Holy unpleasent looking TWH shoes!!

IT's absolutely amazing (in a bad way) what people will do to their horses to show them and win a ribbon. It makes me sad poor horse...

And I think the people that support this kind of shoeing are sick...

Those are plantation shoes, for certain. Not a "big lick" horse. Most of the big lick horses I've seen tend to be sloped because the pads on their front feet make them much higher than their flat back feet.

And while I can't discuss if it's time for this guy to get new shoes, a lot of the Walkers I know, are trimmed and shod with longer toes than normal and a slightly different hoof shape. I can't tell you why, I'm horrible at that sort of thing, I just wanted to chime in that it looks like a fairly normal hoof to me.

I'm not too familiar with plantation shod horses as most as what I am around tends to be Big Lick. (I, in no way, support Big Lick. I have a 98 year old friend who owns and shows them and on occasion, I ride some of his horses for him to assist. That is where my knowledge base comes from, however correct or incorrect it may be. Like I said again, I in no way support big lick but I can tolerate it to help him out because, aside from the Big Lick, his horses live a life of luxury and are incredibly well-cared for.)

I absolutely do not support this. He isntmy horse he's for sale at the barn. I only know what im told,hes a shoe horse so yes illassue he's had some aweful preparations done. The backside of his pastern is calloused,I can't say from chemical/chains or from clipping. I cringe when he walks. Every step from his hind comes within an inch of his front. I can only do so much for the guy but no I don't believe he was tuned out. He is now
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The huge reach is a signature part of a Walking Horse but not all of them are blessed with it.

I was always amazed that my shortest TWH who is only 14.3H didn't "make" as a Performance Walker and went to auction as a 2 yr old. Huge loss for the Walking Horse World, best day of my life:)

He has such an awesome natural reach that he can be 1500 feet up on the ridge and people want to know who that is.

He was born with that reach and believe me when he kicks into "turbo boost and his back end comes up underneath himself it is the most awesome feeling to experience. All he ever wore were rim shoes because he is a trail horse - he's the horse in my avatar. These days he is barefoot because he is coming 24 and has equine metabolic syndrome. He battles some hock/ankle arthritis but when he's feeling good, that reach is still a jaw dropper to watch out in the pasture.

Point-being, don't try to change that reach. What would help the horse to have his reach natural instead of animated, would be to get those shoes off him. But that won't happen without the owner's approval.

And if it does happen, don't let the farrier or trimmer take those heels down in one fell swoop because the tendons will need time to adjust or you'll have a sore horse.

I hope they're not turning him out, except for in a small paddock or roundpen and with supervision for very short periods because he could get hurt with those contraptions on his wiggies.

Bravo, Kimbaydina, for caring. Maybe you could influence his sale, since it sounds like nobody is giving him any attention but you. SOOOO many people want a well-mannered gaited horse for pleasure riding, like my DH, and trailer riders aren't interested in specialty shoeing for reach. (DH is 6'5" tall, hence my 16'3hh KMH--see Avatar!!LOL) IF you do help find him such an owner, please tell them that it WILL take over a year for the horse's feet to fully recover from the damages, but it will happen. I know you wouldn't want to hear that he'd been passed along. Let us know what happens. I'm really sorry--you'd think with PETA beating us up over trifles that you wouldn't see this sort of thing still happening.

Thank you.
He's turned out alone in a small paddock from about 5pm to 6am. I'm trying hard to find him a home. I think one guy might be interested in the smooth gait because he is older but he doesn't know basic horse care so I'm trying to work with him and see if he will buy and pay upkeep and I'll work with the horse to smooth out any rough edges and with the farrier to bring him back to normal. Poor guy. In going to give him a bath tomorrow then I will get a picture of his whole body. He's a little ribby but that wont be for long. I don't know what his story is but I know he isn't being mistreated now.
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If you look closely at his foot placement when gating his back foot will actually come down in front of where his front foot had landed. That is called overstep, whereas most horses have their back foot land behind the front foot. Most are in the few inches to 18" range. I've read some show horses can get up to 48" with one hitting 52". My 16.2hh walker has been measured at 36" when he's really cruising. I measured it at the beach just because the wet sand made it easy to measure.

Seems to be more of a show horse thing, due to training or shoeing I suspect. But they tend to not overstep and click their back feet into their front when lazily walking along. Can't believe it doesn't hurt but I've seen more then one ex show walker clicking along down the trail. Haven't ever seen one purely trained for trail do it yet.

I have. A naturally gaited horse will have a big stride.

Where is this horse located and how much are they asking?

It is a poorly done plantation shoe. I have seen good ones, and they don't look this uncomfortable. My personal preference is to not go above a competition lite-shoe.

While the marks on the pastern COULD indicate a chain, the horse could also clip himself. The horse in my avatar was a pro at this.

As others have stated, that is a plantation shoe. I used to show TWHs on the local level when I was in junior high and I switched to hunter/jumpers because of the Big Lick type of shoeing. Even though our horses didn't go through that type of thing, I just could not get behind supporting shows and people who didn't see what the big deal was. I hope you are able to find this guy an amazing home, keep us posted!