How often to trim hooves

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mareish

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My horse is barefoot and I trim her hooves myself. I was wondering if anybody else does this and how often they have to trim. Also I wanted some advice on riding barefoot.

I ride my mare on the roads 3 or 4 times per week for 45 mins- 2hours per ride. She wears Old Macs boots on her front hooves mostly but I try to hack her once a week without boots at all. Her back hooves wear down naturally and I only need to round the edges off every four weeks or so but I trim her front hooves every other week. Should I try to ride her further without boots so her front hooves wear more? I worry that I might make her sore if I ride her too far. She has been completely barefoot since last June and has never been shod behind.

I'd appreciate any advice.
 
We trim ours when they need it. If they haven't been working every day they may need doing twice in ten days or less, if we are working daily then they may only need a quick tidy with a file if they are looking tatty round the edges. Out terrain is very abrasive though, and the school is sand as well so they do wear down pretty much on their own.

We use front hoof boots for really rough terrain or long hacks, but never on the roads and we did a lot of road work to get their feet used to hard ground.
 
pastie - not sure what you mean ? :)

Yes, i would start exercising her without the boots. Take it gently at first, but gradually, her feet will come into balance, and will grow at the same rate as they are being used. You should need to trim far less. We don't use boots at all, hack for up to 2 hours five times a week, and Shy has his feet "dressed" i think they call it, every six weeks. You really should get a farrier every six weeks to check the feet tho, as barefoot trimming needs a lot of skill.

Btw, I've been using aqueous cream on his hooves for ten days now, and it has dramatically improved the frogs, heels and walls - due to the dryness they were drying out.

Hope that helps, and doesn't cause a riot :p
 
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I'm guessing the are you serious comment is aimed at the fact she is trimming them herself?
Which to be fair I can only echo
 
It is totally legal to trim your own horse's feet. It is illegal to do anything more than that (i.e. go on to farriery, or trim someone else's horse).

many barefooters do do this, but my advice is to use a farrier (not even a barefoot trimmer !) who is fully qualified. barefoot places a lot of demand on the hoof, and a farrier is the only one who will be able to pick up issues.

That is all ;)
 
How can you have the knowledge to trim horse's feet when you can't even judge when it needs done? Surely if you are experienced to trim feet correctly you should be able to judge yourself??

p.s Pastie2, I dont think you need to defend yourself!
 
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New poster - controversial topic - troll comes to mind.

OP get a farrier or a trimmer out to see your horse and to answer your question - nobody on here can give any sensible advice on how often your mare needs trimming when they cannot see her. Even photos can be seriously misleading.

If you need to ask this question then you do not have the experience to be trimming your horse without paid-for assistance.
 
Ah ok. I agree that home trimming is not good at all. That is why the farrier is sooooooo important (as per my second post :rolleyes:).

I certainly am not having a crack at Pastie2 - why on earth would I do that :confused:

As for a troll, I have more or less given up. After yesterday....... sorry if I've fallen into yet another trap :eek:
 
The giveaways are that it's always a first time poster on a controversial topic.

This one rings all the alarm bells for a troll.
 
Hmm, ok. Thanks for everybody's opinions. I didn't post just to cause a lot of disagreements.

I trim my horse's hooves myself but I have had training with a professional who used to come to my yard. She has never been lame or foot sore. I compete her in dressage regularly and do sport endurance rides were there are vettings and have never had a problem so I hope I'm doing something right.

All I wanted to to ask was if there are other owners out there who trim their own horses feet and what their experiences are with trimming intervals and if they hack barefoot how far they go. Maybe I didn't quite put it correctly. Sorry.

My horses feet are checked by a KC La Pierre practitioner occasionally but she doesn't come to the area regularly so I don't have chance to speak to her often. I just thought there might be some people on here in the same boat and wondered what they do.
 
mareish said:
Hmm, ok. Thanks for everybody's opinions. I didn't post just to cause a lot of disagreements.

I trim my horse's hooves myself but I have had training with a professional who used to come to my yard. She has never been lame or foot sore. I compete her in dressage regularly and do sport endurance rides were there are vettings and have never had a problem so I hope I'm doing something right.

All I wanted to to ask was if there are other owners out there who trim their own horses feet and what their experiences are with trimming intervals and if they hack barefoot how far they go. Maybe I didn't quite put it correctly. Sorry.

My horses feet are checked by a KC La Pierre practitioner occasionally but she doesn't come to the area regularly so I don't have chance to speak to her often. I just thought there might be some people on here in the same boat and wondered what they do.
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OK , apologies Mareish, I was fooled by you being a first time poster and we've had some nasty trolling lately.

There has been some lengthy discussion going on as regards trimming intervals on UKNHCP and you may pick up the impression that they are advocating never trimming at all - if your mare is sound and happy then I would not change what you are doing. The ideal is to reach a situation where your mare grows her feet at the same speed as she wears them, but this is an ideal that only a proportion of horse/owner pairings can manage.

What I would do is increase gradually the length of time your mare works without boots. I was also confused into thinking you were trolling because I couldn't understand why you were still booting her most of the time. If she's sound, wean her off them and save your money.

If she gets footie, try and find out if there is a dietary reason for that before assuming that you are doing too much work with her.
 
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