MoonlitArcher
Active Member
Hey everyone
Both mine and my sisters horses are constantly throwing shoes.. in fact I can't remember a time they have gone the full 7 weeks without losing at least one each! Some times they lose shoes twice in that time and it is always the front shoes. Both have worn over reach boots in the field which haven't been much use. These horses are best friends and their days are usually spent playing, rearing, chasing each other around so I can understand the odd shoe coming off but not at the rate that they have been. I am just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and whether they believe that the farrier is to blame or could it be an issue with the foot itself?
Brief shoeing history.. mine is only 6 and has been shod for around a year and a half now. He is an ID x-breed (not sure what to be honest) and has quite flat feet and not a great heel. My sisters horse is an appaloosa x cob that she bought last summer. He is 12 now but we found out that he wasn't broken until he was 9 so it is unlikely that he was shod until that time.. his feet look pretty nice apart from being a little pigeon toed.
We have both just had all their shoes taken off as have been getting frustrated with such frequent farrier visits, as lovely as he is. What are peoples thoughts.. would you change farrier? Or trust that he can rectify the problem.. as he has said he can shoe them a little tighter to stop them over-reaching. I am also very open to the idea of leaving them barefoot as neither appear sore and to be honest its a big weight off my mind not worrying about shoes for a bit. My only worry with barefoot is as my boy needs heel support will he become sore/ lame over time?
All thoughts and opinions welcome
Both mine and my sisters horses are constantly throwing shoes.. in fact I can't remember a time they have gone the full 7 weeks without losing at least one each! Some times they lose shoes twice in that time and it is always the front shoes. Both have worn over reach boots in the field which haven't been much use. These horses are best friends and their days are usually spent playing, rearing, chasing each other around so I can understand the odd shoe coming off but not at the rate that they have been. I am just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and whether they believe that the farrier is to blame or could it be an issue with the foot itself?
Brief shoeing history.. mine is only 6 and has been shod for around a year and a half now. He is an ID x-breed (not sure what to be honest) and has quite flat feet and not a great heel. My sisters horse is an appaloosa x cob that she bought last summer. He is 12 now but we found out that he wasn't broken until he was 9 so it is unlikely that he was shod until that time.. his feet look pretty nice apart from being a little pigeon toed.
We have both just had all their shoes taken off as have been getting frustrated with such frequent farrier visits, as lovely as he is. What are peoples thoughts.. would you change farrier? Or trust that he can rectify the problem.. as he has said he can shoe them a little tighter to stop them over-reaching. I am also very open to the idea of leaving them barefoot as neither appear sore and to be honest its a big weight off my mind not worrying about shoes for a bit. My only worry with barefoot is as my boy needs heel support will he become sore/ lame over time?
All thoughts and opinions welcome