How often does an unshod horse need to see the farrier?

[redhead123]

I've recently removed Jet boy's shoes as i'm hardly riding at all and he's in the field..it's been a few weeks now so I'm thinking of getting the farrier to give him a trim..but does anyone know what the time-scale is..with shoes it's 4-6 weeks but without??

[devonlass]

Both my girls are unshod and I usually have the farrier out every 6 weeks to trim them.
Sometimes in the winter they go 7-8 weeks,but in summer is 6 weeks maximum as hooves not only grow quicker but also tend to chip a bit more when it hot and dry (not that this was a problem last summer:rolleyes:)
I try and do every 6 weeks regardless TBH,but won't matter quite so much this time of year if it less often.
Hope that helps:)

[iluvpin]

hi

well im not to sure as my mare is shod, but my friends pony has always been bare foot and as really good hooves, and as he done a fair bit of road work he hasn't seen the farrier in over 2 years:eek:, and he has no cracks/splits or missing chunks etc. just neat little hooves.

don't no if this helps much but thought i would add it.:)

loz an pinx

[Ace87]

Old pony had a trim one every six months, had excellent feet! Farrier always had a look whenever doing other horses on yard but normally once every 6 months!

[doris]

I have a barefoot trimmer do mine every 8 weeks.

[Showjumper]

Dolly has hers done when necessary. Sometimes she'll go up to 12 weeks and other times barely 4.

[LokiSofi]

like Showjumper my guys have thiers done when they need it. Sofis feet don't seem to grow and she keeps hers in very good shape, Loki has his trimmed every 7 weeks as his hooves grow very quick and becuase he has rotated pedal bones his hooves have to be kept the correct length etc.
I get the farrier to check Sofi each time but more often than not he says they don't need doing and he'll check them again next time

[LinzCos]

My mare is shod every 6 weeks and in the summer the ponies are trimmed every time the farrier comes, in the winter it is every other time. Partly because their feet grow faster in the summer and partly because they do more work then.

[Bay Mare]

In the summer our EP needs to come about once a month, in the winter it's about every 6 weeks.

[Smartie Pants2]

Depends what time of year, but my Farrier checked every 6/8 weeks , my daughters previous pony could go quite some time depending on the amount of road work she did with him. They were always checked we he came to the other horses, if they didn't need doing he'd check again next visit.

[MelanieD]

Varies hugely depending on the feet.

If growth and wear are balancing each other, the feet aren't wearing out balance and aren't flaring then you can get away with quite a long interval. Others need trimming more often.

I've got one that I do a little bit with every 2 weeks at most, she wears her back feet unevenly and is growing out a wonky foot. Jay used to get done every 2 weeks as well to keep pressure off her toes. Not sure I'd get them done quite that often if I had to pay for it rather than just getting my rasp out! :) A couple of others on the yard can quite happily go 2-3 months and mostly sort themselves out quite well.

For the average horse with ok feet I'd at least get them checked every 6-8 weeks, or ask your farrier to show you what to check (flare, length etc) so you know when they're in need of a trim.

[pedilia]

Izzy is barefoot and she is trimmed every other time Storm is shod, works out about every 11 weeks.

I think a lot depends on the horses feet and how much road work they are doing

[coss]

my horses usually get seen every 8 weeks and its extending to 10 weeks over winter. when dawn was shod she was shod every 8 weeks. every horse is an individual - when i couldn't get hold of a farrier my horses went without for over 20 weeks, luckily it was winter so not as much growth but they really needed doing.

[Teehee]

One of my ponies is 9 years old, she's never been shod!!! :eek:
And my other pony it's been over a good year... but they are mostly lawnmowers... :D and I rarely ride them.... :o

[coss]

One of my ponies is 9 years old, she's never been shod!!! :eek:
And my other pony it's been over a good year... but they are mostly lawnmowers... :D and I rarely ride them.... :o

does that mean they've never seen a farrier?:o

[Teehee]

does that mean they've never seen a farrier?:o

The one that's nine... has never seen a farrier. But it's quite common around here... nobody shods their horses around here unless the ride them quite a bit ... or if they ride on paved roads... But Hey... as they say Spain is different!!!

The other one yes... she's seen a farrier before. They use to ride her a lot more... she's on vacations now!!! :D

[MelanieD]

I've got one that's never seen a farrier, one that's only seen a farrier a couple of times in her entire life and one that hasn't seen a farrier in three years..








I trim them myself :p

[Tatooed Lady]

Queen's barefoot, and has issues we're working through by having her trimmed every 5-6 weeks. This way, her hooves grow enough to need some trimming, but not so much that they chip, flare or otherwise get uncomfortable.
How do the hooves look now? Any new cracks or chips? If he's really good for the farrier (and you), you might be able to take care of the little issues that can pop up by rasping down rough edges.

[~Perdita.M~]

8 in the winter, 7 in summer.

[lauraandharvey]

i have mine (well harveys ;P) done every 6 weeks
winter and summer
some winters he can go up to 10 weeks

[Denbenj]

Kai had the Ep farrier out 6 weeks after his first Trim by him.. He had hardly anything to remove..he said his feet were really solid and the work he was doing on roads etc.. was keeping them nicely filed almost!.. It does depend on the horse I'm sure you will soon get into a rountine

[Stella2]

Flora goes 6 weeks in the spring, summer and autumn. The previous two winters (she was shod before that), her feet didn't grow from the end of October until March :confused: This winter though she is still going 6 weeks. She has a history of health problems in previous years, so I'm guessing that her system mustn't have been at its best. She is now fitter and more glowing than she has ever been and I suspect the foot growth is a reflection of that.

So it seems that it might not just vary from one horse to another, but also for the individual horse at different stages in their lives.

[artemis]

They do vary a lot. I have two unshod, One gets trimmed every six weeks in summer & every 12 weeks in winter. The other gets checked by the farrier every 12 weeks, but needs trimming about once a year!

[redcomet]

i have 2 youngsters and a dartmoor who has has lami in the past so make sure that they see the farrier every 6 weeks, religiously!

[Hannyhorse]

I would basically agree with what most people have said here - i.e. 'it depends'! The farrier should be able to give you a better idea, as it does depend on so many different things, especially when just coming out of shoes.

My OH is an EP and usually, on average will trim every 4-6 weeks, but there are some he needs to do every 2 weeks, and some he does every 3 months - it really is dependant on so many factors. It also depends on the type of trim, as well as workload, etc.

Sorry you haven't got yourself a nice clear-cut answer - as with anything horsey I guess there never is one!! ;)

[c dean]

well it all depends on the horses feet, and what they do (on road or not)
we usually come out to horses to trim them every 6-8 weeks
u wouldnt want to leave them much longer if there on harder ground because they might get abit foot sore.

[lachlanandmarcu]

My girlie gets checked every 6 weeks when the shod boy gets shod. But last 2 times farrier hasnt so much as needed to pick up the rasp, feet are perfect cos of winter wear on roads so she hasnt cost me a bean.

In the summer he does have to trim a bit to tidy them up and prevent flare and I do a bit of rasping in between (minimal tho). but its all so much easier as she has never been shod yahay!!:)

[Hollymead]

Hiya redhead123 :)
Holly is done every 7 weeks in winter (no longer as her feet do flare), and about every 5-6 in summer depending on how hot it actually gets (as her feet do chip if it's dry for a while).

[summerguest]

My tb is looked at every 6 weeks but only trimmed about 3 to 4 times a year.

[senjj]

Personally I would recommend the same interval as shoeing, even if only for a check over and ongoing advice.