From barefoot to shod experiences

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Daisy2

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Hi there
I have finally come to the relaisation after talking to the vet and farrier that Marley will have to be shod, he is has been barefoot since I have had him about 2yrs and by the looks of his feet he has never worn shoes. They are solid, no cracks or splits however hard stony ground and hacking 5x a week has taken its toll as he has ended up with a bruised sole, which is taking time to heal ( we are always careful, no blasting about). I have always felt a bit ouchy for him but he seemd to cope reasonably well. But he is going to be shod next week to hopefully make him more comfortable as we do a lot of hacking. Do horse take well to shoes if they have never worn them, I just dont know what to expect.

Any thoughts or experiences welcome
 
I would say that you know best how your horse feels and works and if you feel he needs shoes then do it
There seems to be a band waggon of no shoes no rugs no stabling which frankly makes me cross ,
We have bred horses and adapted them from the small hairy beasts they were centuries ago.
I have a homebred youngster now 5 .He has extremely good feet and has not worn shoes up to about 2 months ago.
He was broken at 4 turned away last Christmas and brought up this spring to ride on and yes like you I am very careful how and where I ride BUT found that in this really hard going he was getting a little foot sore .
I have had him shod in front the vet and farrier don't think he needs hinds and I have absolutely no regrets .He steps out with confidence and had lost the tentative feeling I had on rough tracks
He enjoys being ridden and I really didn't want him to associate work with sore feet .
He is riding better than ever and I can do more with him .
I really cannot be messing about with hoof boots every time I want to ride.
Horse have been shod for many many years and I really am not going to worry about doing what I think is best for my horse .
I would say go for it and you can both start to enjoy your riding
 
Huge thanks for your very positive and inspiring reply. Yes I know I cant wait to ride him out like my mare as she is shod on the fronts but with him we are always picking our way and limiting what and where we go. I really appreciate your reply and may even print it off to remind me of the important reasons why it is the right decision.:D He will be so much more comfortable.
 
Your horse shouldnt have any problems at all from having shoes put on for the first time. It would be adviseable to stand at his head when the shoes are fitted and nailed on, as first timers often spook a bit at the smoke and the tapping.
 
I have to say that my boy didn't react at all to the farrier nailing his shoes on.He has often been in the stable with his mother tied outdside being hot shod so is used to the smoke and the noise around his face.
As suggested I stood at his head quietly chatting to the farrier I was quite amazed what a none event the whole thing was.
Good luck and get out there and enjoy your riding as I am sure he now will .
 
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I got my mare as a 6 year old and she had never had shoes. She was sore on stones and after discussion with farrier we had her shod in front. She was scared of the smoke for the first few times but has no other problems, she loves hacking out and is very forward going. I'm sure your horse will befine, so far Saffy has not needed hind shoes.
 
I would, in the next few days, get a small hammer, or use the back of your hoof pick, and start tapping on his feet, just to give him the idea of what is happening. I did this with my girl before she had her shoes on, just gently, and I am sure my farrier uses more force than I did, but it just got her used to the sensation.

I found with my girl that the first couple of times we went out down the road, she felt a little stumbly - as though her feet felt heavy (understandably!!!) - but then she was fine. She also really quickly realised that she could gallop around the field without any slippage at all - so was soon charging around happily as could be!!

I had my girl cold shod the first couple of times, as she is a bit of a sensitive nelly-bean at the best of times!

Good luck with your shoes!! :)
 
Why don't you just ride in boots? All the benefits of barefoot plus you can blast about when hacking. Have a look at the EasyCare website. Mine all wear boots some of the time, with various pad combinations, and they gallop and jump in them with no problems.
 
I presonally couldn't be doing with boots, they are still expensive and wear and tear quite quickly. Ditto the comments re tapping the feet so he gets used to the idea, and stay with him for reassurance while he is being shod. He will be fine pretty much straight away I'd say. Bring on the hacking!
 
I agree I really cannot be faffing about with boots
They are expensive getting them to fit and stay put and not rub is a pain.
I really CANNOT see what is so wrong with putting shoes on a horse .
In tribal Africa the Maasi and the Samburu do not wear shoes I am sure we could build up our feet to go shoeless but just how practical is that!
I really do not see what is so bad about putting shoes on horse.
 
Each of my horses has a set of boots that has lasted them two years - they're in the region of £100 per pair but if you average that across the years they're much much cheaper than shoes. I've just got a new pair of Gloves which are just brilliant, and you can hire a fit kit before you buy to make sure you don't make the expensive mistake of buying the wrong size. They also protect the sole from stone bruises much better than shoes do. They take me about four minutes to put on a the beginning of a ride and about a minute to take off again at the end. Compare that with the time spent wasted waiting for late farriers/ not riding because your horse has lost a shoe and you can't get the farrier.
I realise I am seen as totally wafty when I speak to people who still shoe their horses, but for the life of me I can't see why anyone would regard nailing a bit of metal onto their pet as a normal thing to do!
 
I tend to agree with soloequestrian on this one. Boots will last for a few years, and prob only cost under £100. A set of shoes cost anywhere between £50 and £100 a set, so i reckon boots are a cheaper option.
They are also a healthier option for your horse. Metal shoes transmit a lot of concussion from roadwork on the limbs, whereas boots can actually help to absorb the concusion.
shoes can lead to white line disease because of the nails, shoes impair the blood circulation which in the long term can cause boney changes to the pedal bone and navicular bone. Also, because the foot is not able to function to its best, the sensitive structures actually start to deteriorate. Thats why a lot of horses are unsound when you take of their shoes. The feet just cant cope because they are too weak.
I dont think that putting boots on a horse is really too much to ask from an owner. If it means your horse can have healthy feet and legs, its realy not much to as i dont think.

