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Barefoot OR Shoes

3K views 27 replies 15 participants last post by  loosie 
#1 ·
I have been wondering which is better for horses being barefoot or shoes. All of my horses have always been barefoot, but I have a mare that's hooves need correcting. Would it help if she had shoes? Her hooves go outward on her front hooves. The inside is also bad. They are really deep, it's hard to explain. I've heard that shoes hurt their joints. I have just been wondering if it would help at all. She also has trouble walking on hard surfaces, especially rocks. So I was just wondering what everybody thinks tomorrow ill try to get a picture of them. And my farrier is in Arizona until march, but usually there hooves do just fine until then. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
In order to keep a horse barefoot, unless on very rocky surface, you need to get their hooves trimmed every 5-8 weeks depending on their growth rate. When a horse has a conformation issue, corrective shoes, generally, will just hurt the horse. The fact that your horses hooves go outward, you need to look closely and see if it is just how the hoof wall is growing (rare but happens) or if the actual leg structure is following the hoof. If the leg is conformationally incorrect, shoes will just injure your horses joints, ligaments, and bones. Once bones are set, so is everything else in the leg. There is not much correcting you can do. Although, in a situation such as one of my geldings, he had low heels and it took months and months to trim him differently to help create a heel and less toe.

As for her sensativity on hard surfaces:
My horses were kept on hard rocky surfaces with several random slabs of concrete in the pasture from old buildings and their hooves developed nicely. They were completly hard 6 months after the natural barefoot trim. In the case of horses with soft grassy pasture, you may need to WALK them on concrete or rocks to help them harden faster. Remember, it is just like humans, if we are used to wearing foot protection and then we decide to start walking around barefoot, it will take some time to develop a callus (spelling?). It is the same idea with horses, the longer they have barefeet the more they will harden. Also, you have to consider, if we were to walk barefoot in grass all the time we would build up less callus than we would on rocky or concrete terrain.

I do recommend finding a NATURAL barefoot farrier because they do trim a little but differently to help the horse's hoof wear more naturally than a horse who had just any old farrier trim off the "excess" stuff and let them go.

Hope that was helpful!!
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#3 ·
Pictures would be helpful sounds like your letting the feet go to long before getting them done. Shoes wont hurt their joints if the farrier is skilled and knows how to do it correctly. Iv seen the so called barefoot trimmers who butcher up and lame your horse for you. Thank you very much but i"ll keep my farrier whos very good with all kinds of issues. My horses wear shoes 8 months out of the year with no problems they are barefoot now till march.
 
#5 ·
Running Whisper, there are infinate opinions on this matter. It honestly depends on your own opinion. Do some research on both from SEVERAL knowledgable websites. There are always going to be good and bad farriers whether they do natural barefoot or shoes spirit88. Always research and talk to other clients of your farrier to hear their opinions on His/her trim. My farrier had to trim a horse in front of a vet one time because he thought that going barefoot would make the horse go lame, after trimming the horse her normal ways, he exrayed the horse for several weeks to see if it was causing damage. It turned out that the horse was improving in his every day riding and carrying himself more comfortably. The vet was shocked and owed my farrier an apology. Like I said, whether you decide to go with barefoot or shod ALWAYS research and ALWAYS do some background checking on their other clients.

Remember that humans think they always need to change natural thing, and horses in the wild live perfectly normal active lives going barefoot. I am not against shoes I just dont think it is necessary to shoe your horses. Even horses in hard work do well on a natural trim. It is a personal decision and should not be taken lightly. A horse's hoof is its main thing it depends on, jack it up and you could ruin your horse.
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#7 ·
Agreed, it does keep the horse from moving their natural way. Also, shoeing for a long period of time can really hurt your horse's hoof wall. It makes the frog sensative, especially when they wear shoes for part of the year and a few months out of it are expected to walk around barefoot. It is almost impossible for them to stay comfortable.
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#8 ·
Sounds like all your horses are overdue for a trim. Especially when you say that they are usually okay until March. THat's far too long... like way WAY too long. Every 4 to 6 weeks, depending on the terrain, the horse, activities. Regardless if barefoot or shod, months is too long to go between hoof maintenance. Your question should be more about basic hoof care first. THen you can start the debate about barefoot vs. shod. If you search the forum you will find this discussion happens a lot here and it is very situation dependent.

