Retiring a horse - shoes on or off?

Box_Of_Frogs

Box_Of_Frogs

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Sadly, Sunny has had to be retired in the last fortnight due to his severe pollen allergy. Long story. Not sure what next spring/summer will bring. On steroids at the moment and I'm not convinced they're helping any more than the fac tthat it's winter. And the immuno-supressant action of the steroids has caused a worrying flare up in his remaining eye - other eye removed 6 years ago due to an autoimmune disease. Very, very wary of the side effects of the steroids. Anyway, not sure what to do now about shoes. Farrier due Thursday for Sunny's normal 7 weekly shoeing but it suddenly struck me, does he need shoes now? Maybe just fronts and trim the backs? As far as I know he's been shod forever and I don't want him to get footsore - he's got enough going on as it is. Any thoughts or experiences?
 
Definately off!! I don't know why you would have a retired horse shod anyway?

Much better for him, and if he's out on grass he shouldn't be footy, he might be a little for a while on harder/stoney ground.

You need to have him on a good diet, low sugar and low starch too;
 
Sorry to hear about Sunny, I would say off, when my mare retired i had her backs taken off first then her fronts the next time so she had tine to get used to it, she hasnt had shoes for about 6yrs now and has very good feet for a tb! I did use Keratex hoof hardener when her shoes first came off.
Good luck x

I wonder if you would be so kind as to tell me about the pollen allergy? My girl Katie has been poorly since May and we are really struggling, I thought it would have died down at this time of year but it hasnt. I was wondering what tests/treatment Sunny has had or is on?
Thanks xx
 
I would be wary of just whipping the shoes off and would probably leave the fronts on and take the backs off and see how he gets on.

you may need to look at his diet, enviroment etc and imo you are better off leaving the fronts on for 1 set while you make sure everything else is 100% for him.
Also his reaction to the backs coming off will give you a good indication of how he will cope with fronts off and you can change diet etc to suit if needed without him being sore.
 
When I retired my old tb two years ago I didn't think for a minute that we would be able to take his shoes off, I've always had terrible trouble with his feet -soles through the floor etc. The farrier suggested trying without the backs for a while and as he did so well we left the fronts off last winter. He was a bit ouchy at first and we had to be careful only to turn him out on soft ground, but he is now fine and his feet have never looked better.
 
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I retired my old chap about 6 years ago. i tried taking all four shoes off but he was dreadfully footsore in front as soon as the ground got hard in summer, so I replaced his fronts. immediately far more comfortable and sound. So for 5 years he was shod in front and bare behind. This year i decided to see if he could cope without fronts as well. So he had them removed in Jan. It took about 3 months but he is now comfortable. His feet have adapted and are now holding up completely. I would take off backs first - let him acclimatise to that then remove fronts that way he has not got four sore feet at the same time. i would also do it now so that he has several months of soft ground before the hard ground of summr.
 
I thought my old TB with pretty bad feet would never survive without shoes - I was wrong! He's absolutely fine. The only thing I have done is lay woodchip over the stony bit between his field and his stable. He doesn't like the sharp stones there. Otherwise he is fine. I have saved a fortune in shoeing bills and I don't have the worry of half pulled off shoes or brushing injuries.
 
Every horse is different. I'd speak to your farrier, and see what he thinks. If the horse's feet are good feet there shouldn't be any problem. I took my horse's shoes off all round this summer, during the hot period when the ground was hard, and it was fine, but has always had problem free feet...

Poor horse - sounds like he's having arough time gererally. Hope retirement works for you both...xx
 
Mines retired and hers came straight off, being in a field shouldnt make him footsore unless hes galloping around on hard ground x
 
When my horse retired we started off by just keeping fronts on. Then after a few months we left the fronts off as well, but he needed a lot of help to get used to it.

They carry more weight at the front so are more likely to be sore/footy without front shoes. As you say, you don't want to cause him any more discomfort than he already may be experiencing with the other problems, so if it were me I would ditch the hinds and keep the fronts.
 
Personally I'd take them all off and see how she goes. Don't see why she should be footsore. The horse in my siggy is shod from March until October then I whip off all his shoes for his winter break - he's never footsore at all and loves it.
 
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