I suppose most people shoe because its easier and more convenient for people. You can allow the horses feet and health be the responsibility of your farrier, instead of the owner.

Besides, shoes dont prevent bruising. All they do is hide any pain associated with it.
A barefoot horse will not stand on a stone becaus it feels it is there. A shod horse will stand on a stone because it cannot feel it there. So a shod horse is more likely to stand on a stone, get a bruise and then abcess because of it.

Im not trying to tell you not to shoe your horse, just that you dont have too.
 
Brandy said:
I presonally couldn't be doing with boots, they are still expensive and wear and tear quite quickly. Ditto the comments re tapping the feet so he gets used to the idea, and stay with him for reassurance while he is being shod. He will be fine pretty much straight away I'd say. Bring on the hacking!
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Re the hacking, just think about the amount of concusion that metal shoes will create within the foot and legs. Arent you not meant to do much trotting on the roads because of this concusion?
A barefoot horse will not have this problem, and boots help to absorb this concusion, so bring on the hacking.
 
Fine those who want boots wear boots those who prefer to shoe have shoes

I am backing out of this debate as the advocates of each will never aggree.

I have had horses shod for decades. I do not get a lot of foot problems or lameess with my horses and I haven't had a horse yet that had lived under mid 20 's and I have never had a horse pts for chronic lameness or foot problems.

I am not a bad owner for shoeing my horses
 
Jennyharvey said:
Re the hacking, just think about the amount of concusion that metal shoes will create within the foot and legs. Arent you not meant to do much trotting on the roads because of this concusion?
A barefoot horse will not have this problem, and boots help to absorb this concusion, so bring on the hacking.
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I personally don't trot on the roads at all shoes or no shoes. I tend not to trot or canter on very hard dry ground in the summer either. Some of mine have shoes, some not. Depends on their needs.

I do have experience of 'trimming;' and have to say it was not positive. A friend uses Boa boots which were very expensive and lasted about 6 weeks of regular use before needing to be repaired by a saddler. The discs at the front kept popping off while out riding no matter how careful she was doing them up.....
 
I had to give in and go shod after a year barefoot i didnt want to but found , hey it was no big deal just i find im less worried about were i ride because of gravel , but i will have him shoeless a few months in winter
 
I find the few mins it takes to pop on my sportshorse mares renegade boots, used to be used putting on all the other tendon and over reach boots etc that she used to have when she was shod. She doesn't need now.

TBH though, it's a case of what you prefer as an owner and what you are happy and comfortable with.
boots008.jpg
 
My lad has gone from barefoot, to boots (OLD MAC G2's fab and lasted a year with no sign of wear) in front just for road hacking, to shoes and pads in front , to shoes all round with pads in front!

Oh for the days of a trim costing me £20.00 :(

He took to being shod OK was a little jumpy the first few goes but then he is a nervous nelly in general.

I live in hope of getting back to unshod, purley because of cost.

Good luck.
 
Thx everyone I understand everyones point of view. we do a lot of hacking and its just not fair to keep him unshod and uncomfortable. As for the boots I have thought about them but from research I have come to understand that boots for big cobs with massive feet just dont exist.
We dont generally trot on roads, maybe a little but nothing to worry about. As for the exra cost Ill just have to stop buying things I dont need, I have a numnah fettish!
Ideally we would have grassy tracks to hack from the field, a sand school and rubber gallops, but the reality is roadwork and cotswold stoney tracks. I commend anyone that is able to keep their horses as natural as possible because it makes for a happy horse. But my decision is based on workload, terrain and Marleys comfort.
I really appreciate peoples point of view and different experiences and tips ( we have been hoof tapping tonight) its an interesting subject because normally its about going from shod to barefoot
 
You could have a look at the Boa boots - they go up to much bigger sizes than all the others. My cob wears them and his feet are too big for many of the EasyCare range. It would just seem a shame not to see how you get on with using boots before you try shoeing when your horse sounds like it has nice healthy bare feet.
 
It's not going to do his feet any good but a good farrier shouldn't do too much unrepairable harm to them. You'll prob find he isn't quite as rock crunching when you have them back off but it should come back fairly quickly.

Entirely agree that big round feet and boots don't go - boa's fit but aren't suitable for long rides.

He sounds exactly the same my boy - he's ....careful over stoney ground. NOT sore, just takes his time.

However we've done quite a few common rides and have galloped up stoney tracks without even noticing and feet aren't even tender the next day, so he CAN do it when he feels like it;)
 
Ours have always flipped in and out of shoes without a second thought - I shoe if they need them and don't if they don't. They certainly don't go through weeks of transition when the shoes come off, and having shoes back on doesn't affect them either. Hoof boots have come on a long way in the last couple of years so I tend to use them for the in between times when they aren't quite coping with nowt on their feet but aren't doing enough to warrant shoeing full time.

We're currently experimenting with easyboot glue-ons with Spud - we had some bruising issues last year (shod horses do let you know as soon as they aren't happy in their feet just as unshod ones do..... ;) I just don't buy all this numb feet business) and shoes weren't giving him enough protection, and shoes plus pads were a faff - he kept losing them. He's a sensitive soul, and reacts to the neoprene in boots (and is quite long legged so managed to over-reach the gloves and bust them), so glue ons it is. So far so good and he's going really well in them. He can certainly gallop in them OK..... It is a bit of an experiment so if anyone's interested in how we're getting on we'll keep you posted.
 
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