his shoeing process by watching the owner ride the horse so he can evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the horse's movement and finishes with another ride to note improvements. He puts strong emphasis on proper balance, stressing the importance of correct trimming to insure alignment of the leg's bony column when the foot is bearing weight. Shoeing is to be done only after the foot is properly shaped and balanced.

Today, the class information was for "flat shod" gaited horses and did not include working with packages. Demonstrations were given using both regular shoes and plantation shoes. Regular shoes (keg shoes) are commonly used for trail horses and plantation shoes are reserved for show horses. The plantation shoe is a heavy shoe used only on the front and only on gaited horses. It is the difference in movement that allows the lateral moving (TWH) horse to carry the extra shoe weight.

Because it is a heavier shoe the techniques required to fit, shape and attach it to the foot are very different from what the average Farrier is accustomed to. For example: the shoe can be shaped only when hot. The shoe is actually held on the foot by a band of metal that crosses the foot just below the coronary band and is attached to the shoe itself at the quarters. The nails only stabilize the shoe and hold it in the proper location on the foot. The band is tightened for riding and loosened to a lighter tension (still snug) when the horse is in it's stall. Plantation shoes are not used on pasture horses. Rear shoes are lighter (keg shoes) and frequently have a lateral trailer. In fact the lateral trailer is used so commonly on gaited horses that the shoe is often referred to as a "walking horse shoe".

Happily, this was a hands-on class where we not only observed, but also had the opportunity to shoe with an expert there to help answer questions. I was amazed not only at the differences in movement between laterally and diagonally traveling horse breeds but the differences in shoe requirements and techniques. Reading and seeing are two very different experiences. You need to see an expert like Stan shoe to properly understand the things you read.