barefoot/unshod experiences?

[sharni]

my mare hardly wears down her shoes. I am thinking of trying her unshod. Does anyone here work their horse unshod and how much road work do you do?
Ta in advance!

 

[vivhewe]

My boy is unshod and would easily cope with being hacked on the road every day, but he has hard feet!

I think it depends on what kind of feet your horse has.

 

[lizzie_liz]

my mare only has shoes on her front feet and manages fine. At the moment she is hacking every night on the roads/hard groud and her feet are brill. she used to have really bad feet but they have strengthened and hardened so much

 

[riotgirl]

My girly has rock hard feet! She has fronts on, but I am seriously thinking of doing away with them all together. Road work itself isn't too bad on the feet, it is if you ride in stoney places.

 

[jacks_mum]

Jack only has shoes on the front. We hack on the roads, jump and do cross country and he is just fine.

 

[TGM]

My daughter's pony is unshod and does plenty of roadwork, jumping, shows, PC etc. Might be worth having the hinds removed first and see how that goes, before proceeding to take fronts off as well.

 

[jinglejoys]

What are shoes!? (Mule owner)

 

[smokeybabes]

I took the shoes of my 12yo TBx last November. He'd had shoes on since he was 3. I took his shoes off cos i was busy with work and college so wasn't riding much and he was awful at keeping shoes on. I was worried about taking his shoes off cos i thought he might not cope well but i thought it's probably best for him cos everytime he pulls shoe off he was taking chunks of his feet away too. I also thought that when i did want to ride i had access to a field and sand school.
Originally the aim was to probably but shoes back on feb/march time. But a trimmer who was looking at some other horses looked at my horses and said why not give it a go barefoot so i did! And he's been fine!
I'm doing about a hours hacking on the road, he does get a bit ouchy on stoney tracks so i just avoid these. His feet have never looked better and he is coping fine!
The transition period can be hard sometimes and some horses do go a bit foot sore until the feet are hardened and used to it. I was lucky that my horse took to it really well.
It's probably be definately worth trying, maybe just do backs first as someone suggested.
Have a discussion with a trimmer/farrier.

 

[Theresa_F]

I prefer it.

My last gypsy cob was fine. My present baby is doing fine.

Cairo has been without shoes since last September, but I did put them back on yesterday. He is a heavy horse - 780 k and this heat and hard ground have taken their toll. I decided to put shoes back on as he started to have chunks coming up and I didn't want him to get sore. I did consult with my farrier first and he said put them back on until the autumn then have them off again.

My farrier would rather charge me £20 for a trim than £90 for a full set - Cairo's takes big shoes and is hard work to do - because of size and not his behavior.

Try taking them off in the autumn when the ground softens up and see how things go.

 

[Ecila]

My pony is unshod, how ever her feet crack quite easily! Think it depends on the feet - And before you say anything she is only a 4 year old hense no shoes!!

I think it depends totaly on your horseys feet!!

 

[maxebraith]

i tend to find that the native types are better than the finer types without shoes the earlier you start without the quicker the feet get hardened. I also apply hoof oil every day especially in the hot dry weather.