Hey chris, I got a quarter horse on the books that is very short strided and crippled without leather pads. I thought prob. was nav. due to a toe first foot fall (and short choppy movement), but then again it almost has a daisy clipper (low)foot flight arc too, kinda paddling out slightly like a horse will with sore knees, but it has no stiffness or discomfort when the knees are flexed or when shoeing, and no visible carpitis. Hooves look great, maybe slightly on the narrow side, but strong wall, healthy sole/frog/bars, good angle. No response to hoof testers, yet the horse is crippled w/o shoes, a little better w. shoes, and much better w. thick leather pads and magic cushion. Owner has recently been introduced to a holistic self proclaimed horse psychic and barefoot enthusiast who instructed her that the shoes are the problem, and the horse needs to be put on some herbal treatment made for humans, lol. I said "whatever". So I pulled the shoes yesterday and the horse can barely walk, we'll see what miracle the psychic can do, lol. But I noticed yesterday that the extensor tendons on the front legs are very thick giving the proximal cannon bone an almost bowed out appearance. I thought maybe this may be a context clue to what is actually going on with the horse, any thoughts? I've suggested radiographs for nav. but owner patronizes a self taught vet on the local harness track (who is a moron) and won't go to a real vet. You and Cody did great in the 2 man draft by the way, I don't know what ya'll placed, but you certainly did work well together. I'm sure the best is yet to come.

Hey Rick. Thanks for the kind words about Cody and I. I can not tell you what a thrill it is for me to see that kid compete and compete with him.
It is, and always has been, a simple formula when it comes to shoeing. If a horse wears more foot than it grows, it needs protection. Even the barefoot folks have come up with booties and other options like gluing on equithane in an attempt to shoe a horse without shoes. At the end of the day, the most economical, safe, secure, healthy, and smart way to shoe a horse is with steel and nails. I feel sorry for the horses suffering at the hands of ignorant and gullible owners.
If your customer had a comfortable horse when it was wearing shoes and pads, but the horse is sore without, then you need to explain to the owner that this is not rocket-surgery, and shoes are called for on this horse. Not doing so is way more cruel than good shoeing could ever be.
As to the extensor tendons being a part of this, I would doubt that they would cause the lameness, or be relieved by the shoeing. I think the real clue here is the fact that the horse gets sound when shod, and lame when not. The extensor tendons are not involved in weight bearing, and the excess weight of shoes should cause them more stress instead of less if they were a part of the problem.