Unrestricted in driving sport thanks to Goodsmith

Gentilini is a 17-year-old Trakehner gelding who has been going with an irregular gait on and off for several years. The problem was a gradually developing issue with his iron shoeing over the years, which apparently was not recognised or corrected by our farrier. A good hoof orthopaedist helped us out of this predicament. Gentilini had severe contracted heels and underrun heels at the front and suffered from constant thrush, which during the transition to Goodsmith even turned into canker. The progression really was exactly as described in the textbooks.

The hoof trimmer took off his shoes a year ago and carried out a proper orthopaedic barefoot trim. Since Gentilini is used in international carriage driving, a longer break at his age would probably have been the end of his sporting career. That is why she recommended the Goodsmith glue-on shoe, as it comes closest to going barefoot. The relaxation of the hoof capsule through the correct trimming was noticeable immediately, so that the long-standing thrush, which had not gone away before despite the best hygienic care, stopped straight away. We limited the gluing intervals to 5 weeks and always rasped the hoof very radically.

After about 2 months, canker developed on the frog of all four hooves, which, with perfect hygienic care, trimming and the Goodsmith, had completely healed and grown out after 4 months. Initially, we were somewhat sceptical whether the Goodsmith would withstand the enormous strain of training and the wild galloping on the large paddocks. However, this scepticism vanished into thin air after the very first interval. Genti moves better than ever, and since he is only used for dressage driving, we do not need studs at all. Now, despite the rehabilitation of his contracted hooves, he can continue to be trained and shown at competitions, and his hooves are noticeably getting healthier. We are glad about the new grey tabs — at one point the hoof trimmer did not have any and used the old orange tabs, when Genti lost the glue-ons at the back in the second week while galloping in the paddock. So thanks to continuous development, things are getting even better.

We use the Goodsmith sometimes on all 4 hooves, but occasionally only on the front. Gentilini had underrun and far too narrow heels with contracted frogs.

Gentilini moves better than ever and can train for international carriage driving without any restrictions.

With the new grey tabs, the Goodsmith actually lasts longer for us than iron shoes. We are so glad and grateful for these glue-ons.