Full Range of Motion with Goodsmith

My now 5-year-old Missouri Fox Trotter mare, Larida, has been wearing Goodsmith on all four hooves since December 2022. Her overall hoof quality is, as is typical for mountain horses, quite good. Last autumn, Larida increasingly became sensitive in the hind hooves. The fairly wet autumn and our riding arena with coarse sand encouraged the strong wear of the hooves. In addition, Larida stands during the winter months in a box with a few hours during the day on a gravel paddock. She is moved daily 1–2 hours in the form of ground work, lunging, horse walker, going for walks. Our paths consist largely of tarmac and forest tracks. The summer months she spends mainly on the pasture with several movement sessions per week, also a lot on the meadow. After the training was gradually increased last year, I had to reduce the intensity of movement in the end. Larida increasingly showed tensions in the hindquarters and lumbar spine. The heels were worn down and she was already walking on the sole.

In December 2022 she therefore received her first complete Klebebeschlag. Since the most natural possible movement is important to me and I wanted to rebuild the hind hooves, I chose Goodsmith. In addition, she was being broken in over the winter. I was lucky to get the first batch of glue-ons with integrated grip fresh from production, and they were able to immediately prove their effect in the snow. With a little help and support, including trimming the hooves, I needed just over 3 hours for the application.

The first steps with the Goodsmith immediately showed a stronger footfall, especially in the hindquarters. The same day, she still went well in the horse walker. After 5 weeks I removed the glue-ons without much effort (they would have lasted considerably longer) in order to be able to trim and correct the hooves. I was fascinated by how much the hoof had recovered in this time and how a sole arch had built up again on the hind hooves. The muscle tensions were also already receding after a few days. With additional help from physiotherapy and osteotherapy and an appropriate training build-up, it was possible to bring Larida back into her full range of motion.

Thanks to the Goodsmith I was able to build my mare up well physically and muscularly, and I could and can continue to plan the training independently of the ground conditions. The processing and durability of the Goodsmith are, in my experience, very good. It's great that the glue-ons hold perfectly regardless of the surface and Larida's movement behaviour. With the Goodsmith we were able to increase the training intensity again, the hooves are growing well again and are resilient. All of this contributes to the fact that she is now on the best path to becoming a healthy and high-performance riding horse.