Do barefoot horses suffer from snow balling up?

HollyB66

HollyB66

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As title really.

A few posts I have read tonight suggest that barefoot horses do not suffer from snow balling up inside their hooves. Tonight having collected my girl from the field I went to hoof pick and found nothing there at all - lovely and clean.

I am new to horse ownership, so am totally green when it comes to the issues snow brings.
 
Last year poor old barefoot Ellie suffered from snow balls.

I went to the field one evening and she was stood still, wouldn't come when I called her. Poor lass had a ball under one hoof about 6 inches high - she looked like she had high heels on!
 
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They can do it depends on the depth of the foot really.

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So, if it is a fairly shallow foot I assume that less balling is likely?
 
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Last year poor old barefoot Ellie suffered from snow balls.

I went to the field one evening and she was stood still, wouldn't come when I called her. Poor lass had a ball under one hoof about 6 inches high - she looked like she had high heels on!

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Was it just the one occasion? was the snow particularly 'sticky' or do you think there was some other reason?

Thanks
 
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They dont tend to get as much balled up snow in their feet but they are far more likely to slip when its icy.

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Thanks, that's something I will have to look out for.
 
Hi There,

The shallower the concavity to the foot the less likely snow is to ball up in the hoof.

Shoeless horses have much better traction in the snow and on ice than that of shod horses (unless studs are worn) as the foot is designed to grip and cause traction over varied terrains.
Metal over snow/Ice is far more slippery than a hoof!
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I turned my three out today, 2 shod ponies 1 unshod broodmare (I hate the term 'barefoot!!), she didn't ball up at all and only the ponies slipped on the ice going to the field (not badly, went very slowly). So no shoes is good in snow I have decided.
 
This contradicts my experience all the barefoot horses on my yard find it far more difficult to get their footing in the ice than the shod horses. Their feet just slip over the ice while the metals shoes of the shod horses kind of digs into the ice giving them some traction. We have about five unshod horses on a yard of fifty and every one of the unshod horses struggles on the ice.
 
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Hi There,

The shallower the concavity to the foot the less likely snow is to ball up in the hoof.

Shoeless horses have much better traction in the snow and on ice than that of shod horses (unless studs are worn) as the foot is designed to grip and cause traction over varied terrains.
Metal over snow/Ice is far more slippery than a hoof!
laugh.gif


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I actually found the opposite last winter. My shod horses did not slip nearly as much as the unshod horses walking across the snowy/icy yard.
 
Mine don't. They do slip on ice though, I can't say whether being shod would affect that or not.

I think an awful lot depends on the type of snow, dry and powdery = no problem, wet slush = more likely to ice up and ball.
 
I think it's as above - depends on the type of snow and the ground conditions. I think perhaps it's easier for the snow to fall off a bare hoof than it is a shod one, but I still don't ride in the snow even though all my horses are bare.
 
Mine has never balled up with ' unsod' feet, however today they ground was very hard, and tonight wondered if he has got foot sore, was hsowing up very lame, as it was very wet and the ground has been churned up, he did get into a fight to day as well, so may also be that, but it has made me change my mind a little, and if this weather continues may get front shoes on
 
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(I hate the term 'barefoot!!).

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Oops - is that a 'no no'?
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You're OK, everyone uses it but I'm old fashioned and to me they are either shod or not!
 
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(I hate the term 'barefoot!!).

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Oops - is that a 'no no'?
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You're OK, everyone uses it but I'm old fashioned and to me they are either shod or not!

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Phew!
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Mine is unshod on his hinds, and they do ball up just as much but it falls out more often. His fronts are awful, just builds up and up till he can barely walk
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They dont tend to get as much balled up snow in their feet but they are far more likely to slip when its icy.

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I don't find this to be the case. I ride on one in 5 hills in a National Park, with severe ice problems. My barefoot horses do just as well on pure ice as they did when shod, and much better on frost and have no balling problems at all in snow. Road studs in shoes would probably make a difference on ice, though.

I reckon that a foot that is deep enough to get a buildup of snow that stays there to build a stilt is more likely than not to have been allowed to grow walls that are too long. If the frog is on the floor where it should be, they don't seem to hold snow at all well.
 
I think there's a difference between barefoot and shoeless. For me, any horse with no shoes on is shoeless, but a barefoot horse is working like a shod horse and doing stuff that only a horse with shoes on is normally expected to be able to do. I like being able to distinguish between the two with only one word, because any horse/owner can go shoeless chucked out in a field but not every horse/owner can go barefoot.
 
I've got 2 unshod and one shod. They all get ice balling in their feet at various times.

The unshod shetland has pretty concave feet, whereas the Welsh D has relatively flat.

This morning I put my shod horse out, her having been in over night. So, dry feet.

Smothered them in baby oil, and put her out.

She came in with her right fore and hind on stilts, and no balling in the left fore and hind. How weird is that?

It takes a lot of might and hacking with the hoof pick to get the ice out....

Shetland was fine out last night apart from his 'ice balls' on his feathers. He came in today. Balls have melted. I've put him back out with baby oil under foot, and his travelling boots on to stop the ice balling on his legs.

Will be interesting to see the outcome this time.
 
The reason that snow balls up in the feet of shod horses is that it sticks to the metal of the shoe, because it is very cold, then once it is stuck it turns to ice under the pressure, so collecting more snow until the horse is wearing stilts! It happens with mountaineers crampons too, so there are special plates made of rubber that you attach to stop it happening. So it doesn't matter what you rub into your horse's foot, if the metal is exposed then balling will occur.
 
I have one unshod (baby) and one barefoot (working horses - I put a lot of time and effort into his feet and there isn't just 'unshod'!
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) and they have much less trouble with balling of snow. When it's properly stickly deep snow they do get stilts building up but, unlike the shod horses, it falls out easily and leaves nothing inside their feet. I remember well having to chip solid blocks of compacted snow/ice out of shod feet - you don't get that with barefoot horses.
 
mine are barefoot, good depth of foot etc.

they slip way way less than when i had shod horses and dont have ANY issues with snow balling.

im guessing a lot depends on the shape of the foot and how helathy it is, if the foot if flexing as it should with each step the snow is just pinged out.
 
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Mine has never balled up with ' unsod' feet, however today they ground was very hard, and tonight wondered if he has got foot sore, was hsowing up very lame, as it was very wet and the ground has been churned up, he did get into a fight to day as well, so may also be that, but it has made me change my mind a little, and if this weather continues may get front shoes on

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The unshod youngsters were looking a bit footy this morning too.
 
mine are shoe-less too
not had any probs with balling or slipping on ice
i quite like the frozen gound as long as its not rutted or sheet ice, it keeps their feet and legs lovely and clean and dry!
 
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