Help! Rear shoes on the front?!

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SopheeGee

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My farrier decided to fit rear shoes on both my horses front feet without asking. After they were fitted he told us it was to try and make them stay on longer, although this horse doesn't pull shoes of that much. I noticed almost straight away a slight change when i was riding him, my instructor also pointed it out and said they are possibly making him unbalanced and have been trimmed back to far. Several people have pointed it out to me and have all said it really doesn't look right, this farrier has previously tried to re-correct my other horses in turn and caused her to be lame for months! i don't want the same to happen to my gelding as he has a perfect confirmation. Has anybody else had experience with rear shoes on the front? or should i change my farrier?
Thanks x
 
Talk to your farrier, you horse has not got rear shoes on, it has standard shoes with side clips, not front clips. And to be honest the people pointing it out are clearly not very clued up on farriery. My horse has these too,and they are perfectly normal for some horses.He has never had a days lameness, and his feet are superb. Nice short toes and heels, well balanced. I would research side clips on shoes and why farriers use them.
 
SopheeGee said:
My farrier decided to fit rear shoes on both my horses front feet without asking. After they were fitted he told us it was to try and make them stay on longer, although this horse doesn't pull shoes of that much. I noticed almost straight away a slight change when i was riding him, my instructor also pointed it out and said they are possibly making him unbalanced and have been trimmed back to far. Several people have pointed it out to me and have all said it really doesn't look right, this farrier has previously tried to re-correct my other horses in turn and caused her to be lame for months! i don't want the same to happen to my gelding as he has a perfect confirmation. Has anybody else had experience with rear shoes on the front? or should i change my farrier?
Thanks x
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My lad has 1/4 clips on his front shoes, its quite common now with some farriers
 
thanks for the reply
Our farrier really isn't good or easy to talk to, Were stuck with him because were friends with his wife who really hates it when we change farriers lol! Well my instructor sure knows his stuff and he didn't really think it was right. My horse is big and im possibly thinking the shoes are making him unbalanced as they have been trimmed into a square shape. Did you find your'e horse just got used to them straight away?
 
SopheeGee said:
My farrier decided to fit rear shoes on both my horses front feet without asking. After they were fitted he told us it was to try and make them stay on longer, although this horse doesn't pull shoes of that much. I noticed almost straight away a slight change when i was riding him, my instructor also pointed it out and said they are possibly making him unbalanced and have been trimmed back to far. Several people have pointed it out to me and have all said it really doesn't look right, this farrier has previously tried to re-correct my other horses in turn and caused her to be lame for months! i don't want the same to happen to my gelding as he has a perfect confirmation. Has anybody else had experience with rear shoes on the front? or should i change my farrier?
Thanks x
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Have another chat with your farrier. Has the horse got seedy toe or foot issues. There will be a good reason why he has used 1/4 clips.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Have another chat with your farrier. Has the horse got seedy toe or foot issues. There will be a good reason why he has used 1/4 clips.
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we asked him and his only reason was to keep them on but this horse doesn't pull them off! the horse no feet problems, has really good strong feet aswell
 
SopheeGee said:
thanks for the reply
Our farrier really isn't good or easy to talk to, Were stuck with him because were friends with his wife who really hates it when we change farriers lol! Well my instructor sure knows his stuff and he didn't really think it was right. My horse is big and im possibly thinking the shoes are making him unbalanced as they have been trimmed into a square shape. Did you find your'e horse just got used to them straight away?
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Sounds like an early break over/natural balance shoe if the shoe is square ?
 
I used to have back shoes on front feet on a tb due to poor heal growth, the idea is to trim the toes back to encourage heal growth while keeping the hoof nice and round as low heal horses tend to get long toes quicker.

However if this is not your horses issue, why did your farrier do it? I'm sure there maybe more reasons as to why hind shoes ate fitted to front feet, but if your horse was coping fine before why change it!?

As difficult as it maybe to talk to the farrier you have to, sooner rather than later before he trims them back too far.

Good luck xxx hope you find a resolution
 
serena2005 said:
I used to have back shoes on front feet on a tb due to poor heal growth, the idea is to trim the toes back to encourage heal growth while keeping the hoof nice and round as low heal horses tend to get long toes quicker.

However if this is not your horses issue, why did your farrier do it? I'm sure there maybe more reasons as to why hind shoes ate fitted to front feet, but if your horse was coping fine before why change it!?

As difficult as it maybe to talk to the farrier you have to, sooner rather than later before he trims them back too far.

Good luck xxx hope you find a resolution
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Thank you
yeah it is really strange because he was absolutely fine before! i would have preferred if the farrier had spoken to us first rather than just fitting them and telling us afterwards. I could also understand if he was trying to make his feet slightly more round but he's trimmed them right back into a square shape, it seems my horse isn't really comfortable with it:/ Thanks again! x
 
If the farrier has previously lamed one horse, and now you feel this one isn't right then change farriers? Of course the wife doesn't want you to change as then her husband loses income, I guess it depends on what you prioritise more - your friendship or your horse's health...
 
twiggy2 said:
but if the farrier is not good then change farrier irrespective of friendships
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Totally, but be careful there would be very few farriers who know less than the average owner on the subject of feet and shoeing. That aside I find it most odd that the farrier would change anything without talking to and explaining what is concerning him about the horse, to the owner.

