Removing hind shoes whilst in work

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saddlesore

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Been wondering about this for a while, purely for financial reasons (:o), but was wondering if anyone knows or has experience with removing a horse's hind shoes but keeping them in work?

I know lots of people go barefoot but I believe that the horse's feet take quite a while to adjust - is that the same for hind shoes given that horses carry most weight in front?

He has a pretty varied work load - schooling/jumping/ xc/riding in field/ hacking inc road work and some stoney terrain. Obviously I'll speak to my farrier but was wondering if anyone has had any positive/negative experiences?
 
My two Welshies had their back shoes removed when they came here for safety and both were quite happy ridden over any sort of terrain like that. They both SJ up to 3'6 and XC to 3' without studs. With both we experimented by taking the fronts off and neither of them was happy on the road so they were replaced.

Flynn was a pain the first time he was shod here and the farrier decided that for both their safety he wouldn't do the backs. He seemed fine on the road as well but I do normally have him shod.
 
i took my horses hinds off last september when i got a weanling two reasons one incase he kicked her & 2 to save some money.
he was fine i used some keratex to start with but it didnt take him long, i tried his fronts off too but he was so sore i had them back on asap.
i have put his hinds back on so i can get studs in he is actually working so much better with the shoes on that i think even after the summer i will keep them on
it is just something you have to try and see how they are, each horse is different & talk it over with your farrier first too.
 
Thanks for your replies :) Wouldn't take his fronts off, the horn quality in front isn't nearly as good as behind. Will defo have a chat to the farrier about it.

Were your horses 'footy' at all when they were first removed? :)
 
For the hinds especially, most adapt remarkably quickly.

I think I'd be tempted to leave it until Autumn when the ground softens up, just to make the transition a bit easier.
 
Hadn't even thought of that! I'm such a 'barefoot' novice lol! Think I'll have a chat to farrier about it and look at trying him without hinds as autumn descends (which I hope isn't too soon!) :D
 
Hi,

I took my boys back shoes off last month and he has been completely fine I did expect him to maybe be a little sensitive with going over gravel etc but he wasn't.
I took them off as we have very slippy roads around me and it was getting quite dangerous.
I did double check with my farrier before taking them off and he agreed his feet are quite hardy and in good condition.
 
i took my mares hind off whilst she is in work and she was never even foot sore, very pleased. My retired pony needs fronts for support but doesnt need backs, he was sore for a LONG time, over a year i think but he now can walk on stony ground fine and has good strong feet. We never gave him any supplements and hes fine now. My mare has really good feet and it didnt effect her at all. It depends on the horse. If my pony hadnt been retired i wouldnt have taken his back shoes off. On dry ground you get better grip with no shoes but when concrete is wet from rain it can be a bit slippy sometimes.
 
I took my horse's back shoes off as soon as I got him, 4 years ago. He has done a bit of everything since then and has been in regular work including roadwork since. My farrier always comments on the excellent condition of his feet.

Saves me a few pennies too :)

ETA - it feels less slippery going downhill too
 
We took Bellas off last week because she was slipping on concrete and fear of her kicking small ponies in the field. She's perfectly happy and doesn't affect ridden work and doesn't slip on concrete anymore. So just what we wanted. Both RI's horses only have front shoes and they mainly hack out with no problems.
 
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