horse can't keep shoes on... any suggestions?

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blossom01

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my horse, this summer has been pulling front shoes off every other week. both my farrier and I are at a loss as to what to do next.
he has had every different style overreach boot, has NAF profeet supplement and I apply various hoof moist potions to the sole and wall of his feet.
farrier today put a 'glue on shoe' due to having nothing to nail to. but by this evening, that too was gone.

have any of you clever lot got any suggestions...I'm at my wit's end!
confused.gif
 
Have you tried feeding sunflower seeds, its a cheap thing to try and if it does not help hoof quality then you have still not spent lots of money trying, this would be more long term then short term.
Short term some type of equi boots may be the answer
 
hi i am having the exact same problem and it is driving me INSANE. i have never had it this bad, some blame farrier, some blame weather, some blame diet. i am adding all sorts into the diet (altho will now add sunflower seeds) and at the risk of sounding INSANE there has been a improvement since the supplements - (biotin and effol ointment ie: attack internal and external) but i am considering barefoot hinds then possibly brave barefoot fronts....good luck
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I've had the same problem, was having the farrier out EVERY week. Whereabouts are you based? I've changed farrier and touch wood it's done the job!
 
I'd try another farrier, I am not accusing your farrier of being bad, but sometimes someone doing something differently can make all the difference.
 
What i would do- Make sure the shoeing interval isnt too long. Feed appropriate diet. Minimise wet/dry/wet/dry cycle. Improve breakover of front feet. Shoe with lighter weight steel as the shoes may be too heavy for your horses foot quality. And make sure the shoe is appropriate type for the horse.
Finally, pray!
 
My TBx used to do this when i first bought him, i fed him biotin plus and in the time it took Ted to grow some good hoof my brill farrier shod him short hunter style ( sit shoe back a bit and cut off the heels of the shoe so horse cant over reach it off) it did look like his shoes were slightly too small but it worked and never happened again.
Ted used to step on the side of the shoe at the field gate and rip it off.
Teresa
 
Hi,

we had a mare who relised that if she was missing a shoe she didnn't get ridden! The mare worked out a way that if there was sheep wire around the field and she put her hoof through it and pulled back it would remove the shoe!!!!

moved her to a different field with only post & rail problem solved, but it was ages until we found out what she was doing.

Also had this with another mare and had to turn her out with a sausage boot & over reach in the end.

good luck
 
i am reading this in disbelief, it must be obvious to all concerned that the horses foot can take no more nails. the hoof quality is destroyed by constant shoeing. no supplement or the like, can give the horse hoof quality. only removing shoes, and giving him a long period without shoes can help. he must have his feet liberated and circulation restored in order to grow new healthy hoof horn. then the exact same ritual can happen all over again. very fiew things are done to help the horse be more comfortable, but are done to make the horse useable by humans at all costs. harsh but true.
 
I have mine shod with back shoes on his front hooves so there is a double clip on the front rather than a single one - I've had this done with a pony too who wouldn't keep front shoes on otherwise.

I think my current horse is shod with Natural Balance shoes or something like that too.
 
'hoofsculpture' - wells thats a draft reply if I've ever seen one!! Sorry but no, there is no way some horses can go without shoes and these horses are not shod just for our desire to ride them. Having only recently got back from traveling to find my livery decided to do just what you suggested by removing the shoes 'to give them a break and so he couldn't lose anymore'. I personally think the farrier that agreed to remove his shoes shouldn't be allowed to pratice. I just honestly cannot see how anyone could do such a thing. Very quickly I have a horse thats walking like it's broken every leg, burised to all mannor of colours and the hoof has gone from bad to worse - heels non exsistant! This horse was living out on good grazing and in no work. We shoe horses because they can't cope with the wear from the ground so if you remove the shoes it's the hoof thats taking the wear. This particalar horse doesn't have bad quailty horn only he doesn't grow enough so by removing the shoes anything there might of been was lost.

As soon as I got back from travelling I had a different farrier out within days who very carefully manged to nail shoes on. My life was then resting on keeping these shoes on for a month, with over reach boots, brining him in if any horse even looked like it might break into trot, and alot of praying!! Lucky it paid off and they stayed on so we were out of the woods alittle. He still hasn't grown much but is now on NAF profeet which has highly recommended by the farrier. I paint them with karaltex moisturing one to help the last tiny cracks. The horse is now sound as a pound and he's feet are looking pretty good : ) I had one a few winters ago that too just couldn't go a week without losing a shoe. I think once the ground harden up it helped, so all I can recommend is try a different farrier, over reach boots, NAF profeet, karatex mosit paint and maybe consider stabling him till his feet improve.
 
Regarding clipless or side clipped shoes (back shoes) farriers do this to allow them keep the hoof nice and short. The same for natural balance - good for crap flat and heeless feet but they're harder to keep on because theres no clenchers! I guess they do less damage though when they do get ripped off.
 
Try taking them off and using hoof boots......... I've just got some of these http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/P/Easyb...oot-(1078).aspx

I've never used boots before, but am seriously impressed!!! They are no hassle to use and my horse (flatfooted TB) goes fab in them
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Stick with the diet changes though; remember it'll take 9 months + for a new hoof to grow in, and you see the benefit.
 
was chatting to my new farrier about my young horse this week, i dont want to have shoes if i can help it and was asking about hoof boots for occaisional wear,and the farrier (actually 2 of them were there and agreed) that they believe boa boots do the best job, stay on best etc.
 
forget me not.
tha\t was a rude reply to my draft reply. your post proves only that you are not up to speed with hoof care. all vets and farriers in the world are taught that all horses benefit from periods without steel shoes, if a horse has poor feet quality ,it will never grow good feet while shod, if his owner cant wait[see my post] then his feet can be protected with boots, urithane, vettec superfast, or imprint shoes. all of these will protect his feet while what growth he has can work. you say the farrier should not be alowed to practice, well i expect he had nothing to nail to so he did,nt shoe ,he was right. the new farrier took a chance and nailed, he was wrong. while there are people with you,r mind set there is little hope for the horse. you must learn before you know.
i deal with horses every day with feet destroyed by long term cutting, rasping , nailing. they must not be steel shod, they cannot be shod untill they grow healthy hoof horn, just think about it. you have it in you,r head that the feet cant grow while unshod, well unhealthy feet can only grow while unshod,
and if the owner wont wait for the feet to heal, then boots etc must be used. no horse in that state could go working barefoot. a little learning is wery dangerous, take the steel shoes of you,r horse before it,s too late
 
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