Glue shoeing with a bad hoof horn?

Hello, my name is Monika and I would like to tell you about my experiences with the Goodsmith.

Lovely Rita, my 16 year old Oldenburg mare, has been by my side for 5 years now; I have been riding for over 30 years. She is with us in a family-run boarding house in the open stable and we successfully compete in tournaments up to L in jumping and M in dressage.

We switched to barefoot 2 years ago. Before that we used shoes of all kinds and always had problems with brittle hooves. Flying shoes, which sometimes took parts of the hoof wall with them, were the norm for us. After shoeing, she often ran sensitively, out of rhythm and just seemed stiff.

Since we took the shoes off, the hoof horn has improved tremendously. Of course, that didn't happen overnight. It was a slow but steady process. Because she suffers from deer, trimming the hooves has never been easy.

Since she walked very sensitively even after the changeover and we wanted to relieve the toe because of the deer, I spoke to my hoof worker about hoof protection systems.

I was very skeptical because so many things have been tried on her but she has never benefited. Actually, I had resolved never to have anything attached to my hooves again.

Assembly: The first assembly was done by my blacksmith together with the guys from Goodsmith. Since then, new adjustments, changes, etc. have been carried out by my blacksmith alone. One point that many are skeptical about is the effects of the glue on the hoof horn, since the Velcro pads remain permanently on the hoof. We've changed the Velcro pads a few times now. The longest period the Velcro pads were on my mare's hoof was 6 weeks. The surface structure of the horn has not changed due to the pads. So far I haven't noticed any negative effects.

CONCLUSION: And am I satisfied with the Goodsmith? The gait says it all! Body swinging and canter have also tended to improve.