My farrier is a dear friend and has worked for me for over thirty years, we always chat about which ever horse he is dealing with, foot balance on fast growing youngsters, horn quality etc. Even after all these years he would still advise me what needs doing before going ahead and making changes.
 
I would be more concerned that he's dumped them by the sounds of it by cutting them back into a square shape. Quarter clips on the fronts are quite common but there's rarely any other excuse than bad farriery for trimming hooves square.

Do you have any pics?
 
SopheeGee said:
My farrier decided to fit rear shoes on both my horses front feet without asking. After they were fitted he told us it was to try and make them stay on longer, although this horse doesn't pull shoes of that much. I noticed almost straight away a slight change when i was riding him, my instructor also pointed it out and said they are possibly making him unbalanced and have been trimmed back to far. Several people have pointed it out to me and have all said it really doesn't look right, this farrier has previously tried to re-correct my other horses in turn and caused her to be lame for months! i don't want the same to happen to my gelding as he has a perfect confirmation. Has anybody else had experience with rear shoes on the front? or should i change my farrier?
Thanks x
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I think you know the answer.
 
twiggy2 said:
if they are natural balance shoes then some horses find they need tome to get used to them

but if the farrier is not good then change farrier irrespective of friendships
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I tried NB shoes fitted by a world class farrier and the horse felt as though he was on tiptoes, I took them off. Obviously hind shoes and front shoes are a different shape.
 
It's not easy to comment without seeing the horse in question (or at least decent photos of his hooves).

Sometimes Farrers use double clipped shoes and shorten/dump the toe when the toe is starting to get too long. They are trying to get the breakover back to the correct place. A long toe and delayed breakover will cause the horse to over-reach and therefore pull shoes.

The main thing that makes me uneasy is the fact that you don't feel that you can talk openly to your Farrier about what he's doing, plus you feel stuck with him because you know his wife. I would not be happy in that situation. A good relationship with your hoof care professional is essential IMO.
 
I'm another who's horse has two clips on the front shoes as many have said this is quite common. Some shoes don't have any clips.

Why do people keep calling them 'back shoes'?

Horses front and back feet are totally different shapes, the front being round and the back a more diamond shape, so shoes made for hind feet wouldn't fit on fore feet and vice versa.
 
flojo said:
I'm another who's horse has two clips on the front shoes as many have said this is quite common. Some shoes don't have any clips.

Why do people keep calling them 'back shoes'?

Horses front and back feet are totally different shapes, the front being round and the back a more diamond shape, so shoes made for hind feet wouldn't fit on fore feet and vice versa.
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But surely you would only put 1/4 clips on a horse that needs them? they've been put on my horse for no reason, the thing is he's shaped the front feet like back feet and made them square shaped. I'm sure its making the horse unbalanced.
we've decided to change farriers anyway.
 
flojo said:
I'm another who's horse has two clips on the front shoes as many have said this is quite common. Some shoes don't have any clips.

Why do people keep calling them 'back shoes'?

Horses front and back feet are totally different shapes, the front being round and the back a more diamond shape, so shoes made for hind feet wouldn't fit on fore feet and vice versa.
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My ex farrier had managed to wreck the foot balance of my horses (long toe/low heel plus at an angle). My new farrier has rescued the feet with a mix of correct trimming and using front shoes with quarter clips.
However, new loan elderly mare arrived 3 weeks ago with long toes/low heels, and was tripping. I looked at her front shoes, which were long and narrow, and fitted with side clips, and thought "Surely those aren't hind shoes....".
Yes they were. Totally the wrong shape for the mare's feet :(.
My farrier replaced the shoes with 'proper' front shoes with side clips, squared at the front, shorter and wider in shape, and within a couple of days the mare had stopped tripping and was much more comfortable.
His description of the previous job (done 5 weeks previously) was 'colourful'. (I don't know who the farrier was.).
So yes, OP, they could be hind shoes.
 
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It's actually fairly easy for a farrier to shape fronts to fit, remove the clip and make 1/4 clips rather than just using rear shoes. I'd be looking for a new farrier. You've had a bad experience before, this would be enough for me to be finding someone else.
 
Tiddlypom said:
I looked at her front shoes, which were long and narrow, and fitted with side clips, and thought "Surely those aren't hind shoes....".
Yes they were..
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Good grief!
 
Might just be me but i cant see where OP has mentioned side clips, and if farrier has put hind shoes on in front get rid, front feet are a totally different shape to hind feet for a reason, the front feet are more weight bearing so a rounder shape. Do get them removed and proper front shoes put on.

I would also threaten to report him as it is bad farriery work putting a horses soundness at risk, he should be registered and if not report him too.
 
flojo said:
... Why do people keep calling them 'back shoes'?...
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Was wondering this myself!

Remember, a horseshoe is essentially a bar of steel bent in the distinctive curve with holes punched in it. When I was a kid the farrier used to make the shoe for the horse, but we took the horse to the farrier, not the other way round.

These days the farrier will either buy in a range of stock shoes or make generic ones, then shape to fit the hoof. Like a template, if you will, so where are we getting this front shoe/back shoe from?

I think half the horses on my yard have quarter clips on their shoes. I thought it was fashion, like running martingales and flash nosebands!
 
It's perfectly possible to shape a back shoe for a front foot org ride the toe clip off a front one and make quarter clips.
It's what my farrier did years ago before you could buy natural balance type shoes .
 
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