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Does Your Horse Have Shoes

5K views 48 replies 43 participants last post by  Delfina 
#1 ·
The age old question, to shoe or not to shoe.
Does your horse have shoes, if so why?
Is it due to the terrain or his feet?

Here in CA, I normally ride through a few streets(blacktop and GD) before accessing the trails.

My farrier said he can naturally wear down his hooves in spring through autumn.
I would only need to call him during the winter to trim them since he mostly sits.

But, I've left his shoes on, he's had shoes before I bought him, and some people's opinions are to leave them on since he is used to them. Their example was, we are all used to wearing shoes now, it wouldn't be easy going outside without them now. If you've been barefoot at an early age it would be easier to stay barefoot.

Farrier cost: $60 for all 4 shoes
 
#2 ·
I had my horse barefoot for the first year I owned him but I knowticed even with Hoof supplements his feet were chipping. Then as he started working harder and jumping higher putting front shoes on had to be done. Out here shoes are alot more just my fronts are 84$, every 7 weeks. To get all around is 160$ or somthing like that. His back hooves are fine without shoes but his front really needed them.
 
#5 ·
Jesse used to have shoes, only on his front feet though. He has horrible feet so it helped then slightly. The only thing is that his shoes had to be set a little forward, otherwise he would pull them off so it was usually pretty frustrating when we got a new farrier. He doesn't have them anymore because he doesn't have to walk on gravel or concrete which made his feet worse. My last horse was shod because he had super sensitive feet and needed pads with silicon in them, otherwise he wasn't able to walk.
 
#9 ·
None of our horses have shoes - they don't need them. Dancer's hooves were horrible when I first got her, huge flares - they looked like bells! Farrier commented the last time he was out that they had really improved over the last year. She didn't have a single chip this time!
 
#11 ·
Both of my older horses have shoes on all around, my colt does not, hes barefoot.
Why? Their performance horses, just like athletes need special shoes for their sport so do the horses. Their feet would get worn and with have barrel rims on they can grip the dirt better without sliding. Both of them also have natural balence shoes on. My colt with have shoes put on him when he starts showing.
 
#12 ·
Mine are all barefoot and if I can, I ill keep it that way. I strongly believe it is healthier.

All of my horses show, in speed events, pleasure events, they jump, ride on roads, rocky ground.

Unless the hoof is not functional, shoes are not essential for showing/performance exept for specialised disciplines like reining.
 
#13 ·
In the winter, all my horses are kept barefoot because they don't get ridden really hard and the traction is much better on frozen ground without shoes.

In the summer, our horses that get used all the time get shoes all the way around because we do a lot of cattle work in rocky terrain and on rocky roads, often times at pretty high speed with sudden stops and hard turns mixed in. My thinking is that keeping them shod for 6 months out of the year is a small price to pay to prevent a stone bruise and abcess.
 
#14 ·
All our mares are barefoot (trim myself). The two younger ones have never been shod. Our lead mare has thinner soles and was always shod (all four) by her original owner (who shod every horse), but has been barefoot since then (the original owner was amazed when she saw the horse doing the rocky trails barefoot without a problem). We just do pleasure riding, but they are all fine on the roads and trail riding even over the gravel and rocks.

Cost: some sweat and a new rasp every once and a while.
 
#42 ·
This sounds like me. I keep them barefoot by default, because I think it's healthier and I maintain them myself. If I am trailering out with a friend and I don't know what the terrain will be like, I bring Easyboot Epics, just for the front feet, just in case. But on our home turf, so-to-speak, I ride barefoot.

I really believe it's healthier because most horses I've seen that have been in shoes "forever" have very upright, contracted feet. And once you are used to seeing round, non-contracted feet, it's hard to go back to shoes.

I would say keep him barefoot if he has good feet (and the farrier should know) and just boot him if he needs it in the rocks. :)

But I also have a friend who keeps all her horses shod, so I respect that too. She doesn't want to have to worry about stone bruises and such. But in 5 years of keeping my Mustang barefoot (he was kept shod by previous owner) I have only had him out of use for a stone bruise one time (and it took about 2 weeks for him to heal). But once in 5 years is pretty good, and whose to say he wouldn't have gotten bruised in shoes too? I still think it's a small risk to take for healthier feet IF your horse is sound doing it. Now if he were chronically sore, I would get him in boots or shoes.
 
#16 ·
I have two barefoot and two with shoes.

