To shoe or not to shoe.......

Ok, so we have just had a month of misty damp, rainy weather and Phoenix has developed seedy toe in three hooves. I have had my hoof guy come and cut it all out. Fortunately I got onto it quickly so although Phoenny has a chunk missing out of three hooves it isn't too bad - she is not lame or anything. I treated the initial infection with a paste of vicks vapour rub and copper sulphate, the next day I washed her feet with iodine solution and am now applying Stockholm tar every day. I think I have the infection beat.

I have noticed though that there is a level of chalky brittleness between her hoof wall and the sole of her feet. Every time I ride her on gravel I have to scrape the gravel out and occasionaly larger pebbles get wedged in there too. Obviously this makes her more prone to seedy toe. I have her trimmed regularly and she has never been shod.

I am wondering if it is safe to shoe a horse that is prone to seedy toe? Will having a shoe over that hoof edge help prevent the chalkiness or am I going to end up with seedy toe under the shoe? I have no knowledge of the pros and cons of shoeing. I just want to know if shoeing a horse that gets seedy toe is sensible or a really bad idea!

I'd rather not shoe in this instance, but your best bet is to get the opinions of a couple of farriers. Unless I have a hrose that is foot sore without shoes (like the current guy we've got) or is getting badly chipped hooves, I opt not to shoe. Shoeing is expensive, it makes the hooves more brital after having nails bashed into them every few weeks etc. Plus if you getting a chalkiness between the wall and the sole, the nails may end up causing more damage as they do weaken the hoof wall to an extent.
If you can keep a horse unshod, do it. Have a chat to the farrier though, I don't know what your horse's feet are like so can't really give a valid opinion.

Other then the expensive part I don't agree with any of this. Nails bashed into them evey few weeks??? 6 little nails driven into the white line very 8 weeks or 2 months is going to do nothing to the integrity of the hoof. It will not make the brittle or weaken the hoof wall.
I have horses that have never been without a shoe in thier 35 years without a problem.
Hot shoe the horse will actually help seal the hoof and protect the foot from getting gravel in the seedy toe.
I run about 1/2 the time barefoot and 1/2 the time shod, depending on the footing and the season.
I prefer barefoot but if the horse is compromised because of footing the shoes go on.

I would try really hard to stay away from shoeing. Get a few farriers opinions, most of the time with proper trimming to make the hoof balanced and aligned, it helps alot. Certian products can help, but won't cure anything. Try the product Cleartrax. You will also need to dig out all of the infection.

Talk to your farrier and let him/her make the call. I will say tho, hot shoe will kill the fungus in the seedy toe as Rio said

Depends on the horse. Are your horses hardly little QH's or similar? I've had a few Wb's and also tb's that couldn't live without shoes during summer but ended up with horribly brittle feet from just a few months of shoeing- yes my farrier is excellent, it isn't to do with the shoeing technique) and then in winter without shoes they would harder right up again and be tough as nails.
Speak to a few farriers, many will recomend (if they're not money hungry) that you leave shoes off if you can as you damage the hoof wall after repetive shoeings.

My horses are all shod because of the terrain and having very soft TB feet, however I would much prefer to leave them without.

The very wet, damp weather that seems to covered a lot of the U.S. This year causes a lot of hoof problems. Rather than worry about shod v. Barefoot, I would concentrate on special hoof care while it is so wet. Many old timers around here use iodine or ACV every day to ward off any of the myriad of bacterial and fungal problems horses get when their feet are wet all the time.

I prefer barefoot. Why? Because its healthier for the horse and safer for the human. If you get an ironshod hoof in your head, you might die, but if the horse is shoeless, it don't want to be that big damage if he desides to kick. Healthier because the hoof is breathing and develops itself over time. And you learn a lot about food and training if you have a barefoothorse, cause you have to have more respect for what the horse need... :)

I don't understand that at all. My first mare, a morgan pony, had hard feet. Trimmed every 3-4 months, no shoes all year round. I sold her to get somthing bigger. My ne horse, a BSP gelding, has very short feet from neclect for months and has to be shoed for a while.

How is going barefoot going to teach me about FOOD??
Instead of RESPECT don't you mean Compromise???

Can't ride here because my horse is too tender for all that rock??
Can't ride there because it snowed last night forming ice and I will slip??
NOthing but compromises.