I have a four-year-old Belgian that has a serious problem with tripping. After switching saddles, checking his back, and taking extra toe off the feet, and shoes, we finally figured why he trips. When he walks, he places one foot directly in front of the other. So when he isn't paying attention or he is tired, he trips over himself. How do I get him to spread his legs apart, and walk straight? When I first put him in shoes, it helped only because he carried his feet higher. After he figured out how to carry himself in shoes, he was back to tripping again.

When a young horse learns to move, the motor nerve wiring in the brain becomes hard-wired to create the gaits that will be the way that horse goes. As a result, often corrective shoeing will go as you described; working in the early stages and then the horse returning to the old habit as he becomes accustomed to the shoeing strategy. When this happens, I will often get more aggressive with the corrective procedure, and then use it mainly when needed. For instance, shoe the horse in a certain manner to get through a short show season, and then letting the horse go barefoot in the off season. For your particular problem, you might try moving the break-over point toward the lateral toe by using an off-center rocker toe, and perhaps a side-weighted shoe. I would try first with making the shoe heavier on the lateral side to see if that helps. You might also try placing a small grab or drive-in stud on the medial heel to turn the foot slightly in landing. Remember, there are some things that just cannot be fixed. Good luck.