When to Shoe

[HeatherSarah3]

Is there a thread on here somewhere regarding how to know when to shoe your horse?

I know this is silly but im serioiusly wondering!

I am mostly concerned with it NOW because I ride ALOT more than I used to (I made local riding buddies YAY!)

My mare has fantastic feet. She is appaloosa so I guess I have good jeans to thank for that! I only shoe her when going to the mountains. She doesnt show any signs of discomfort and hooves dont crack or chip at all. Most of our riding is done on trails and at a walk. My ferrier says she doesnt need shoes, but I would like to know the facts for my own piece of mind. She is trimmed every 6 weeks and ferrier always says her feet are good. He is a natural hoof person (ya know, the ones who do the barefoot trims) I personally did not like the idea of it and never allowed him to do that to my horses.

One more thing, since I have your attention When I bought my mare as a 3 yr old, she had been started as two year old and the old owner basically ran her every where they went! My mare is TINY 15.1 and the girl who had had "trained" her was not small. I have been dealing with the gaps and bad habits in her training from this since day one. Now I am concerned about how this could have affected her physically.

The girl did not get xrays on the mares knees or a vets approval before starting her on such strenuose activities. I fear her knees where not "closed". The mare is now 6 and the vet has deemed her healthy never had lame day in her life. Should I be concerned about my mares future health? Is there anything I can do besides "wait and see"?

[sherriawright]

The only thing I can tell you about shoes is if it isn't broke, don't fix it. If you are not riding a lot on rocky, concrete type roads, why put shoes on her? My horses are ridden a lot and they are not shoed at all. Of course, we spend most of our time at Sand Ridge Forest, so nothing other then maybe crossing the road.

[Horselady44]

We do alot of mountian/trail riding here and all my horses are barefoot. They all have great feet. I had a farrier tell me, "once you shoe them, they always need shoes" weither this is true our not... I donno. But, my farrier always tells me how great my horses feet look. They never have been lame. The only time I shoe mine are for parades...which Im really thinking of getting those EZ boots...as they seem like in the long run would be more affordable! Its like 100-150 to shoe a horse around here Which is also another reason I havnt shoed mine or done parades in awhile
If all you are doing is trail riding at a walk...and your horses feet are in good condition and never had a problem with them...then I would leave her barefoot. JMO

[jjsimsez]

here is an example of needing them.i had a mare i had to shoe. any rocks or gravel and she would walk very ouchy. she had thin soles. i shoed her for the whole riding season.
our gelding is ok on rocks but in really rocky areas sometimes stone bruises. he is left barefoot until we go on our yearly vac. then shod. this place has lots of shale and rocks to cut feet. pony never acts ouchy so he never gets shod.
we run alot and this will make them more ouchy. and less fun for us. so we pay the expense.
if you mostly walk and your mare doesnt act ouchy on rocks, then id leave her barefoot. shoes are actually hard on the horses feet and legs. i agree with the easyboot idea.
if your worried about your other horse then maybe the joint supplements will help stop later probs. if rode hard before knees were developed then its possible later in life the horse may get arthritis early.me personally, i'd just enjoy horse and when it gets older,if horse slows down, sell as a good kids first horse.if horse is safe.

[Aspen3]

I own seven horses, and only 2 need to be shod (and only on their two front hooves). Like others have posted, if your horse walks very tenderly on rocks/gravel, then I would have them shod. If not, leave them shoeless! Also, I would first try just shoeing the front two hooves and leave the back without. That works great for both of my horses.
Janet

[CowhorseGal]

Of the 30 plus head at my place at anyone time, the only ones that get shod are the reiners/cowhorses. and then only sldiers on the rear. . My daughters HS rodeo horse is barefoot even.. We ride in the hills around here with out shoes (its not real rocky but there are some). The only other reason we shoe is if the vet or farrier recommends it for medical treatment reasons..

We DO NOT ride on the pavement though either.. From what you are describing I don't think you situation requires shoes.. You are lucky.. you have a horse with good feet.. let that save you some money!\

ETA To answer your second questions.. if t your vet has determined her tob esound.. I wouldn't worry to much about it.. just ride and enjoy her..

[Range]

So, what does your farrier say?

I mean, none of us are there. None of us ride your horse. None of us see your horse's feet.

The farrier would be the one to ask.

And...no, it's not true that "once shod, always must be shod." Unless, of course, the shoeing is due to an injury that must be maintained for a lifetime.

