[Steve Allday]

First shoeing from this point on is key to keeping your horse sound and useful as an equine athlete. Determining you horses point of break over and backing up his toes are elements that your blacksmith must deal with first accomplishing this will take pressure off of his heels relieving some of the navicular discomfort and shortening of even squaring his toes will give relief from the ringbone. Understanding that these problems are relatively common as head horses age and start to give to the pressures of many hard runs for years is half the battle. Typically if you gradually adjust shoeing, foot balance and break over for your horse as he ages the quicker you can fine tune these very important details to allow your horse to get back to doing his job more comfortably. Maintaining and managing your head horse with supplements and medication will allow him to rope at the same level you have in the past. Anti inflammatory  medications can be utilized and are highly recommended before and after long hard days of practices or competitions. As far as supplements, I highly recommend LubriSyn to help maintain your performing athlete. I use it on my roping horses and I suggest you do the same for yours!