How many of you shoe your 3-4 yr old

Would you shoe your 3 yr

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Daisy11

Daisy11

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Just deciding if to shoe my 3 yr ,he's at this moment being backed by myself and is going well , I wanting to get him out I'n a couple weeks short hacking and will be doing most days (as i dont like to do to much schooling with youngsters )before turning him away for winter I'm not overly keen on shoeing
Would u shoe ??
 
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My mare was shod in front late summer in her third year and then had her first sets of hinds the following spring. The hacking where I am isn't really suitable for them to be unshod and her hooves really suffered for it before she had her hinds put on.
 
My 3 soon to be 4 year old has really sensitive feet where he hobbles and trips a bit when he walks on stony ground so had shoes put on for 6 weeks over backing period as a 3 year old and once he is half backed again as a 4 year old will put at least fronts on.
However, I have a exmoor filly who is rising 3 and she wont have shoes and probably wont for her life cos she has good hardy feet.
 
Yes, I would.

The shoes that are put on can always be taken off when horse is turned away after breaking :)

Shoeing and being with the farrier is very good education for a young horse, even if you only have shoes on the front feed they are still getting used to the weight of shoes :)
Especially if they are hot shod; get used to the steam etc. :)
 
only_me said:
Yes, I would.

The shoes that are put on can always be taken off when horse is turned away after breaking :)
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Very true, however from my experience on forums it is a lot more difficult to go barefoot after the horse has been shod, than to stay barefoot. I do believe if the horse does not need shoes then there is no need to shoe "just because".

I'm hoping Phil won't need to be shod, but if/when the day comes that he requires more grip jumping etc then I won't hesitate to give him the support he needs.

ETA: I probably sound like a barefoot advocate and like I'm picking on your, but hope you don't feel this way, just offering a different perspective :)
 
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My boy is rising 3, and will probably have shoes on this time next year, read for competition and ready for a bit more work. He will be backed properly barefoot :)
 
fair enough, but every winter I would turn my horse away and take his shoes off. Then come spring he had them back on :) oh, and he was 3/4tb!

Young horses need an all round experience of life, they have been "unshod/barefoot" for 3 years, they should get some experience of being shod, they don't have to stay that way :)
 
my boy has been shod since he was 3 all round and was clipped as i wanted to see what he would do with the clippers and as he did not mind so carried on and again this year what ever suits your horse i backed and hacked my out only little ones for a while and did not wanted him to get sore and resent being ridden
 
only_me said:
fair enough, but every winter I would turn my horse away and take his shoes off. Then come spring he had them back on :) oh, and he was 3/4tb!

Young horses need an all round experience of life, they have been "unshod/barefoot" for 3 years, they should get some experience of being shod, they don't have to stay that way :)
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You're a lucky one, either that or I just generally hear the tales of horses crippled without shoes, owners don't want to watch them go through that just to be barefoot and I completely agree, if the horse is happy then you do what you need to, to keep it happy :D

I still personally wouldn't shoe a 3 year old just for experience, but that's what makes the world interesting :) Plus I gag at the smell of horses being shod lol
 
I dont see why you need to shoe? If his hooves are looking good and cope with the hacking then I see no reason at all to shoe. Personally, I keep youngters unshod until competition-wise I feel I need more grip. My last horse I competed for 2 years before needing shoes for studs (when he started slipping jumping outside which began to knock his confidence).

I do take my horses shoes off every October until about March - as they dont need shoes for competing indoors / on a surface. Only during the grass season do I need them - he's half TB but I'll admit he does naturally have good hooves.
 
only_me said:
fair enough, but every winter I would turn my horse away and take his shoes off. Then come spring he had them back on :) oh, and he was 3/4tb!

Young horses need an all round experience of life, they have been "unshod/barefoot" for 3 years, they should get some experience of being shod, they don't have to stay that way :)
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I agree, I think it's a better idea to introduce these things before they hit 5. They may be shoeless for most of their lives, but most aren't and I have put shoes on my rising 5 year old, partly because he seems to need them and partly because I want him calm & accostomed to them/the farrier.
 
BC is shod because he has stupid big shire feet that don't cope well at all on the roads. He was backed at 3 because he's such a big boy and has been doing mainly hacking for the spring/summer last year, I took the shoes off over winter because he was resting but my farrier has put them back on because he said even on the fields BC isn't fairing well and to keep his hooves in good condition for when the real work starts this spring. He'll be 5 then so I have problem with him wearing shoes, if I had the choice both mine would be barefoot but neither would cope unfortunately.
 
If your horse is telling you he needs shoes then go for it but I don't plan on ever putting them on Fitzy until someone/ he tells me he can't do his job with out them.
 
xRobyn said:
Very true, however from my experience on forums it is a lot more difficult to go barefoot after the horse has been shod, than to stay barefoot. I do believe if the horse does not need shoes then there is no need to shoe "just because".
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Absolutely. Before I bought her, my mare was shod in front when she was backed at 3, just because she was in work now and that's what happened (her owner was a bit 'old school' I think). She's actually got cracking feet and for the workload she would have been in at the time probably wouldn't have needed any. She had them off when she was turned away to stud, and I have only recently started shoeing her again as when she's in a lot of worki her feet just don't grow enough to match the rate of wear. But she was happily unshod with me until she was nearly 7, doing a variety of RC activities including a reasonable amount of hacking on roads.

