My jumper, George, overreaches VERY badly. He always wears them when he's being ridden, but now I'm also planning on keeping bell boots on him every time he's in turnout (I keep him in the barn at night).
He's got shoes in the front, bare in the back. Farrier is very happy with his back feet and thinks that George has good, solid feet all the way around. So...why not let him go barefoot?
He's coming out tomorrow to put on a shoe that my other horse pulled off (20 minutes after he left!! :-x), so I'm going to talk to him about it, but I wanted to know what you fellow hunter/jumper people (or anyone with expertise) thought about this! Only thing I'm slightly concerned about is if he might slip during tight turns in jumper classes...but aren't shoes just as slippery (or even more so) than being barefoot?
If he has nice feet then no, he doesn't need shoes, though I keep aluminum shoes on my hunter, just because we show so much and many of the places have those rocky driveways that we end up having to walk back and forth across all day.
Just note that he may be sore during the transition, especially after jumping or walking across rocky areas.
If he does show some tenderness, should I hold off from riding him? He is a green OTTB that I'll be showing once a month or once every other month. So, I really can't afford to stop riding him for 1-2 weeks.
Movement is the key to a successful transition, but it has to be a pain free heel first landing. Before you pull the shoes, have hoof boots with pads standing by. Yes you can ride your horse, but only if he is made to be comfortable. Most horses are immediately fine to ride on grass, some are okay with sand rings, and most need a little time for the more harder uneven stuff. Use common sense. If you get on and he start to tip toe, put the hoof boots on and resume riding. If he has healthy feet to start with as your farrier suggests, you aren't looking at a lengthy transition time anyway.
As for jumping, unless he has really flat feet, he should be fine. Once they hooves develop the concavity, they actually have better traction than shoes.
My jumper, George, overreaches VERY badly. He always wears them when he's being ridden, but now I'm also planning on keeping bell boots on him every time he's in turnout (I keep him in the barn at night).
Bell boots can help a lot but come with their own set of management problems Watch for abrasion around the pastern.
Hunters are so notorious for pulling shoes that farriers came up with a shoe "fit" called.... a "hunter fit". It means the shoe is fit nearly flush at the heel quarters with little steel extending palmar to the heel buttress. The downside is reduced caudal support and increased force at the heels.
A horse that over-reaches may benefit from hind shoes with extended heels. The longer heels bring the foot into ground contact sooner.
He's got shoes in the front, bare in the back. Farrier is very happy with his back feet and thinks that George has good, solid feet all the way around. So...why not let him go barefoot?
There are numerous reasons why a horse with "good, solid feet" may still benefit from shoes. Usage, terrain and performance expectations come to mind as examples.
Only thing I'm slightly concerned about is if he might slip during tight turns in jumper classes...but aren't shoes just as slippery (or even more so) than being barefoot?
Are shoes just as slippery as barefoot? Like many things equine, it depends.
There is less solar depth to a bare hoof as compared to a shod hoof, therefore generally less traction over soft footing.
In addition to solar depth, shoes also provide a combination of fullering, nail heads and often caulks or studs, depending upon need. All of this can further increase traction, particularly over soft footing.
I"m all for barefoot if your horse has good feet and ESPECIALLY if you are in an area that freezes in the winter. Out here the vets and farriers usually recommend you take shoes off for freezing weather because they contract when it freezes and can cause pressure and other hoof issues. One person I know currently has her horse on stall rest until fall because she was jumping in freezing weather and the contraction of the shoes putting pressure on the hooves, plus the impact caused cracks so bad that they had to remove the hoof walls completely on the front feet and put "resin hooves" back on the horse. It was a disaster.
Yes there is transition time, AND you have other considerations to think about. What is your terrain like? Do you jump only in the arena, or do you do any cross country? If you ride in areas that could get muddy, soggy or slick, shoes can actually help for traction purposes so they do have some advantages.
There are also EasyBoots and the such that you can put on if you need to that also allow for you to add traction control. Easyboots might also help you transition to barefoot as well. If your horse gets super sensitive, you can put the EasyBoots on the feet that were once shoed while you ride.... I wouldn't leave them on all the time though because then your horse will never acclimate.
Shoes tend to be slipperier than just bare hooves. Jumping barefoot is actually better for the horse as it allows the hoof to naturally expand and absorb some of the shock...
Thanks for all the replies! I do understand that a lot of his environment and the type of "footing" I ride on makes a difference. He's ridden and jumped both on grass (at home) and dirt/sand arena footing (at shows)...never rocks, asphalt, really hard ground. I'd like to keep normal shoes and not ones with extended heels because I have had experience with those on my mare who also overreaches (though not as bad as George) and she was still able to pull those shoes off, too. I have been keeping bell boots on him for 8-10 hours for 3 days and have seen no abrasions on the back of his pasterns. He has tough skin!
I've also heard, though, that riding on grass can be slippery for barefoot horses. Should I just keep shoes on his front feet and use studs? So many options!!:/
Only thing I'm slightly concerned about is if he might slip during tight turns in jumper classes...but aren't shoes just as slippery (or even more so) than being barefoot?
Depends. Eg. On hard ground, esp paved, shoes can be very slippery, but if the horse is flat footed & footing is soft/slippery, the extra rim can indeed give more traction. But you can also trim feet accordingly, if say they're always on yielding ground, leaving more wall height around the sole can have similar effect without compromising the function. The main problem with that - or shoes if a horse also spends a lot of time on hard ground is peripheral loading.
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