Our showing philosophy:

Why don't Black Forest Shire's horses have docked tails or "scotch bottom" shoes?

     There is great controversy over the docked tails issue, but of course everyone knows it's not natural for a horse to have its tail cut off.  Because of this, no matter what the show judge wants, we here are Black Forest Shires refuse to ever dock a horse's tail for vanity, ease of care, or for what the judge wants to see.  Our tails will be nicely braided up for show so that the officials can clearly see the full hind end of the horse.  Yea, it's a lot of work, but for 99% of the year, they have to be a horse, and we can't in good conscience chop off a body part for that other 1% of the year.  Many draft horse people do it, and that's their option, but you won't find that here.  We realize and accept that we may get placed down in the show ring for this, but we put our horse's well-being over ribbons as a matter of choice.
     As for the "scotch bottom" shoes. There is a bit of confusion over what a "scotch" shoe is. Literally, it means a shoe that is beveled so that it follows the angle of the hoof to the ground.  Great! But, in the US, the term has been bastardized to mean huge square shoes (for the front hooves) that make the horse's foot much larger than it was ever intended to be, and that are totally squared in the front to make the horse break over earlier.  These two things combined (excess weight and a fast breakover) will make any horse have more action.  This action is unnatural, and can be harmful to the horse, especially when these shoes are placed on young, growing legs.  In the hind, the "scotch bottom" shoes have a "trailer" on the outside, so that when the hoof is on the ground, the hocks are unnaturally thrown together to achieve that so-desired draft horse "set".  (A draft horse is supposed to have hind legs that are "set" at a good angle for leverage in pulling.)  The leg should be straight, but at an angle so that the hocks are nearly touching when the horse stands square.  Many people feel that if you can't get that with good breeding that it's just as good to do it with shoeing.  This will definitely lame a horse in time.  Now I want to make it clear that not  all people that use this kind of shoe do it to the extreme that will injure the horse, but unfortunately many do.  We don't do it to any degree, because it's just not natural for the horse.  We want ours to live long, healthy, sound lives, even if they don't do as well in the show ring because we don't follow the norm.  We also feel that good action and conformation should come from the breeding shed, not the farrier shed!
     We are pleased to say though, that so far in our showing career, we have not been penalized for NOT resorting to gimmicks to make our horses show better.  We like to think that a judge in the ring will pick the better horse, and not the horse with the better shoer.  That better shoer will do you NO good in the breeding barn!  As far as halter classes for breeding animals go, I certainly hope the judges pick a horse with nice NATURAL action, so that the breeds can be improved and this reliance on artificial means to get movement can eventually stop.

     I would like to note that I do agree that a hitch horse will be placed down because of not having a docked tail or scotched feet for action.  I understand why the large hitch people do it, which is another reason we don't plan to be a large hitch farm anytime soon!