My current youngster doesn't wear shoes - she's riding 4 now - but she's a Welsh A and tbh I can't see that she'll ever need any lol! She does still have regular trims tho, so is used to the farrier. I'll occassionally tap her feet with a hoof pick or rasp to get her used to nailing etc, and she is happy to be tied on the yard whole other horses are hot shod. I do see the point about educating them with new things while they are young - but I don't think that means you necessarily HAVE to shoe to do so, you can expose them in other ways (and in fact my older mare is actually stupider around the smoke/smell from hot shoeing as my Welsh baby, despite having been shod as a 3yo!)
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I said no. Mine wasn't doing enough work to warrant a set at that age. I had them trimmed though.
Mine, who is 5 this year(late foal) will be shod when my farrier tells me he needs doing.So until then, I will save a bit of money while I can.
 
I don't shoe my youngsters unless they need it.

One was shod at 3 as he was going intermittently lame in the school, but never out hacking, and it turned out he has very thin soles.

Another was shod at 5 as he was wearning his feet down too much with the hacking he was doing. I have another 4 six year olds who have never been shod. They compete (one does BE90) and hack with no problems. Farrier is perfectly happy with their feet and doesn't see the need to show them.
 
not enough options! my 3yo wore her fronts down and was tottering that dry summer, so she was shod in front. hinds came at 5 when she needed studs jump/xctraining on home grass.
 
I personally wouldnt. My 3/4yr already had front shoes when we bought her so we'll continue to get front shoes and trim her back ones until i turn her away. If she didnt have fronts already i wouldnt have them on until the end of the year, start of next yr.
 
NO becasue they are still growing and developing, inc their feet. Putting shoeing on a growing foot is the quickest way to wreck them for life (so they then 'need' shoes)
 
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the hoof always growing ?? :D :p

I voted yes, My 4 year old has had 2 front shoes on since the age of 2, funny enough her feet are absolutely fine, shes also a 3/4tb .

She has her feet done every 6 to 8 weeks, she has good feet for a 3/4tb .

At the moment she has now 4 shoes on, they are lightweight shoes, shes never had cracks in her feet and they are good strong feet .

So no problem :) in my circumstances

Col x
 
Baffled at the idea that any horse "needs the experience" of being shod. The only time I can think this applies is if a dealer needs the horse to be shown to have had the experience of being shod. it's the human's need, not the horse's. Surely no horse needs shoeing as an experience? I think the age is pretty irrelevant too, I have had one shod for the first time at 8, one at 10, one at 5 and there if anything they are calmer than 3 year olds about it all.

Nowadays, I won't shoe any horse unless it has a condition that cannot be managed without shoes (this is rare and certainly does not include thin soles or wearing their feet away too much on the road, those are nutrition and conditioning issues.)
 
Colleen_Miss_Tom said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the hoof always growing ?? :D :p

I voted yes, My 4 year old has had 2 front shoes on since the age of 2, funny enough her feet are absolutely fine, shes also a 3/4tb .

She has her feet done every 6 to 8 weeks, she has good feet for a 3/4tb .

At the moment she has now 4 shoes on, they are lightweight shoes, shes never had cracks in her feet and they are good strong feet .

So no problem :) in my circumstances

Col x
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Kallibear meant that the BONES are still growing.

I'm sorry, but at 4 years old you have no idea yet whether you have got away with shoeing your horse at 2. You won't know that until she is 8 at least.

Your description " she has good feet for a 3/4tb . " suggests that she doesn't have terribly good feet at all. What was it that forced you to have shoes put on her at two??
 
Colleen_Miss_Tom said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the hoof always growing ?? :D :p
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'Developing' is maybe a better word although, as CPtrays said, the bones does indeed still grow at that age. It's sad seeing horses with really small feet for their size: they're stuck at the size they were when they got their shoes on, often far too young in many cases.
 
cptrayes said:
Kallibear meant that the BONES are still growing.

I'm sorry, but at 4 years old you have no idea yet whether you have got away with shoeing your horse at 2. You won't know that until she is 8 at least.

Your description " she has good feet for a 3/4tb . " suggests that she doesn't have terribly good feet at all. What was it that forced you to have shoes put on her at two??
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Yes hence the :p in my post ;) tongue n cheek I believe :)

I am pretty sure I have gotten away with it actually ;)

I'll give you credit though in not jumping to conclusions like most folk on here do, at least you asked :p To answer your question on "what forced me to put shoes on at the age of 2 ...... She had 2 "racing" type shoes put on due to showing regulations at balmoral. :)

She then had them removed and then reshod again, when we did more road work, the 2 back shoes where put on just at the start of last year :)

I don't understand how you think me saying " she has good feet for a 3/4tb" suggests that she doesn't have good feet ? hmmmm let me explain, What I mean is most tb's have not got great feet..... yeah ? and for her to be a 3/4tb you would think shes against the odds .
She does not have terrible feet, not bad feet for what she is . She also had corrective work done due to a slight imbalance, so the shoes actually helped .

But like I say I am glad you asked instead of jumping to conclusions :D .
 
This is a very interesting and valid thread :)

My 3.5 year old filly will be backed this summer and I am hoping to take her down the barefoot route (like her mum has always been). I use a qualified EP.

So the answer is no from me!
 
I wouldn't shoe a 3yro but I don't believe in 3yros doing enough work to warrant shoes in the first place.

All of mine are only shod when I feel they need more grip when riding/competing on grass (my 4yro had a pair of fronts last summer and it stopped him slipping on grass).

as for tbs not having good feet- balls! my full tb has beautiful feet, can do lots of roadwork barefoot, doesn't need special feed etc.

most tbs have less than perfect feet because they were shod at 2yrs old (most ex-racers) and are fed high starch diets to keep weight on- they aren't born with different feet to other horses.
 
Good grief! There is a showing organisation that insists on having two year olds shown shod?!?!?!?!

I've never heard of anything so ridiculous in my life. If a two year old isn't sound and level without shoes then it shouldn't win the class.
 
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