shoes and falling

[Tysh]

Martha,

I am having some trouble with my mare falling on the first barrel.   I ran her at Mesquite this past weekend and she stumbled and had a hard time getting back up... then at Belton Saturday morning we splatted in the same spot on the first.....  this time enough to really worry me.   

I run her in rims in the front and regulars in the back.   What could cause something like this?    I was told by some one at Belton that if she has too much toe/not enough heel, this would happen.   

Is it possible I am worrying about this and it was just a freak thing that she fell two runs in a row?   The ground at Belton felt awesome to me...   At Mesquite we were 12th on the ground so I know it was deep.. but we were 2nd at Belton....

Thank you so much.

[Bob Gould]

A long toe and low heel will definitely put a lot of stress on a horse's
legs and can create problems over a period of time.  You should probably
have your vet and your shoer look at your horse's shoeing and the angles to
determine if you need to make some changes.  There are other things besides
shoeing that might be causing a problem so don't get hung up on just looking
at the shoeing as the source of your trouble. You might also want to have a
soundness exam done and pay special attention to the front legs and feet.
Martha Wright