[tuffsmom]

Your farrier is the only one that will be able to tell you whether you need shoeing. If you don't think this guy will tell you then you need to find another one.

You can never predict if a horse is going to go lame or not because it was started early. Vets can only tell you today. A horse can go run in the pasture and pull up lame.

[singing tree]

I read an article fairly recently that actually the early galloping strengthens the horses bones. That old saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" I think might apply here.

The article said they did some tests with TB youngsters. The ones that were galloped (in a responsible way) as two year olds compared to those who were held back until they were three to be seriously worked did much better. The galloped two year olds had better bone density and stayed sound much better. Of course, they did not carry alot of weight as youngsters, but the running was good for them.

By the way, my biggest horse is 14.3 and I am 5"7' and about 160 lbs. 15.1 is huge to me, and I would not expect any health issues from her at all.

As to shoeing, I would avoid it if possible. The easy boots are definitely a money saver, though they take a little time at the beginning and end of your rides. Your horse will have less hoof issues without shoes. I use my Easy boots when my horses have just been trimmed, and not so much when they are about due for a trim as they naturally have more hoof there.

[lovemyTB]

My farrier is a very old school cowboy. I wanted to shoe my horses for a ride in the mountains. He said if you can go with out shoes do it. Unless your going to be riding on stuff like loose rock or doing river crossings all the time condition your horse to go with out shoes. He said the only time i will needs shoes on my horses will be winter time if theres alot of ice, and then just the fronts as thats where all the weight is carried. He said everytime you drive a nail though the hooves it just causes it to dry out that much faster. But that was for my horses, they all seem to have good feet.

[HeatherSarah3]

Originally Posted by singing tree

I read an article fairly recently that actually the early galloping strengthens the horses bones. That old saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" I think might apply here.

The article said they did some tests with TB youngsters. The ones that were galloped (in a responsible way) as two year olds compared to those who were held back until they were three to be seriously worked did much better. The galloped two year olds had better bone density and stayed sound much better. Of course, they did not carry alot of weight as youngsters, but the running was good for them.

By the way, my biggest horse is 14.3 and I am 5"7' and about 160 lbs. 15.1 is huge to me, and I would not expect any health issues from her at all.

As to shoeing, I would avoid it if possible. The easy boots are definitely a money saver, though they take a little time at the beginning and end of your rides. Your horse will have less hoof issues without shoes. I use my Easy boots when my horses have just been trimmed, and not so much when they are about due for a trim as they naturally have more hoof there.

Thats very interesting! you dont happen to have a link to the article or remember where you read it do you? Thanks for the response. Like I said there is nothing wrong with her I was only inquiring out of curiousity

[HeatherSarah3]

Originally Posted by lovemyTB

My farrier is a very old school cowboy. I wanted to shoe my horses for a ride in the mountains. He said if you can go with out shoes do it. Unless your going to be riding on stuff like loose rock or doing river crossings all the time condition your horse to go with out shoes. He said the only time i will needs shoes on my horses will be winter time if theres alot of ice, and then just the fronts as thats where all the weight is carried. He said everytime you drive a nail though the hooves it just causes it to dry out that much faster. But that was for my horses, they all seem to have good feet.

Thats the sort of information I was looking for. I was wondering if keeping her shod would help preserve her joints, feet, bones. It seems that is not the case! Good to know!

[HeatherSarah3]

Range and Tuffsmom: I have no reason to be concernd about my ferriers competence. I trust him, I was just curiouse about rules of thumb and how do you determine if shoes are needed or not. Just for my own knowledeg I wasnt looking for a definite answer.

[HeatherSarah3]

Originally Posted by CowhorseGal

Of the 30 plus head at my place at anyone time, the only ones that get shod are the reiners/cowhorses. and then only sldiers on the rear. . My daughters HS rodeo horse is barefoot even.. We ride in the hills around here with out shoes (its not real rocky but there are some). The only other reason we shoe is if the vet or farrier recommends it for medical treatment reasons..

We DO NOT ride on the pavement though either.. From what you are describing I don't think you situation requires shoes.. You are lucky.. you have a horse with good feet.. let that save you some money!\

ETA To answer your second questions.. if t your vet has determined her tob esound.. I wouldn't worry to much about it.. just ride and enjoy her..

Thanks for your reply. It just makes me wonder when every horse I see has shoes and mine doesnt! I was wondering if I was doing something wrong! I guess the bottom line is, until she gives me a reason to put them on, why bother! It sounds like she worse off to put them on when she doesnt need them.