Let's see some pics of all your horses' feet and go from there.
 
#10 ·
We really need to see the feet to get an idea. I have my idea already, but will wait for pics.
One thing for sure, waiting until March will make things worse.
I agree with spirit, barefoot trimmers can "butcher" a foot, but so can Farriers. It all depends. An educated owner can judge if a trimmer or farrier is good, it's usually the person not the method.
 
#11 ·
My farrier says the horse's hoof will tell him if they need shoes or not. My three do not, but there are other horses he shoes regularly. I have hard, stony ground in the corrals, and they normally go about 10 weeks between trimmings. They went 12 this last time because he was hard to get hold of, and only 1 of the 3 was noticeably long.

Mia & I chatting at the corral:

 
#12 ·
Well my TWH does just fine on waiting that long. The guy I bought him from was my farrier. He usually is on a lot harder surfaces and I take him on gravel a lot and his hooves wear down over time. My other gelding was bored at the farriers house when I bought him and his hooves are sensitive but hardly grow in the winter that's why his are fine. The mares just don't get worn down as much because she doesn't do as much, and it doesn't help the way her hooves grow. And for options of getting the feet trimmed before march are not very good. He is the only farrier I know of in my region unless I am willing to take them a good hour and a half away but I don't have a trailer to haul them with. My geldings I'm not concerned about because there's wear down but my mare needs to be trimmed again. I will have to look into finding other farriers tomorrow. And I'll try to post some pictures up tomorrow if it is still light out.
 
#13 ·
I am all in on barefoot! Our horses are barefoot and I wouldn't have it any other way. Keep a good natural trim, or mustang roll on their hooves and you'll be amazed at how healthy your horses hooves become.
 
#17 ·
The big difference is in what portion of the hoof (hoof wall in particular) bears weight with ground contact. Its not the outer edge, its actually the inside edge of the hoof wall, snd its surprising how it eliminates cracking and chipping. Well, almost eliminates it. It promotes good flex and blood flow, and promotes healthy frog and sole growth as well. Its really worth looking into.
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#18 ·
Will it help trail horses more? All three of my horses are trail horses. There pasture is soft most days, but are also in the barn (it's like a run in shed only for shelter) witch is concrete with straw. It wouldn't interfere with all of the trail riding would it? I have been looking into it, and it says that it helps eliminate the pressure on the hoof wall or something like that.
 
#19 ·
This whole barefoot vs shoes debate is idiotic. SOME horses can go barefoot while SOME horses need shoes. You do what's best for the individual horse, not go by some 'gospel' thrown at you by fanatics of either camp.

That whole 'wild horses do just fine without shoes' argument has holes so big I could drive a semi through them. Wild horses with bad feet do exist, they just don't live long. Plus, they're not being worked the way domestic horses are. Comparing apples to kumquats.

In over 3 decades of owning horses, only one of mine has ever needed shoes and he gets them. I'm simply not willing to torture him because some barefoot fanatics think he shouldn't wear shoes.

Bottom line, you do what's best for the HORSE.
 
#21 ·
SR....we should really sit down and take turns in responding....:)

I'm all for a good barefoot trim...IF THE HORSE IS COMFORTABLE. The boots work, but not every boot fits every horse. There are boots who hold up long, the Tevis has been ridden in boots.
If my horse is sensitive and despite conditioning of the hooves stays that way, it needs shoes. I prefer a good barefoot trimmer over a bad farrier, and a good farrier over a bad trimmer. As easy as that.......:)
 
