Picking out hooves

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Peter7917

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I've been to some yards over the years where horse owners will pick out their horses hooves before and after every ride.

I personally pick out my horses hooves on the day the farrier is coming and that is it. This has been the case for some 12 years and I've never had any issues arise as a result of not picking out feet.

Are there any horsey tasks that most horse owners do that you feel are unnecessary?
 
As a young child and growing up, I don't think I ever picked out a pony's foot/hoof. They were never shod so never felt the need and no-one else did.

As I came into loanship/ownership in my 20's on a livery yard, I did as everyone else and picked out the feet - unquestioningly so! In fact I did most things as was prescribed by the manual!

Then once, I started to consciously think about everything I did with horses. Don't ask me why, it just kind of happened. I stopped being a robot and I feel much better for it. One of the side effects was that, no, I do not now pick out my horses feet/hooves unless absolutely necessary.
 
Peter7917 said:
I've been to some yards over the years where horse owners will pick out their horses hooves before and after every ride.

I personally pick out my horses hooves on the day the farrier is coming and that is it. This has been the case for some 12 years and I've never had any issues arise as a result of not picking out feet.

Are there any horsey tasks that most horse owners do that you feel are unnecessary?
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don't remember when I picked mine out last, livery horses I do but mine rarely
 
Not every single day but 6 times a week when she comes into the yard as she is barefoot and has to cross a very stoney path and before I bring her out of the stable as not to drag shavings everywhere.

She went lame a few months back (I assumed from running up and down the fence in the field calling to her GF as she was wildly in season!) and I picked her feet out in my poorly lit stable that night (winter). Still lame the next morning so brought her out into daylight and there was a stone wedged deep into the side of her frog that even the ex farrier YO missed. as it had been dark the night before... Whenever she comes in her feet get picked out.

I personally think it is important.

I rarely brush her tail, or her infact, she may get a yearly bath if lucky. She is pretty much a field ornament so I don't see much point unless she has a cut or is itchy which she never has been.
 
I do it once in a while just to see what's brewing in there....or when I think there might be a problem, but generally, no.
 
Coo 'eck, this one could run and run...
Personally, yard rules are that we have to pick out feet before leaving the school, so at least 4 times a week anyway... there's rarely anything in there, usually all bedding is deposited in the corridor from the stables (I really should get into the habit of picking out feet before we leave, and then I'd have less sweeping to do :lol:).

Injured horse needs hers done at least daily because she's currently picking up grit from the road in her white line. I wouldn't want to be walking about with rocks stuck in my feet :o
 
Every time before I ride. Why wouldn't you?
Have had stones wedged in so wouldn't want to ride in that scenario and make my horse lame.
With my horse that's just gone barefoot I pick them out most days and brush off so I can put Keratex on and make sure no small stones are wedged in trying to create an abscess, which is what happened over the winter.
 
Every single night I pick out my horse feet, and before and after every time I ride. As a working pupil we had to pick hooves before we rode, and when we left the arena.

It is quite stoney around my yard, I have had one (barefoot) come in hopping before because gravel tracked up his white line - he was on three legs and holding it in the air (we thought he'd broken it!) I also have a shod cob with poor hoves and I don't think leaving mud and crap to ferment in his hooves is going to help so I wash them everyday and also disinfect.

I think it's good husbandry and good to check by picking daily. Bit jelous of the people who can leave them but for me 5mins picking feet everyday and making sure nothing is untoward is preferable to an emergency vet call
 
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I pick my yearlings out when she comes in, so a couple times a week. Partly because it's good to teach and partly so I can keep an eye out for stones or other such troubles. She came in lame once due to a tiny stone going up a flaky crack, once picked out she was right as rain.
 
I pick my mares out as and when. I don't do it much at all in summer as nothing really gets stuck in there.
In the winter though I do like to pick out the big clump of mud that gets under there.
 