Same goes for my second question. I was just wondering if I should be giving her supplements or anything even if she is not showing signs of pain or discomfort.

[Range]

Don't fix it if it ain't broken.

Seriously, there are not more problems with or without shoes. Every horse is different. There are no hard and fast rules...unless your horse is missing half her foot.

FYI, my horse has shoes, his feet are chronically wet. The nails don't do anything regarding drying out, etc.

I said to talk to your farrier because that's where the knowledge is. He/she says, "shoes," then shoe the horse. He/she says "no shoes," then don't. See?

[HeatherSarah3]

Gotcha Thanks!

[singing tree]

Originally Posted by Range

Don't fix it if it ain't broken.

Seriously, there are not more problems with or without shoes. Every horse is different. There are no hard and fast rules...unless your horse is missing half her foot.

FYI, my horse has shoes, his feet are chronically wet. The nails don't do anything regarding drying out, etc.

I said to talk to your farrier because that's where the knowledge is. He/she says, "shoes," then shoe the horse. He/she says "no shoes," then don't. See?

Funny you would say that. I did have a horse with half a foot (that I did not notice before I bought him as an excited teenager) . And yes, he did do much better with shoes

[David]

As has been mentioned there are no hard and fast rules but, since you asked for generalities...

Generally...

It's best not to shoe until at least 2 yrs old. Their feet are growing so much at that stage that the shoes could ( theoretically ) restrict growth.

Personally, I shoe my horses after they are past the stage of being started and are being ridden regularly. I know a lot of people who say don't shoe unless the horse exhibits signs of needing shoes. I have had better luck keeping young horses sound for early riding by shoeing.

One good method I have seen people use is to file a line on the hooves about 1 inch from the ground ( you can use any measure as long as you remember what it was) and measure on a regular basis to see how much wear you're getting. In general hooves grow 1/8 to 1/4 inch per month so if you're losing more than you're growing, you either need to give the horse a rest or protect the hoof.

If you have a horse that only gets ridden every other month, you may not want to shoe because that could be a recipe for disaster. I've seen horses left too long with shoes on that caused serious life long damage. No the shoe will not always fall off when it's time to reshoe ( I was seriously asked this question Sunday night, "If the shoe is still on do I need to have it pulled and reset?").

But the best generality I can give you is, figure out which works best for you and your horse and stick to it. Some horses are happier barefoot and some are happier shod. How do I know when my horses are happy? By the way they act in the pasture and the way they ride.


As far as their being more hoof issues with shod horses than barefoot horses I'm sorry singing tree but that is unsubstantiated dogma.

David

[HeatherSarah3]

Originally Posted by David

As has been mentioned there are no hard and fast rules but, since you asked for generalities...

Generally...

It's best not to shoe until at least 2 yrs old. Their feet are growing so much at that stage that the shoes could ( theoretically ) restrict growth.

Personally, I shoe my horses after they are past the stage of being started and are being ridden regularly. I know a lot of people who say don't shoe unless the horse exhibits signs of needing shoes. I have had better luck keeping young horses sound for early riding by shoeing.

One good method I have seen people use is to file a line on the hooves about 1 inch from the ground ( you can use any measure as long as you remember what it was) and measure on a regular basis to see how much wear you're getting. In general hooves grow 1/8 to 1/4 inch per month so if you're losing more than you're growing, you either need to give the horse a rest or protect the hoof.

If you have a horse that only gets ridden every other month, you may not want to shoe because that could be a recipe for disaster. I've seen horses left too long with shoes on that caused serious life long damage. No the shoe will not always fall off when it's time to reshoe ( I was seriously asked this question Sunday night, "If the shoe is still on do I need to have it pulled and reset?").

But the best generality I can give you is, figure out which works best for you and your horse and stick to it. Some horses are happier barefoot and some are happier shod. How do I know when my horses are happy? By the way they act in the pasture and the way they ride.


As far as their being more hoof issues with shod horses than barefoot horses I'm sorry singing tree but that is unsubstantiated dogma.

David

Thank you for sharing that info David. Filing a line sounds like really good idea. I think I will try that! Lots of good info in your post. Thanks again!

[beckyp]

Our horses aren't shoed,but they are usually ridden in fields and once in a while gravel road-if I did more riding on gravel,concrete,etc.,I would probably have them shoed.Every horse is different and if it ain't broke don't fix it.