#22 ·
Its great if a horse can do without shoes - saves you money as much as anything and of course it is 'natural' but then nothing we actually do with horses is really natural - the horse we have today is so far removed from its ancient ancestors its barely recognisable
Horse in the 'wild' dont do so great as you think without shoes, you go and look at a herd and half of them will be limping with broken feet. Natural selection made for stronger feet because the ones with the poorest feet were the ones who couldnt run so fast and got eaten by some predator or didnt even make it to the new grazing grounds and starved to death
In the UK we ride on hard and often gritty roads, a barefoot horse doing 2 or 3 hours on that a day is soon footsore and lame. I've had horse still working in their late 20's, shod and worked on hard roads all their life and not a joint problem in sight
Joint problems have nothing to do with shoes - its just a falacy spread by fanatics who think there is only one way to do things
If your horse needs shoes to allow it to work happily and soundly then thats what you should do
I have no issue with barefoot - thats how some of my horses are but if they need shoes they get them. Simple as that
 
#23 ·
So just another question. My TWH does just fine without shoes, and is fine on hard surfaces other than the gravel that I have, but it is very sharp. My other two have problems walking on hard and rocky surfaces. For trails would shoes help or would it be better to invest in some hoofboots?
 
#24 ·
Thats something you have to work out for yourself based on how well boots will fit your horse and how well you feel they work in them.
Horses dont come 'off the peg' so buying boots to fit that are 'off the peg' doesnt often work well.
I have tried many different types and even the ones that didnt rub or fall off always felt like my horse was clomping along in a rather clumsy way
If you find some that work for you then thats fine but research them well and try to get them that are professionally fitted
The other thing that ruled them out for me was riding on a daily basis sometimes on several different horses involved putting boots on and taking boots off and on a really cold day with a back like mine thats suffered from too many badly planned falls in the past - well it just seemed like too much of a faff when I'd never seen any evidence that shoes were doing my horses any harm
 
#25 ·
Not every boot will fit every hoof, and some are more bothersome putting on than others. Work with a farrier or trimmer who has experience fitting them and preferably has some with him/her to try on.
And yes, it looks clumsy;-), most of them at least. The Easy Boot Glove a little less, tho
 
#26 ·
one of my horses goes great bare foot.. and I'll keep her that way because A.) its cheaper (whenever the universe allows me to be cheap, I go for it:):) B.) why shoe if she doesnt need it?

My main horse pepper has thin soles and can get a little ouchie out on the gravel roads...with the farrier I have now I have managed to move her from shoes all the time, to riding her somewhat regularly (but short rides) with out them. In the spring I know I'll have to resume shoeing her as I will be riding her alot more (after baby and considering she is now in my back yard).. I have tried conditioning her feet to be tougher but I have only been able to get her so far..

Third and newest horse..I plan on keeping her barefoot unless otherwise needed.. her feet seem to have a tenancy towards cracking and chipping in big chunks, but with a dietary change, and actually having her on a regular farrier schedule, I am hoping to get her feet where they need to be.. but we will see.

I agree with everyone else that it needs to be decided on an individual horse level. And finding a GOOD farrier/trimmer is absolutely key. Its good to research and come up with your own opinions..but dont think for a SECOND THAT EVERY HORSE WILL FALL ON ONE SIDE OF THE FENCE OR THE OTHER..
 
#27 ·
Relax speedracer! Nobody that I can see is arguing with you. I have a 4 year old marchador that has shoes in the front. I understand very well what your saying, and I very much agree with you. down here in south texas, the soil is a very sandy loam, and we ride mostly on dirt farm roads, with some caliche, and the caliche bothers my Thoroughbred, and he has great feet. Our 6 yo AQH had a bad injury to the right front leg and bulb, and his hoof is growing funny as a result, so once the hoof gets a bit harder back there he's going to be shod for protective/preventative reasons. You aren't, and won't geet any arguments from me. I'm just saying whenever possible, and reasonably so, I will always opt for natural hoof trims and barefoot hooves. And I think more people should educate themselves as much as possible regarding hoof care and maintenance. It affects almost every aspect of the horses health/soundness.
 
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