loosing shoes weekly !

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aspirit

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My mare has recently started loosing her front shoes about every ten days. My farrier recommended that I leave overreach boots on 24/7 as he says she is clearly overreaching. I did this but it has made no difference. She is with a herd , but they are quite a quiet herd and no one else is loosing their shoes. I do roadwork so worry about going barefoot but feel I will have no other option . Equi boots ??
Anyone else had this problem.
 
It's sometimes long toes/late breakover that causes lost shoes. Have you any pictures of her feet?
Using boots instead of shoes would be fine for your hacking on the roads.
 
What is her hoof balance like?
Does she have long toes?
Can you take photos of her hooves and post them on here? Put the camera low to the ground for side, front and rear shots of each hoof, plus a shot of each sole.

None of my horses are shod or booted and I mainly hack (the unbacked one is led in-hand on the roads), so it can be done.
 
Roadwork is great for barefoot feet. You may need to build up the miles, but if done gradually there really is no limit to roadwork for most barefoot horses.
 
Both ours are barefoot and we hack loads. The big man never ever has any trouble on what ever surface, stones go in gravel comes out :D. My mare wears renegate boots but only if we go on flinty bridleways. Road are not a problem at all nor are any other surfaces.
 
If your horse has only recently started losing front shoes and never had a problem before, I'd be looking into why she has changed her action. Perhaps she is now carrying an injury and is compensating? Is she completely sound behind? Often when both hinds are affected it's hard to detect hind leg lameness.
 
Take on board all the advice above, if all else fails, these worked a treat for me http://www.supastuds.com/details_74.html

I used a set of these shoe secures last winter as my young horse was pulling a shoe a week and driving me up the wall as well as costing a fortune as it is 25 quid a time here to put a shoe back on.......... I can't recommend them enough, they do exactly as they say.
 
Another vote for shoe secures. I have a pair and they saved his feet this summer. They are a royal pain in the arse but it's worth it. My horse is now on his winter holidays and had his shoes off a month a go. Keeping them off for as long as possible before the season starts again. They seem to keep him going longer when he has had a break. Even if he is a bit hobbly on the stones.
 
Thanks Pootler! Mine has over reach boots on when turned out which help a lot but in the winter he get mud stuck underneath and he can get mud fever or irritation :)
 
The issue that I have with shoe secures, is that they can be used as a sticking plaster to cover up the issue, if the real reason for the shoe loss is a hoof balance issue.
 
Faracat said:
The issue that I have with shoe secures, is that they can be used as a sticking plaster to cover up the issue, if the real reason for the shoe loss is a hoof balance issue.
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I don't think you can make that broad a statement. My horse manages to pull his shoes off in the stupidest ways you would not believe. He doesn't always just overreach. Granted his hoof horn quality is poor. But it's no better when he has his winter holidays and has no shoes on.
 
I said 'can' not 'always' folks, and it definitely is a potential issue.

Horn quality is something that can be improved through diet, so it's worth considering looking at what the horse eats when they have poor horn.
 
I had this problem a couple of years ago when my farrier left and I had to get a new one. My short coupled horse was forging constantly and pulling off his fronts, had never been an issue before. This lasted for a few shoeings so I changed to another farrier who immediately altered the breakover and have had no instances of forging or pulled shoes since. So definitely worth discussing the breakover with your farrier.
 
Sounds like your mare wants to be barefoot. Don't worry about roadwork; its great on a barefoot horse, specially on slippery tarmacs & hills. Traction like you won't believe is possible. Build up sensibly and you'll be fine. Good luck
 
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