Help please, Worried...

H

HorseS0S

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Hi, My sister's horse (19 yr old x-racehorse) has been lame now for months, despite spending almost £1000 at the vets doing tests etc, having back-people, hebal, crystal people, farriers, the works. No-one can really tell what is the problem. In himself he is great, happy and contented. It is probably arthritis or some old racing problem now he is past his prime...
Anyway we are happy looking after him and lunging every now and then to make sure he isnt getting worse. In the field he is great and loves charging around with the others...
The problem is that in the first week of june i have booked the farrier and my sis wants to have her boys' back shoes off as she doesnt see the point in keeping them on!
I am a great believer in horse pyscology and I believe that when they start to feel like they are not being well maintained, they loose the fight a bit! I have heard so many stories about how keeping a horse shod is so so so good for its well-being!

She is very determined but will listen to reason so I wondered if it was just old wives tales or have you had any experience of a similar thing..?
 
I'm sorry but...... what on earth are you on about?!!

I suspect your horse will be pleased to be rid of his shoes and your sister glad of the much smaller dent to her bank account.....
 
If the farrier thinks the horses feet will cope with no shoes then he should be fine.

My old lad went from gel pads and remedial shoes to bare foot when we retired him with soundness issues and he certainly didn't suffer for it.

12 months on he has some weird looking back feet but farrier says they're great they's grown the right way to support the problems he's got higher up so win win really.
 
My TB is semi retired and she only wears fronts. If she didn't get so foot sore on the stones on the yard she would be barefoot. So long as you keep them trimmed and looked after well I don't see the problem? I'm sure the horse would much rather have a nice long groom to make it feel wanted rather than having shoes banged into it's feet, anyway!
 
We have an ex racehorse (he's 24) and he has no shoes on as it seems pointless when he doesn't go out a lot. He is ok to toddle out on the roads but we have to be careful as he has a tendency to jog and bruise his soles if hacking (he still thinks he's 2!). He's fine in the field and his feet in general are very very good. They are trimmed generally every other shoeing session (we have 3 others) but depends how much his feet have grown.

I say if the horse has decent enough feet then give it a try. My own horse obviously thought he was born with shoes and can barely walk without them but he has crappy feet. Every horse is different.

I would take them off, see how he goes. I really don't think horses consider things as much as you believe!

You could even find if you removed them completely and let them grow out a bit it could help his lameness. Many people believe barefoot is better for horses.
 
TBH if there's no likelihood of him being ridden in the near future, then him having shoes is a complete waste of money unless he has poor quality feet in the first place. Keep them regularly trimmed and all should be well.
My blacksmith believes that all horses should have periods of being shoeless (as long as healthy feet of course) as it's good for the horse's mind to be able to switch off entirely at times so both trains of thought for you!
 
I think the less weight on his feet will be a big relief, see what the farrier says. if he is used to being shod, it might come as a shock! so you might want the farriers opinion.
Hope all will turn out well
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Stephen.
 
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I have heard so many stories about how keeping a horse shod is so so so good for its well-being!

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Never heard that one.
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Sounds like a happy retirement is on the cards for your sisters lad.
 
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I have heard so many stories about how keeping a horse shod is so so so good for its well-being!

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Never heard that one.
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Sounds like a happy retirement is on the cards for your sisters lad.

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Me neither!

I think your sisters horse sounds like its ready to be retired and have all its shoes taken off.
 
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My blacksmith believes that all horses should have periods of being shoeless (as long as healthy feet of course) as it's good for the horse's mind to be able to switch off entirely

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Thumper was so shocked at having his off, that I don't think he moved for 12 hours - he definatley switched off
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i cant see how shoes are good for the horses well being
to have nails stuck through the hoof etc
a natural hoof is so much better for the horse aslong as they are keeped in a very maintained condition
i only put shoes on mine if i need to but if i had the option of putting shoes on the i wouldnt
if there is no reason for the shoes being on then i would remove them not only for the horse but also to save money
 
I had my boy's back shoes taken off in December as the farrier said he'd cope and he did. He had arthritis in his coffin joint, spine, and possibly hocks and had to be PTS 3 weeks ago
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Him having his shoes off didn't make a bit of difference. I don't think he didn't want to fight anymore I'm sure he would of carried on (he was a stubborn donkey!) but I didn't want to see him struggle and be uncomfortable.
 
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I had my boy's back shoes taken off in December as the farrier said he'd cope and he did. He had arthritis in his coffin joint, spine, and possibly hocks and had to be PTS 3 weeks ago
frown.gif
Him having his shoes off didn't make a bit of difference. I don't think he didn't want to fight anymore I'm sure he would of carried on (he was a stubborn donkey!) but I didn't want to see him struggle and be uncomfortable.

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sorry for your loss
 
Having his shoes off will have no effect on him what so ever. He will no way start losing the will to live just because he has his shoes off.
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My horse (TBxID) has terrible hooves (and is on Farriers formula for them) - and we reached a point where his hind shoes would never stay on (during the winter) - and then he lost one and it took most his hoof with it - so the farrier couldn't physically get a shoe back on - so he was left without hind shoes to allow the hoof to grow back - at first he was foot sore but after a week he was walking perfectly fine - and I've never looked back

the plan was to put hind shoes back on after a couple of shoeing cycles had passed - but his hooves have drastically improved that I have no need to

I ride out about twice a week on alot of road surface (we don't have much off road hacking) and they don't crack - his movement has improved 10 fold and he is much happier - if we didn't have to do any road work he wouldn't have shoes at all...
 
I'd definitely get the back shoes off, in fact I'd get the fronts off too. It could be the best thing you ever do for him, he may even surprise you and come sound!

Just make sure he is trimmed regularly to keep them in balance. They may chip to start with, but in no time they will be virtually maintenance-free.

You might try Pernamax for the old chap. It is an effective green-lipped mussel supplement for arthritis, and I find it helps my horse when the ground is hard. It could help the transition out of shoes, as well as his general wellbeing.

http://www.maxavita.com/products/pet/pernamaxequine/
 
Think your sister is correct. If he's not going to be ridden and will pootle about the field unshod, why not?
 
As they say, GET THEM ORF !!!

My guy is ex-racehorse (10 yrs old) and I did initially get shoes put on his back feet however, he hated getting shod on the back and always looked like he was going to keel over when the farrier was doing his backs so I took the decision to keep them off as I'd had an accident and wasn't going to be riding him for a while anyway.

Now he has lovely healthy back feet that even had to be trimmed last week when the farrier was up. Once the nail holes are grown out, they are stronger than when they are with shoes.

So let the guy take the weight off and put his feet up so to speak.
 
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