Balance Shoe with Shim is one of the craftable items in the game. Users in the Blacksmithing stream can produce it using aluminum and plastic.

Course Article

Shoeing Hoof Imbalance

The most common type of hoof imbalance is mediolateral, or an imbalance where one side of the hoof is longer than the other when looking at the hoof from the front. This imbalance can be caused by poor trimming, poor setting of shoes or poor conformation. Over time, the hoof wall growth can be affected, leading to flaring out of the longer side and folding under of the shorter side of the hoof.

Mediolateral hoof imbalance is primarily treated with farriery changes. When trimming the hoof, the farrier should trim the longer side of the hoof wall while taking off as little as possible on the shorter side. In a severe case, the farrier may look at using a balance shoe with a shim. Essentially, this shoe allows the ground surface of the foot to be even, to prevent further hoof distortion.

When placing the shoe, the farrier aligns the shoe so it is in direct contact with the longer side of the hoof. A gap is left on the shorter side of the hoof, where a shim is placed made of leather or a similar material. This shim allows the shorter side of the hoof to be more padded than the longer side of the hoof, allowing for improved hoof wall growth because the concussive force of each step on that side of the hoof is reduced.

Over time with proper trimming and shoeing, the hoof imbalance can be corrected, allowing the hoof to become functional again. In most cases, this can take up to 6 months before the horse is ready to go back to competition.

In Oxer to Oxer, using a balance shoe on a horse diagnosed with a hoof imbalance will reduce their recovery time by half. This product is crafted by users in the Blacksmithing stream using two aluminum ingots and one piece of leather.

1. Eliashar, E. An evidence based assessment of the biomechanical effects of the common shoeing and farriery techniques. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice 2007;23: 425-442.