Horse loosing front shoes

Question
QUESTION: I have a 17'1 hand Danish warmblood that keeps stepping on his front shoes and pulling them off. Nearly every other day. He is in bell boots at all times and the farrier here has done every type of bevaling and shoe set he can think of. Any ideas on how to perhaps alter the back shoes to prevent the over reach?

ANSWER: Hi Christina
A chronic shoe puller is a real problem. Hopefully I can be of some help. First I need a little more info. How long have you owned your warmblood? What level of training is he competing? What is his age? Does he over-reach while being ridden or while turned out or both? What type of shoes is he wearing? How experienced is your farrier in shoeing warmbloods?  These questions may sound a bit odd but are keys to finding the answer. That is first assuming he is shod appropriately for his conformation and use. I look forward to seeing your answers.
Kindly Mark


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I have owned him for two years and he is showing in AAA shows as a hunter. He is 9 and he over-reaches in both instances. He has aluminum up front and steel egg bars behind. The farrier I use now is kind of an all breed farrier.

Answer
Thank you for the follow-up.  Without seeing your horse, this is the approach I would take. Back-up the breakover  on the front. This can be done by either squaring the toes of the front shoes or by placing the shoe back to approximately the white line. Make sure that the heels are fit tightly and safed.  Without knowing why eggbars are on the hind (I will assume suspensory issues}, steel may not be the way to go. The additional weight of steel will create too much animation causing a heightened flight pattern, a definite prescription for shoe pulling. Try square toed aluminum eggbars. I feel confident this may remedy your problem if and only if your horse is trimmed appropriately.
Hope this helps.
Mark