Field purposes - Shod or unshod?

[Shadowsilk]

Hi, Wondering if anyone has any past experience or ideas about whether an unshod horse may churn up a field less than a shod horse or whether it makes no difference at all? My horse had an injury and has had shoes of for the last 2 months, we are moving into a smaller field and I was wondering if being unshod would make any slightly less damage making the mud and whether it was worth waiting to the spring to get them back on? I will only be riding once a week over the winter and can prevent walking on hard ground and gravel. Thanks

 

[Pinkvboots]

Not sure I would think it would be the same but if your only riding once a week I would leave them off if she is coping without, will be much cheaper too.

 

[kellybee]

My fields were a bog last winter with 2 x unshod horses and an unshod pony. This paddock is just under an acre (my winter sacrafice paddock) and as you can see it didn't have a single blade of grass on. It's clay and as such they were up to their knees in it all winter. Wasnt much point shoeing in this because they'd have lost them in the mud anyway

 

[philamena]

My horse used to have shoes on, now doesn't... and her field gets much less cut up without. May be because she tended to cut hers up by hooning around and skidding, and did more damage with shoes that way, rather than it getting cut up just through general wear and tear, if you know what I mean...

 

[SusieT]

kellybee I hope you have a better plan for this winter as that's a very unhealthy place for the horses!

 

[Alphamare]

Shoes do cut the ground up more than bare hooves do.

 

[Brightbay]

I have 3 unshod and one shod all around in a 9 acre field. Usually the hoof prints and skid marks that can be seen have a clear shoe print in them! But having said that, gateways and areas of wear will get churned up regardless. We do manage the land carefully because we don't have hard standing - so gateways are taped off, and we never feed hay in the same location two days in a row. We also have feeding pens for dinners etc. on the driest part of the hillside.

So while unshod maybe cuts up the ground a bit less, wear and tear happens on high traffic areas regardless. After all, the farmer's cows aren't shod and they make a horrible mess!

In terms of riding, you'll probably find the more you ride, the better the hooves become in response to the stimulation. Mine's ridden all through the winter, and our riding is 99% on tarmac.