Pads for horses shoes

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sammiea

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I have been told to have pads but in my mares front shoes as she is really suffering from the hard ground and it's causing tension right to in her shoulders. This was found by my back lady a few weeks back but she'd just had new shoes so spoke with my farrier and he said we'd wait until her next set.
Since then we have had no rain and the ground is mega hard. I attempted to jump her yesterday and foudn that she really didnt want to which is just not her at all
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So going to ring farrier today.

Do you use or had experiences with pads? Do they make a difference? Poor girl is really struggling
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My mare used to wear pads when competing endurance as she suffered from bruised soles. They did really help and she tended to slow up less on stoney ground, however, you have to be careful with them. My farrier recommends getting them removed at least every 6 weeks and if possible given their feet a break from them whenever possible. This dry summer is starting to take the toll on my girl too and I think the pads might have to go on soon, not that I'm complaining, I love the sun!
 
I looked after a 16.2hh welsh cob/shire who was huge but had feet the size of a 14.2 with upright, practically vertical, fetlocks and slammed his feet down in a hackney/Welsh D manner, who the worked for 10 years as a carraige horse on hard ground. He had pads under his shoes for a while and it did work untill he got full blow DJD. Expensive tho and its helpful if you have a horse who's good wiht his feet so you can hold them up long enough to get a good look and clean them!
 
money isnt an issue if they will help her be more comfortable. I have discussed the time frame with my farrier and she will only wear them during the summer months when ground is hard as nails. Thankfully 90% of my competiting is on a surface but i can not stop her messing around in the field
 
Plenty of the cobs at the RS where I am have them on during summer months, they tend to suffer on hard ground due to having enormous feet and making a real impact on the ground. Usually work a treat.
 
My boy has pads all summer and sometimes in the winter. He is a TB with really flat soles and low lying pedal bones and the concussion from hard ground in summer means without pads he isn't sound. In my opinion they are worth every penny. They are a quick fix and definitely make the horse more comfortable. As said above though, the horse will need shoeing every six weeks. I've also found in winter they aren't as successful as the gel takes longer to set in the cold weather and the wet mud can rot the pads meaning they only last 4 weeks.
 
Our lad has them on from April - Oct and they keep him sound with no foot problems. Was lame every summer until we started to do this. Expensive but worth it in my opinion to have a working horse all year! We still don't jump/do fast work when the ground is even a little hard though, save that for a school type surface.
 
Equipak gel I think, Farrier puts blue sheet over shoe then squeezes in gel from a gun, waits for it to set then takes off blue sheet. Clear when first done then goes yellow. Lasts six weeks, so new stuff applied every shoeing. Has bar shoes on the front with the pads, normal on the back with no pads and costs £130 per shoeing for everything.
 
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