how often do your horses have their feet trimmed/shod?

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el_Snowflakes

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Hi all,

Mine is shod on all four, i usually have her feet trimmed about every 7-8 weeks. However the farrier does take alot off when he visits. How often do you have your horses shod/trimmed? also, what signs do you find that tell you that your horses feet need doing?


thanks
 
7-8 weeks is actually a long gap. Mine are shod/trimmed every five weeks, although six is a good average for most people.

Imagine wearing a pair of shoes that are too tight and having to walk in them 24/7. It might not look like a lot of trimming to you but makes all the difference to your horse.
 
Both are barefoot and are trimmed between 4 and 7 week intervals depending on how much foot they are putting down and how much work they are doing. Edges are kept tidy by OH between trims.
 
Every 5-6 weeks for Cappy , every 6-7 weeks for Fany but ours are trimmed and not shod at the moment.I agree 8 weeks is a long time for a horse to be between shoeing. We are very lucky to have an excellent farrier who comes to the yard most weeks, as he is the YO's best friend.
FDC
 
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The one that's shod all round is every 6 weeks (although my last one was evey 7-8 weeks, and frrier was happy with that. If there were ANY issues, he'd immediately be on your case).
The little one is trimmed every 12 weeks and it was my farrier that suggested this for her.
 
Mine was last trimmed 11 weeks ago and farrier has advised that it will not be required until after Christmas as the hard ground is wearing them down to the extent that he would have nothing there to remove.

When he had fronts on though, he would often go 8 weeks, as do most of the horses on our yard.
 
Shod horses are done every 6 weeks, 5 in the summer. Trimmed horses are trimmed every 6-8 weeks depending on the horse.

They are done at this interval to keep their feet balanced. There is no way i would go longer than 6 weeks between shoes for my horses because of foot balance. I dont wait until i have a loose shoe until they are done, they are done anyway
 
Anywhere between 6 - 8 weeks depending on how much road work we do. His feet are quite slow growing, he just wears his shoes out really quickly (4 weeks at one point!) but my farrier has put thicker shoes on now and a small stud to even out the wear.
 
5 weeks, max. In summer can be 4 weeks. He just pulls them off otherwise! Foot becomes a bit spread and untidy, sometimes little cracks appear. Nails come up and shoe moves, or comes loose... :) I have a TB! ;)
 
At the moment, shod every 8 weeks. This is fine, my horse has great feet and I have a very very good farrier. In summer, when there is more wear on the shoes, every 5 to 6 weeks. Trims are also every 8 weeks for the unshod ones :)
 
Horse is shod all round and done every 6-8 weeks, depending on when it is needed. Farrier is at our yard every couple of weeks so he usually looks at him when it has been 6 weeks to decide whether he wants to do him then or wait another week or 2. He complains when I book him in every 6 weeks as he says he doesn't grow enough foot, so he likes to leave him for 8 weeks. This time around I suspect he will be having the same shoes put back on, since he hasn't been out on the road for weeks so there is no wear on them at all. When I've hunted him, he needs to be done more often purely because of wear on the shoes.
 
Mine are done every 6 weeks, but they go no more than that, they are booked in for their next set of shoes in advance.

I would think 4-6 weeks is standard, depending on what work the horse is doing.

Signs they need shoeing: raised clenches, worn out shoes, longer toes, heels starting to go over edge of shoes (not good!)
 
I have a TB who my farrier informs me has great feet (for a TB!) :D . They are very slow growing though. He is shod religiously every 8 weeks, although the farrier has commented a few times that he could have gone a little longer between. The farrier is out every 4 weeks to trim one of the donkeys Baz is kept with and always checks but has never needed to do anything. He is shod all round in the summer (for studs) but I have his backs off from November - February.

I honestly think that it can vary so much dependant on a number of things - foot confirmation, wear and growth rate to name a few. Their history also plays a part - when I got Baz he was out of training and his fronts in particular were very flat and he needed shoeing every 4/5 weeks until he'd had some balanced grub inside him and regular shoeing to correct this.

I'd always take the advice of my farrier but would like to think that with almost 30 years (ouch!) experience I have a fair idea when my horse needs to see the farrier. ;) :D
 
Every 8wks (shod on all four), and my farrier often tells me we could go to 10wks as his feet are stupidly slow growing. Never been footy or thrown a shoe. Guess I'm lucky!!!
 
Handy's done every 6 weeks religiously. He is known for throwing shoes. However we have a fab farrier who's worked wonders with him.
 
All the shod ones are done every 6 weeks (+/- 2 days depending on what us / the farrier already have in the diary). That's only because the TB won't go any longer than that and it's easier to have them all done at the same time.

While he's there he checks my unshod ones and trims them if they need doing. Usually the Dartmoor ends up with a trim every other visit so every 12 weeks.
 
Every 5 weeks (6 weeks max) for my TB, otherwise areas of the hoof start growing over the shoe - and her feet don't grow that fast.

The old cob is barefoot and gets checked every 5 weeks but usually only gets trimmed every other time/ every 10 weeks.
 
Every 4 weeks for the remedial (shod in front for bench knee conformation) otherwise shoes slip. 6 weeks for normal tightly fitted shoes.
 
miss_molly said:
Fully shod horse every 8 weeks - farriers recommendation.
Barefoot pony - every 16 weeks. Used to be twice a year but now Ive got farrier every 8 weeks she gets done every other time just to keep neat and tidy.
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I had to look to see where you are, I thought you were talking about our farrier, lol!
He checks our unshod ones every 2nd visit but doesn't always trim (one retired, other working). One of the shod just has fronts and the other is shod all-round.
 
trimmed every 6 weeks :) he is done with the other horses as we all use the same farrier and after about 6 weeks he normally needs a tidy up as he grows a lot of hoof and I like to keep them in good shape
 
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