Nearly never. They are all BF and fancy free ;)

I do inspect their feet quite a lot or at least, *a* foot, not them all every time unless I see something I want to compare with the other feet, but if there is a stone in their foot I will hear it immediately and remove. No school, no bedding and no shoes to trap anything in them anyway. A walk up the road is enough to remove any mud etc also, so there is really never anything to pick out.
 
Oo I'm surprised so many do it what is class as rarely!
I pick out his feet before every ride (having come in from the field earlier that day) and then again after riding before going back out to the field, at the latter pick out I also brush his hooves down and apply hoof oil every other day. He's barefoot and has lovely feet, and I intend on keeping them this way!
I am also that person that grooms him thoroughly before every ride.
 
Lol mine also have lovely (and more importantly exceptionally functional) feet so I suspect hoof oil and hoof picking have nothing to do with your horse's lovely feet ;)
 
My boy always stands in his poo and leaving the mud in his feet protect them from thrush and other nasties. Some Livery horses on the other hand have soft soles and smelly due to standing in poo all night so there must be something in it.



I think now I see it as unnecessary to do it in the quantity we are told to do it, which is before turned out, when brought in - after we ride and before we turn out in the evening ( summer time ). I used to my religiously but now I don't unless with the barefoot they get flints in when out on the trails/roads.
 
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I pick out feet before and after I ride, and at least once a day in any case. It's worth doing, stones can cause a lot of problems in some cases. I guess it's just what works for you- eta not any specific "you" just generally, different things work for different people/horses
 
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Every time they leave their stables, they are at home and otherwise it drags their beds across the gravel and has to be raked because it looks an eyesore - it's the lesser of two evils.
 
My horses are shod, so yes I do pick out their feet regularly, usually twice a day - just part of the day to day management for me :)
 
Funny, that's one of those that I thought everybody did the same! Livery yard they are picked out after brining in and I check before and after I ride. Shod horse can get stones and bits of school surface. Also would do it with bf to check on little stones getting wedged in and general hoof health. Actually, I do that for both shod and Bf thinking about it. Assumed everyone did!
 
I don't pick in winter unless necessary as they're stuffed back with mud again the second they go out again, and I think handling wet muddy legs is a very likely contributor to mud fever which was quite bad when my youngster arrived but we now barely ever see despite her living out all winter. Always thought not picking out made me a terrible horse person though!
 
gnubee said:
I don't pick in winter unless necessary as they're stuffed back with mud again the second they go out again, and I think handling wet muddy legs is a very likely contributor to mud fever which was quite bad when my youngster arrived but we now barely ever see despite her living out all winter.
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You could have something there because I never have any issues with mudfever either. I don't hose off legs and they all live out. Natural living as far as possible with adlib forage. They are a very healthy bunch - don't think that is a coincidence.

I don't seem to have got the point across that in a good foot with no shoe to trap stuff in, there is nothing to pick out. On the very very few occasions they pick up stones, it's while out hacking, and I don't wait til we get home to get rid of them. You can hear immediately if they have a stone when they haven't got shoes to mask the sound.
 
Mine are shod and with gravel yard plus slightly stoney field I pick them out every day. And always before I ride, wouldn't be nice to have a stone wedged in then go for an hours hack?

Though barefoot I dont find it matters so much as mud/stones don't tend to get packed in.
 
I used to be a bit lax with it, but then my horse was ever so slightly not happy riding, and obviously the first thing i checked was his hoof and low and behold there was a stone stuck under his shoe. I felt so incredibly guilty that by honest big horse had been letting me ride him with minimal fuss when he had a rather alarming stone in his shoe. I do it religiously now even though hes barefoot.
 
Mine are not shod but walk daily over hard core tracks and stone yard, the number of ENORMOUS stones I have removed from being wedged between frog and soles means I would never ride without at least checking there was nothing nasty lurking. Generally check and pick if necessary at least twice a day
 
I never pick my horses feet out I only check them if I have been hunting over flinty going or if I can feel/hear a problem they live out 24/7 so mostly packed with mud which falls out when I ride
 
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