front shoes only?

[pippixox]

may sound like a silly question, but why do some people have just fronts on their horses?
i tend to just think if they can cope without backs they could be without fronts as well? would there be a reason why the fronts might need shoe support and not the back?

 

[Oberon]

shoe support

 

[Twinkley Lights]

Mine had poor back feet and was losing shoes.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

My boy developed arthritis and was very unhappy having his feet in the air for shoein so they came off. Now he's bare all round as not doing as much now

 

[Circe]

My boy had very bad seedy toe in one of his fronts.
He abscessed for weeks, was extremely lame and eventually had dropping of the pedal bone. Large amounts of the hoof wall broke off the hoof, and the farrier had to remove even more. He had to have a fibrecast on his hoof, but this caused problems, as it seemed to be causing abscess's. Oh, to top it off, he also had incredibly thin soles.
He's had a change of diet, and a new farrier and his front hooves are a lot better, but still not brilliant.
Hes never needed hind shoes, but he goes lame very quickly without fronts, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not willing to risk him going through more lameness by taking his fronts off.
I would describe him as well shod.
Kx

 

[Ancient Hacker]

may sound like a silly question, but why do some people have just fronts on their horses?
i tend to just think if they can cope without backs they could be without fronts as well? would there be a reason why the fronts might need shoe support and not the back?

Whenever I get a horse (TBs mainly so far, and off the track) I try the, without hind shoes if my farrier agrees.

My reason for doing this is that I've witnessed two exceptionally nasty accidents with hind shod horses, where some-one has been double-barrelled with sever consequences. That being said, I don't compete and that probably makes a difference, of course. I've also not yet had a TB that has had problems with hind shoes removed, but I've yet to have one that can manage without his fronts. I'm sure the hoof experts here will have a technical explanation for this, but I've always found hooves a bit of a mystery!
.

 

[Mince Pie]

Is it not because the weight distribution ratio in a horse is 60:40 front:back?

 

[Paint Me Proud]

I only have mine shod in front. I do this because our hacking is pretty much all road work. I dont want the fronts, that take more weight, to wear down too much, so he is shod up front. But having all 4 feet shod means there isnt as much grip on the road surface so he goes without back shoes to give him better footing.

he has had it this way for 3 years and it suits him.

He did have his fronts removed when he had his surgery but his feet just started to split and crumble away so i had the fronts back on and no further issues.

 

[elijahasgal]

Simple answer is the balance of the horse. Most horses start ridden work with I believe 70% weight on their front, 30 hinds, as their schooling lightens the forehand for most people it aims for 50/50
So they wear their fronts more than hinds
I have a 16.3 ID x who has never worn hinds, but even in field, struggles without fronts. He is 18 now, and I have had him 16years, so know that for a fact. I put fronts on initially as he was growing and wearing his fronts out, but not hinds. Tried him barefoot, but his fronts are a lot flatter, and he was never really happy without, even after a year of trying to recondition them

 

[strides-eventing]

They have more weight on their fore legs, my boy at present is fine with just fronts... plus he's clumsy behind turned out and cuts his legs and thats barefoot behind!

If he pulls a front shoe and when he's being shod he gets sore very quick in front, but at the moment he copes fine with nothing behind.

Also I'm based at Hartpury College and theres not a lot of road hacking so hes mostly worked on a surface at the moment.

When he's competing more he'll have all fours as he'll need stud holes for eventing.

 

[Law]

Simple answer is the balance of the horse. Most horses start ridden work with I believe 70% weight on their front, 30 hinds, as their schooling lightens the forehand for most people it aims for 50/50
So they wear their fronts more than hinds

This

One of mine is only shod on the fronts.
The other is trimmed all round and gets on fine. (It's nothing to do with being pro barefoot, it's just he's well trimmed traditionally and he manages perfectly with it )

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

My boy was barefoot for years, but then after a bad farrier his feet started growing wrong. So after an attempt with old macs failed to correct we went with front shoes. In the end we had to shoe all year round. This is still within the first year off a complete set.b

 

[NaeNae87]

My TB is shod in front only.

When I got him his feet hadn't been done in ages, so he got the works done to him - feet, teeth, saddle etc. He was unshod for about 3 months before I put fronts on him as he was really short in front on all surfaces except sand. I put fronts on him, his stride lengthened out and he was moving a whole lot better. I took his shoes off again over summer to give his feet a bit of a break and he was really really footsore and could barely move. Gave him a few months without his shoes and there was absolutely no improvement, so his front shoes went back on.

His hind feet are a different shape than his fronts, they are not as flat and seem to cope with the terrain alot better. I would rather him be shod than super uncomfortable for months and months.