Ahhh! Horse won't keep his shoes on!

biggingerpony

biggingerpony

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I have had my 5year old ex racer since December and since then he's been a bit of a nightmare keeping his shoes on, the farrier has been out about 6/7 times replacing a shoe it's getting to the point when I feel guilty texting him!

Before I had him he was on a very high sugar and starch diet. He is now fed speedi beet, balancer and linseed and ad lib hay, and you are really starting to see the difference in hoof quality where his new hoof is growing down. I'm hoping that when this new hoof grows down he'll find it easier to keep them on!

In the meantime what can I do to keep them on him? He is turned out in over reach boots but unfortunately the path down to the turnout area is very poached and that is where I think they are coming off. It always seems to be the front shoe as well!

Can anyone offer any advice?
 
I feel your pain, pretty much the same situation with my new lad. He's six, I've had him since end of November. Tore the same front shoe off three times (whilst we went through trial and error with different types of over reach boots) before farrier ended up putting shorter shoes on. So far so good, but he'll need to be shod again sooner.

I've found a pair of quick release over reach boots a size larger than normal fare the best in mud. Velcro ones useless, fall apart within a week.
 
Have you thought about letting him go barefoot until the fields dry up and his feet improve? You could use the shoe boots for hacking when you need a bit more support. These are quite expensive but wil be cheaper than keep having the farrier. I would highly recommend feeding Biotin as well- this speeds up hoof growth and is pretty cheap, you can buy it from most equine suppliers. You should see an improvement within 6 weeks!
 
I was having the same problem, I got my boy last summer, he was shod short in front but has no heels so my blacksmith is shoeing him longer and his feet are really improving apart from losing shoes :( then his hooves fell to bits in a couple of days whilst waiting for the blacksmith to come. Last time he struggled to nail one on as his hoof had broken up so much. Ive reluctantly gone on Formula for feet, its just so expensive but ditched the balancer now so thats helped cost wise and we dont have turnout in winter which has given his feet the chance they needed to grow without constantly losing shoes and I can really see the difference on his last shoeing. His feet look so much better, the horn quality is better and he actually trimmed some growth. Its not ideal no turnout but I do think its been beneficial as I doubt with the mud he would have been able to go out anyway in case he lost a shoe.
As for overreach boots, he lives in them 24/7, I get the velcro ones in XL so they are bigger all round.
 
Does he have good balanced hooves, or do they have long toes, under-run heels, contracted heels, flat soles or flare? I do suspect that the hooves are poorly balanced as it's pretty common in ex racers. Long toes delay the breakover which makes it harder for the horse to pick it's front hoof up quickly enough to get out of the way of the hind hoof. Having to keep OR boots on is a sign that hoof balance is out. I second the shoes off recommendation. Don't believe anyone who says that TB's can't cope without shoes or that poorly shaped hooves are 'typical TB feet and that's just how they are.' You can improve them.

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/
 
Rosesandhorses said:
Have you thought about letting him go barefoot until the fields dry up and his feet improve? You could use the shoe boots for hacking when you need a bit more support. These are quite expensive but wil be cheaper than keep having the farrier. I would highly recommend feeding Biotin as well- this speeds up hoof growth and is pretty cheap, you can buy it from most equine suppliers. You should see an improvement within 6 weeks!
Click to expand...

This.

Our ex racer last September had horrid feet, cracked and kept loosing his shoes. Sister, farrier and I decided to just take them off, got some hoof boots for riding. Put them back on again three weeks ago and his feet are fab.
 
I always take Alfs shoes off over the winter. He has lovely feet, and I don't want to wreck them by him pulling shoes off. I probably won't bother putting them back on now, as he is hacking out perfectly happily unshod. Worth trying your without
 
A friend of mine has the same problem with his horse. Tried everything but horse still pulling shoes off and taking chunks of hoof with it. He now tapes the hooves up with duct tape before turning out and this has worked well so far.
 
Ah, I wish my vet would be a bit more open-minded about these things. Farrier thinks the new ex-racer's feet are pretty decent, he had a good amount of sole and they weren't flat. He's balanced them well, however horse was footy despite the low sugar, Pro Hoof, etc. I bought him boots, then he went slightly lame (as in 1/10) on one hind. Vet had a look while out for the other one and immediately told me to put shoes on him. He even phoned the farrier to tell him. My question was WHY is he sore - I've not had to shoe a horse since 2008. Vet proceeds to tell me it's genetic, rubbish TB feet, oh and diet makes no difference. In the next breath he asks "what's this?" pointing out the inch of lovely new hoof growing down. I explain that his diet has changed since I bought him, he's turned out 24/7 now and I believe in 6-12 months time he will have a completely different set of feet. Vet then tells me the new hoof growing down looks really healthy... yes...exactly.....
 
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Thank you so much for your lovely replies it's good to hear I'm not alone! Re barefoot I'm certainly not adverse to it as I re-habbed my other ex racer to go barefoot. I will try and get some hoof pics tomorrow to show you. The only trouble is we have started upping his workload to include more jumping/roadwork/fastwork in preparation for the spring and I just don't think he could cope without shoes even if he had hoof boots. But it's certainly something I will seriously consider next autumn. He does have fairly long toes and flat soles and this is something the farrier is addressing. Interesting to hear about biotin I will certainly have to look into that!
 
Biotin alone is not enough. You need a good vit and min supplement balanced to what is lacking in UK grazing.

NB - how utterly frustrating for you. It sounds like your changes are having positive effects on your chap's hooves though. :)
 
Honestly I cannot recommend Biotin enough- I think the one I fed was Equimins which I got even cheaper as it was pushing the use by date. Obviously have to feed it combined with a good diet but helped 2 of my horses for relatively cheap compared to farrier's formula type supplements.
 
my TB has lovely feet, very good shape and good quality horn, my farrier is excellent and I have good heels and toes. This past 2 shoeings my horse has managed to pull a front shoe off every time within 2 days, I had a long chat with my farrier this week and we have decided to shoe short on the front for the next couple of times as we think he is treading on them in the deep mud. Plus he is a total tit in the field, loves to turn himself inside out and play. I have tried him with over reach boots, but have caught him on 3 legs, pulling the boots off with his teeth! As soon as the field dries up a bit he will go back to his usual shoes with the heel support. I think this will be the best option for my grass fed, out 24/7 tb.
 
Have you considered bare foot. I know I have a welsh d which is a complete different animal especially where feet are concerned but although it has taken over 12 months Celt is now successfully bare foot over any ground and his hooves look better now than they ever did shod.
 
Mine (in fronts only) regularly loses shoes when we get to the muddiest part of the winter. I threw in the towel yesterday and the farrier is booked to remove his remaining front shoe. I'll stick him in boots for hacking and see how we get on - I realistically can't do the work he needs to be barefoot, but if he can cope with being unshod for everything else, boots are probably the best solution for us - at least until it dries up, and I'll reevaluate!
 
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