Besides consulting my farrier, does anyone know any general guidelines for knowing if your horse REQUIRES shoes. Do you look for uneven wearing away, cracks, splits? What if you're only riding in an arena?
To shoe or not to shoe?
- Thread starter Tootsie4U
- Start date
There are many, many things to look for, the best and only way is to ask the farrier.
Most horses with good feet can manage in a sand school or arena without shoes. But there are some who cannot. Either because of a genetic inheritance of bad foot conformation or desease or injury.
Lot of horses will wear thier feet unevenly, this does not mean they need shoes, they just need good foot care. Occasionally unshod horses will chip big bits off thier feet, again, no reason to get them shod straight away, it happens. They can even develope cracks, but no reason to get shod.
If the horse is sound, has good foot conformation and horn quality and you are on grass, dirt tracks and arenas a lot of horses will be fine without shoes.
Most horses with good feet can manage in a sand school or arena without shoes. But there are some who cannot. Either because of a genetic inheritance of bad foot conformation or desease or injury.
Lot of horses will wear thier feet unevenly, this does not mean they need shoes, they just need good foot care. Occasionally unshod horses will chip big bits off thier feet, again, no reason to get them shod straight away, it happens. They can even develope cracks, but no reason to get shod.
If the horse is sound, has good foot conformation and horn quality and you are on grass, dirt tracks and arenas a lot of horses will be fine without shoes.
shoes
What I've done with my recently acquired 4 yr old is to remove the shoes and see how she gets on. I've been told that you can expect them to be a little foot sore in the first month as they get used to it. However, I will have my farrier monitor her for the next few months to see how she is doing and if all goes well, then I'll keep her unshod.
In general terms I see no reason why a 4 yo should not be able to adjust well to a barefoot way of life. Really, you wont know till you try, allow for a wearing in period and keep a close on progress thereafter.
I'd be interested to hear how you get on if you do decide to keep your horse unshod.
good luck
M
What I've done with my recently acquired 4 yr old is to remove the shoes and see how she gets on. I've been told that you can expect them to be a little foot sore in the first month as they get used to it. However, I will have my farrier monitor her for the next few months to see how she is doing and if all goes well, then I'll keep her unshod.
In general terms I see no reason why a 4 yo should not be able to adjust well to a barefoot way of life. Really, you wont know till you try, allow for a wearing in period and keep a close on progress thereafter.
I'd be interested to hear how you get on if you do decide to keep your horse unshod.
good luck
M
Our six are all unshod at the moment as we are not doing any roadwork, it is all on tracks and grass. They are all doing fine, Rupert may end up getting shoes on again as he is a little more sensitive over stoney areas than the others. Pablo has never been shod (with us anyway) his hooves used to crack a little and occasionally lose chunks, but since we have moved up onto the moors his hooves have been brilliant, it is an amazing difference, they stay shorter and even with no cracks. I can only imagine it is a difference in the grazing/minerals in the ground and/or charging up and down a rough track in the field instead of just on grass may have hardened them up?
I think it depends a lot on the amount of work and the arena surface. When I trained at Wellington they had a sea sand arena that apparently caused problems because it just gradually ground down the horses feet ! So they tried not to use the same horses in it too often.
Our horses in Scotland are barefoot - one is 31 and rarely ridden, the other had laminitis and abcesses all last summer. They are a bit careful over stones and are not worked enough for it to be a problem. But the younger one will get shoes as he comes back into work (fingers crossed).
Our horses in Scotland are barefoot - one is 31 and rarely ridden, the other had laminitis and abcesses all last summer. They are a bit careful over stones and are not worked enough for it to be a problem. But the younger one will get shoes as he comes back into work (fingers crossed).
I currently ride Bailey without shoes.I rode him without shoes for ages when I first got him but resorted to fronts as his feet were chipping and wearing down as I was doing a lot of road work,and it seemed to help over rough ground.
I really would like fronts again as I intend to ride as much as possible and do quite a bit of road work but the blacksmith is taking his time getting back to me.He doesnt seem bothered being without unless we are going over rough ground.
I would suggest you keep an eye on your horses feet and see how you go.Personally if it seems happy dont shoe as it helps cirrculation etc if you ride without.I would say cracks i the hoof and the horse being sore are signs of shoes as my old horse who was a Tb could not be without shoes wether being ridden or not.She had shoes off for a good 6 months when I was pregnant with my 2nd child and was a bit sore on dry ground pottering round the field but the rest from shoes made her feet better for when we shod her again.
I really would like fronts again as I intend to ride as much as possible and do quite a bit of road work but the blacksmith is taking his time getting back to me.He doesnt seem bothered being without unless we are going over rough ground.
I would suggest you keep an eye on your horses feet and see how you go.Personally if it seems happy dont shoe as it helps cirrculation etc if you ride without.I would say cracks i the hoof and the horse being sore are signs of shoes as my old horse who was a Tb could not be without shoes wether being ridden or not.She had shoes off for a good 6 months when I was pregnant with my 2nd child and was a bit sore on dry ground pottering round the field but the rest from shoes made her feet better for when we shod her again.
You really need to see what best suits the horse. Some horses are perfectly fine without them but then others are not. Last winter my horse became very ill with colic which resulted in him getting cast, kicking the wall and a dislocated hip so as he was going to be out of work for months we thought we might as well take his shoes off especially as he was back and forth from the vet and had to always had to have them removed there. He was very very saw when we first took them off and bairly mangaged to walk to his stable, the farier was shocked by this and said it was overly saw, within less than a week he couldn't even walk and spent a day in his stable waiting for the farrier to get to us because he refushed to walk. His shoes were put back on and with in two days he was perfectly sounds, he will never go without shoes again!!!!!! So you'll just have to see how the horse reacts.
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