One mare is in them 24/7/365 with pads in front
Dukey has all four cause he might be going to shawnee yet this year and he does better with shoes then without

Lazy is now barefoot for good with hoof boots as needed
Moosa normally wears fronts when he is being ridden he has shown me he does better with the protection then without
 
#17 ·
All my horses are barefoot. I use a certified natural barefoot trimmer that I love. I have 4 TB, 1 Arab, and 1 Appy. Two of my TB's had terrible feet when I got them a year ago. One is still not the best but found that it was her diet. A few weeks on Focus HF and she's looking great.

I stopped liking shoes the one and only time I put them on my first horse. Everyone put them on so I thought I needed to. She cut up her legs from poor clinching and slid everywhere. That's the last time I ever put shoes on my horses. I was so glad when natural trimming came out. Even my Arab who has weak pasterns is doing better. Plus they all love him, even my TB who hated having her hooves messed with now stands beautifully. Any new horse I get after two or three trims stops fussing. I think because they realize that thier feet won't hurt or ache afterwards.

I will tell you that a natural barefoot trim is loads different from a barefoot trim
done by a normal shoeing farrier. Just like its best to make sure your shoeing farrier is certified, make sure your natural barefoot trimmer is certified. These people may be more expensive, but then they've spent lots of money on learning how to do the trimming right. For riding on rough terrain they are coming out with some very nice boots that work great.
Current price is $35 for horses, $25 for minis. But he says that with my herd growing I'll soon be qualified for a discount :).
 
#18 ·
I keep my horses shod pretty much all the time. In the winter I pull the shoes from all but one or two because I'm not using them as much. My horses have pretty decent feet but I ride too fast in too rocky of terrain to go without shoes. I do it myself so it's not a matter of cost. I like to be able to ride my horse without them gimping over rocks or getting stone bruised and abcessed. in addition when the wear exceeds the growth there is no other option but shoeing or less riding. Someome mentioned hoof supplements but a horse must be on them at least a year before they make any difference and for most horses the difference will be slight. A horses hoof grows about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch per month so until the more heathy hoof grows down most of the way to the ground you won't see much difference. When most people talk about how some supplement strenghened thier horses feet in a few weeks they are demonstrating the placebo affect. Topical hoof treatments mostly only make the outside look better but do little for the health of the hoof.

There is nothing wrong with a well shod horse. If done properly the hoof functions just fine and the horse will be every bit as sound if not more so than a barefoot horse.
 
#22 ·
Someome mentioned hoof supplements but a horse must be on them at least a year before they make any difference and for most horses the difference will be slight. A horses hoof grows about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch per month so until the more heathy hoof grows down most of the way to the ground you won't see much difference. When most people talk about how some supplement strenghened thier horses feet in a few weeks they are demonstrating the placebo affect. Topical hoof treatments mostly only make the outside look better but do little for the health of the hoof.
I agree...for some reason it always amazes me that many folks have a hard time grasping (or believing) that it takes about a year for the hoof to fully grow out and that there is no way to 'wish' that to happen faster.
 
#20 ·
Just because she is barefoot doesn't mean you don't have to keep her feet trimmed and in good health. She should see a farrier about every 8 weeks regardless of rather she has shoes on or not.
 
#21 ·
^^Exactly what I do. My two are barefoot, have ridden over every imaginable terrain, no problems.

Now that T is older, my farrier and I have noticed that her hoof is wearing down much faster or she isn't growing the hoof like she used to. May have to shoe her next riding season if this is the case. Or, may have to use hoof boots on certain terrain to avoid the wearing down factor.
 
#23 ·
Mine is barefoot. They are tender at first if they're used to shoes, so you have to ease them into it--but just like ours would, their feet get used to it! The individual horse is always different, of course, so some are too tender-footed in any condition, and others are tough as nails and will go full tilt over anything you put them on. I am buying easy boots for my mare for the occasions where I think she may have some trouble. Overall, she's pretty tough but we ride for hours on end over some pretty rough terrain so I'm choosing to buy those and use them for some of the rougher rides we do. I won't be using them daily, though.
 
#27 ·
Mine is barefoot, has never had a shoe on in her life, and works on any terrain. I too after much research, have decided that I feel it is healthier for her that way. She has tough feet, because she has used them her whole life. I swear you could crack walnuts on her frogs :).
 
#28 ·
Lesson barn puts fronts on the lesson horses, ponies just go barefoot. All the lesson horses and ponies are only shown in hunter classes, so they could all be fine with or withour shoes. Coaches and some boarders get shoes all around, but they are showing jumpers, and corks can help with traction.

Grandparents Standardbreds get shoes on from the time they started working on the track until they either leave the farm, or they go to broodmare status. Stonedust wears down their hooves really fast. You cant race a horse with no hooves... They were using aluminum shoes for a while, until they farrier had to come out more since it wore down faster then steel shoes.
 
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