Q: “My jumping horse recently went non-weight-bearing lame on the left front while turning and cantering to the left just after a jump. My veterinarian said he had a palmar fracture on the lateral wing of P3. What shoeing recommendations would you make and why?” —Ohio farrier 

A: I’ve handled a lot of P3 fractures in my 39 years as a farrier. No matter where the fracture was on the bone, I’ve had good success putting on an egg bar shoe with either a cuff all the way around or a lot of clips to stabilize the hoof.

I put three clips on each side, plus a toe clip. You have to block the foot before you try to anchor something like that on the horse, because his foot will be sore.

I’ve done that at veterinary clinics for about 30 horses over the years. You could use a straight bar shoe, but I like to use an egg bar because I like to give the foot more support in a situation like that.

Another thing that could be done is to have a vet put on a cast. But on a lot of horses, a cast doesn’t work because the horse doesn’t stand still enough to allow the bone to heal.

My own horse had a fracture of the P3 when he was a 4-year-old. He had a medial-lateral crack about an inch back from the toe. The vet put a cast on him for 3 weeks, and he…