Harvey tripping. Is now a good time to try Shoeless?

CeeBee

CeeBee

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Sorry, I know there have been several threads about horses tripping.
I feel with Harvey it is a combination of him being young and green, a bit lazy, lack of concentration and massive feet! He trips all the time.
For his size he is quite light on his feet, but I feel with the massive shoes he has to wear to accommodate his soup plates, they are too heavy and contribute to the tripping.
I have been considering trying him barefoot for months now, but farrier said with the hard ground, summer wasn't best time to try. He is due to be shod tomorrow, so I was going to ask farrier to just leave them off. However, I am doing a 10 mile sponsored ride (Harvey's first) on Sunday, so if it was your horse, would you shoe this time and take off next, or just go for it? Think the ride is mostly on soft ground, but don't want to wear his hooves down and make him sore straight away!
p.s. he is only shod on the front and his back hooves are in great shape.
 
I probably isa combination of all the things that you mention. Can't see how the shoes would be that heavy for him really though.

I'd go on your farrier's advice. Personally I think that a long ride straight after removing shoes could lead to a footsore horse... See what the farrier says.
 
Certainly taking the shoes off my big cob cured his constant tripping instantly. However, I did then spend 2 weeks walking him in hand over various terrains in order to condition his feet and acclimatise them to being barefoot (10 mins on road, 10 mins on sand, 5 mins on gravel etc).

I think asking your boy to do a 10 mile ride, on whatever surface, would be asking too much and he is likely to be sore. But barefoot, once they've acclimatised is amazing, and we did a 7 mile hunt ride last week, galloping over flinty stubble fields, rocky tracks etc with no bother. And he was one of the few horses who didn't slip on the steep road we had to go down - it's like having 4WD rather than a saloon car!!

Good luck whatever you decide.
 
i'd shoe again this time as 10miles will be too far first time with fronts off.
i suspect they are just too long though - talk to your farrier - they are a welth of knowledge :) he may be able to cahnge the type of shoe to help- my horse used to trip with front clips - goes really well now with side clips and better breakover :)
 
posie_honey said:
i'd shoe again this time as 10miles will be too far first time with fronts off.
i suspect they are just too long though - talk to your farrier - they are a welth of knowledge :) he may be able to cahnge the type of shoe to help- my horse used to trip with front clips - goes really well now with side clips and better breakover :)
Click to expand...

We have already swapped to the side clips shoes and his feet are practically half the size they were with the front clips! However, it really hasn't made any difference :(

IrishCob - thanks for the encouragement, sounds like you had a fab ride!

Guess I'll do the ride Sunday with shoes, then have them taken off asap afterwards.
 
I think if you decide to try the barefoot route you need to find out ways you can keep him comfortable if necessary eg. pads, boots, treating any frog problems etc. Having a strong healthy hoof is necessary for a horse without shoes and you need to review his diet, trim, management etc. Imagine you taking your shoes off and having to walk barefoot... it takes time to adjust. Some horses can just go, but many can't it seems so a decision to take shoes off needs thought and research imo.
 
Update...
After lots of discussion with my farrier, I had Harvey's shoes taken off at the end of November. Only got a couple of rides in before the frost and snow came, but seemed to make a big difference.
Several weeks later, after a bad weather lay off, I was able to ride out Sat, Sun and Mon. NO TRIPPING! We did road, we did stoney paths, we did boggy ground! What a difference! He is so much lighter on his feet and actually seems more confident as he probably didn't enjoy practically falling on his nose several times every time we went out.
I know it's early days, but I am so pleased I made the decision to take his shoes off.
Just got the constant head tossing to deal with now......!
 
Brill. It's such an easy and simple way to fix so many problems, but it's often the last thing people try. Well done for being brave!

Now for the headshaking - have you tried bitless yet?
 
So glad it worked for you. I have also gone barefoot with my cob - mainly for the same reason - and although it hasn't cured the tripping, he is better. But, as everyone else has said, with all this snow and ice I am really glad I took the plunge, so far it has all been good and there have been no downsides.
 
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