Looking for opinions on this type of shoe. So long story short .. I hired a new farrier and this is what he put on my horse. Well, we discussed it first and decided to give it a try. My horse was having issues, w as left too long in the toe and I just wasn't happy at all with his angle or performance. Always seem to have some slight swelling and stiffness and would "build up" mounds of shavings in his stall with his back feet to stand on with his heel. Him clipping himself was my last straw and numerous times I told my farrier I wasn't happy with the toes or him chopping all his heel off... horse always seemed to be sitting back on the heel, if that makes sense... anyway, since my new guy put these shoes on, it's been night and day for my horse... as in better... the swelling is gone and he's not building up dirt and feels really REALLY good under saddle ... stopping back on his hind end and really using his pivot correctly. A lot more free'd up feeling ... (only way I can describe it) his placement is spot on now when we walk .... he's striding out more and just seems a lot more comfortable.  It's been 5 weeks this week and I noticed his foot grew out a lot more .. he's coming Friday to reset. My question is, because i want more opinions from people that actually have used them and experienced them, is do you use these long term? My guy is telling me he does several around me with NB and it's working very well for their performance horses. It seems like a lot of farriers around here will not even consider using them.. this guy's work caught my eye when I saw some before and afters on his Facebook page and read some comments from some girls using him. I'm not even  going to pretend I know much about shoeing and angles etc etc.. I'm strictly going off of how my horse feels now vs when I was using my old farrier... I knew I wasn't happy but couldn't get him to listen to me and my concerns. 

I used them years ago, when they first came out, short term, therapeutically.  I hired a farrier that studied Gene Ovnicek's method to put the shoes on.  I only liked them on one horse and only for the time it got her back to where she needed to be.  

That is kind of what I'm hoping for. Truth is, these terrible angles have gone on too long so I don't expect a complete change in 5 weeks time but the difference in the horse has been pretty darn impressive. I had no idea what to expect and took it really slow at first. 

My horse responded immediately as well.  I think I kept them on her about 6 months or more.  Sounds odd but she sort of told us when it was time to move out of them.  I use shoes like Equi-libriums or custom made now but not to say I wouldn't got back to NB's if I thought they would help.  

I started using them on my mare that grows a lot of toe and tends to fall back on her heels, I ran them last year and had them put on this year. Nothing but good from my end, they get reset every 5-6 weeks. 

That's pretty much what this farrier said,  he said we would follow my horses lead on how we keep him. Right now we are looking at a reset every 4 weeks .. his growth rate is pretty fast lately.. I can tell when its time he will start building up that shavings again and just gets "shifty " he said it may take him a while to realize he doesn't need to compensate for the heels. The difference is astounding, even my bell boots fit better and he no longer trips when we are walking thru our very uneven pasture for cool outs. There seems to be a trend around my area that these guys leave way too much toe and want to chop off all the heel.. I just don't understand.. I see it EVERYWHERE. My before and after pics are pretty telling. My only regret is waiting too long to go to someone else. 

I have used NB shoes for 7 years on a mare of mine, just fronts. Wide webbed plates on hind feet. She has a club foot whose heel tends to collapse if we use regular shoes. I feel that these shoes have kept her sound and useable. So I decided if it ain't broke don't fix it...going to stick with them until she tells me otherwise.  I have to use the NB lites, if I use the regular weight shoes her foot shape starts to deform. 

The mare is the horse pictured in my profile pic, she is used for breakaway roping and everyday ranch work.

Also have a gelding that wears them on fronts and has for years. He has some scaring in the fetlock joint, and the break over in the natural balance shoes has kept him comfortable and sound.

He came out yesterday and found my horse had abcessed in both front and back left... I suspected he did on that front left but never was able to confirm with my old farrier. This guy found it yesterday. Anyway he removed the shoes and showed me some interesting things and explained why, how and where the breakover was and where we need it to be. Its so refreshing having someone actually care about proper angles and looking at the wear on the shoes and trimming my horse accordingly. My horse did not move a muscle ... he was relaxed the entire time. He said my horse was the easiest horse he has been doing, doesn't lean, isn't rude and just a pleasure to shoe. I'll tell you that wasn't the case with my old farrier... he fought with him constantly,  I use to put ear plugs in my horse when he would come... it would sort of keep him calm but he still struggle with my horse.. said he's leaning all his weight into him.. my only guess is that my horse was so uncomfortable he had to lean and not want to stand up because he was in pain. Or he just didn't like the guys energy. No ear plugs or calming paste needed yesterday.  His feet look amazing. Despite the abcess blowouts, my horse looks completely comfortable. I'm very pleased! 

I too used those when they came available!  Too wide webed for me so went back to rims. 

The shoer just set the shoe back and that has worked to keep the toe from getting longer and brings the foot back under the leg.