just shoes in front

My cob has just front shoes as the farrier has said she doesn't need back ones as his feet are so hard and healthy. He hacks about 3 or 4 times a week, mainly on the road and does fine. When he went completely barefoot his front hooves did start to wear a little at the toe so we now have shoes put on them.
 
that's interesting, so hacking on roads with just front shoes is very possible. my three year old doesn't have fab front feet and the farrier suggested just front shoes but we are about to move to somewhere with good bridle paths but road work as well as wondered if it would pay for my cob as well...are front shoes half thr price of a full set or generally about two thirds of the price?
 
My sons pony wasnt shod all year but if the weather was dry and the ground got hard we always had to put fronts on just for camp.
His feet just got a bit sore because of the ammount of work on the hard ground, after camp he had a break, the fronts came off and away he went. Doesnt have to be permanent.
 
Hi, my horse only has front shoes on. He is a 5 year old in full work, we hack 2 or 3 times a week on the road and compete regularly.
I had fronts put on him last year when we started doing a bit more road work and he started getting a bit footsore in front. His back feet are lovely and hard and hopefully I will never have to put shoes on them, in fact they are in better condition than his fronts lol!

At my old yard lots of horses only had front shoes on.
 
The farrier said that Clyde, my cob, doesn't need shoes at all, really, but there is quite a lot of road work here so I have just his fronts done. The farrier says that most of a horse's weight comes down on his front, so they might just need the extra protection.
 
Tia only has fronts - she is Xcing, Sjing but primarily a dressage horse and she has no problems what so ever with grip, or being footsore. She only has fronts as she is young, it's cheaper
smirk.gif
but mainly it suits her
xx
 
When I first got my old cleveland bay x tb he was 5 then, and wasn't shod for years. I used to ride him out all week every other week (cause I worked away then) and he never had a problem, his feet were really good. The only reason I had shoes put on him was because he used to slip on grass and was a bit sore over stoney ground (and quite a few of our bridleways are stoney).
 
my cob has never had shoes, he is 7, but they were put on ready for vetting in case he trod on something and got lame etc and needed another vetting, i am tempted to take them back off in a few weeks and go back to being without as i was told he has great feet and doesnt need them but dont want to appear stingy, its so confusing isnt it, if you can get away without the additional expense and put the money to something he or she needs more, then try i would say?
 
Mine just has fronts on and we do mainly hacking.

His back feet are really strong so dont need them, but his front feet are quite flat and as its quite rocky round here he needs shoes on his fronts

Also works out cheaper than a full set! lol
 
Something like 70% of the horse's weight is taken on the front feet, so if your farrier suggests shoeing the fronts I would take his advice. We had Toff's back shoes removed when we got the foal so she didn't kick him, and they have been off for over a year now. She is fine, although if she hacks on a lot of gravel she wears Old Macs on her back feet.
 
Quite a few of the dressage horses i work with only have front shoes. These are horses competing up to inter II, they work in the school or go on the walker everyday, their feet are all in very good condition x
 
Two cobs only have front shoes on. Costs half the amount plus a fiver. They dont need back ones so cheaper and less chance of damaging another horse! Also got less chance of losing a shoe and ending up on 3 wheels!
 
My horse is only shod in front. It's mainly because he's just started being shod but it also saves me £25 each shoeing. He's got amazing feet and hacks out and schools like this. He'll be doing dressage and SJ and I will only shoe him in front for as long as I can.
 
My Welshie just has fronts on - she has rock hard feet so doesn't need backs. If I didn't do so much road work then I could probably get away with shoeless but she gets a bit foot sore on grsvel/stones without the fronts on.
 
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