Please tell me it wouldn't be cruel to....

[chickeninabun]

Please tell me it wouldn't be cruel to take their shoes off, purely for financial reasons?!?!

I feel really bad about thinking about it but money is a little tight at the moment and my pony, who is 29, only gets ridden a handful of times a month, down country lanes and in fields mainly. She is normally shod in front. My horse is not really being ridden at the moment either and on her winter hols. She came to me unshod but didn't seem happy hacking out without shoes and seemed so much better when she got them on. I will only be riding once a week - max, and only really walking, maybe v small amt of trotting, on roads. She is a HW cob with excellent feet btw.
There is also no stoney ground they have to walk on, just a muddy yard, a bit on concrete to cross and then the muddy field.
Just need a kick up the ar$e to stop me being such a ninny about it!

 

[xnaughtybutnicex]

Of course it isn't cruel. Don't worry about it most ponies can adjust to not wearing them.

 

[0ldmare]

eh? No of course it wouldnt be cruel, they werent born with shoes on.... Go ahead and dont feel guilty

 

[GypsyGirl]

Nooo! deffo take them off! All of our horses are barefoot in my field apart from one who is my friends horse and shes trying to get his off! I find it so much better for them barefoot. Its more natural aswell. Dont worry about it! xxx

 

[Little_Miss_1]

get 'em off! It's how they are designed to be!

 

[Kenzo]

Its ok I felt like that last year when I had Mr M's shoes removed, pointless he wasnt doing any work, his feet were in good nick, so off them came, he's been fine without them, takes them a day or two to learn how to walk again

but they get over it

 

[Alimac19]

No it's not cruel but it also depends on the type of horse, condition of his feet and workload. If he's got good feet and you don't do too much on the road it's fine. If he's got really bad hooves with sensitive soles and you want to do miles and miles of hacking I wouldn't recomend it! He may take a while to get used to it or he may be OK immediatly.

 

[Donkeymad]

Take them off, horse should be fine

 

[leanne1988]

ask your farrier for advice perhaps? they know best. But if u arent riding on hard ground or doing much work with them, then im sure it'll be fine, like most of these posts have said, they werent born with them Although if the ground starts to get hard during the summer they may get sore-footed.but you can always put the front ones back on if that does happen.

I wanted to have my mare unshod, she had been all winter in her previous home (but was unridden,& in a muddy field), but as soon as i started riding her she got sore, so they went on and have been on ever since. Im sure i could probably have jsut her fronts on during winter but am just a bit cautious about it

 

[cptrayes]

Here we go again!

if you aren't riding on hard ground
if you aren't doing much road work
as long as he hasn't got sensitive soles

etc etc etc

All nonsense!!!! He'll be able to do it fine. If she can't - look at her diet, not her feet. If she failed to cope before, cut out all the sugar NOW - molassed chaffs, bag mixes with molasses or wheat syrup in, unsoaked hay. Use 30g brewers yeast not commercial balancer/supplements. Add15g magnesium oxide (eBay). My hunter did another two hours on the road this morning after galloping over broken brick paths on Saturday, and no, it's NOT because he has good feet - he has good feet because he has no shoes on. Get out on the road for miles and you won't even have to pay your farrier to trim her, she'll do herself!

Your motivation is not perfect (£) but the result is, so go for it!!

 

[JustWilliam]

I have had my cobs shoes taken off as he is doing hardly any work and only has fronts on normally but I thought well the ground is soft, why not and save myself some money. He has coped fine, no problems at all.

 

[lucy1984]

cptrayes I love reading your replies, you are very knowledgable when it comes to barefoot. Wish I had your knowledge!

 

[TheFarrier]

Your horses should be fine. It is not cruel

 

[LauraWheeler]

I just had Lucys back shoes taken off as i now pay for her to be shod. (Her keep used to be part of my wages but since she was taken ill i have bought another and he is paid for by my boss and i have to pay for Lucy).
I have kept her fronts on as we have flinty ground and it chips away at there feet. Also she has a dodgy front foot since she had laminitis so better safe than sorry.
Ask your farrior he will know your horses feet and if they will cope.

 

[Dubsie]

Probably a sensible move as I think it's going to rain a lot more this winter and shoes will poach your ground more than barefoot anyway! This in turn will reduce the maintenance needed, or increase the amount of grass in the spring/hay to be cut and perhaps reduce hay/feed costs a bit too depending what you do. So savings all round.

 

[Jericho]

just about to take my mares fronts off as well as I dont think she needs them and it will save some pennies. Her back came off 2 months ago and they have been absolutely fine. We do about the same amount of work as you do with your one.

Your farrier will advise although I am a bit scared of telling my farrier as he will go from 1 1/2 sets and a trim when I had 3 horses to just 2 trims and I am worried he may say its not worth his time to come out... :-(

 

[Sarah B]

What a good point Dubsie - barefoot won't poach the field as much. Only ysday I was looking at my gateway and thinking Ellie had done so well not ruining it compared to last year but she had her shoes removed this time last year!!!

OP - my girl's shoes were removed last year as her feet had always had trouble keeping shoes on. Best thing I have ever done, her feet are beautiful now and we only had a very short period of soreness. Go for it!