How old was your horse when first shod?

[moneypit1]

Harry has now been backed and he is more than ready to be hacked out 2 or 3 times a week until next spring. The thing is i am loathe to have him shod until he is in his 5th year and at the moment he is only in his 4th. My farrier agrees and says that the longer I can leave it the better but I doubt if he will cope with roadwork for 2/3 days a week. Your opinions appreciated. x

 

[Tinker_Belle]

Mine's a NF & she was first shod at 6, rising 7. Purely because we hacked out around farmland & didn't do much roadwork. We then had no option other than to start going onto the roads & so she was introduced to shoes.

Farrier called her a perfect star, she was very chilled & only got tetchy when she could smell the burning & the smoke from her one fore hoof.

The ears were twitching as she was walking away though! Kept looking to see who the clip clop was coming from

I think if you could possibly wait it would be good. Would hoofboots be an option or not?

 

[PapaFrita]

Probably as a yearling when she went into training. I kept her unshod from when I got her as a 3 year old until she came here. Very good feet.

 

[dieseldog]

Mines 4 and a half and isn't shod, I do ride him on the roads but his feet seem fine at the moment. As soon as he looks footsore I'll get him shod.

 

[hussar]

I managed to keep mine unshod behind for almost a year from backing but then he started bruising with increased roadwork so we shod him at age 5.

 

[amabelscott]

we got our boy when he was 4 and he hadn't been shod yet, we left him until this summer when he turned 5 to have him shod for the first time, really because we are planning to start competing him in the next few months.

 

[Solveig]

My horses got shod on the front just after backing then around a month later when proper work started to protect from bruises. No bother from any of them.

 

[hallarider]

Mine has been shod since 2 and a half on the advice of my farrier. Only fronts. He isn't backed yet, but gets foot sore without.

 

[Boater]

Mine was four when he had fronts on, but as our bridlepath from the yard is incredibly stoney, I had to have backs put on too

 

[suzyseymour]

Mine wasn't shod until she was 6 as she just didn't need it. It is only now that her feet are getting sore from doing more hacking that she needs shoes.

 

[Spyda]

One of my mares was shod from 2 as she had weak TB feet and I've always kept her shod in front even when she's out of work.

As mine are TB's I've always shod them once they were backed and started work - even if only in front.

If I had a breed with tougher feet I'd just love to go unshod.