Riding with just front shoes on

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oldhat

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Dear all, I have been out of riding for nearly a year thanks to cancer, but appear to be ok-ish now; I am just getting back to riding my two (rather rotund now!) horses, one is a Haffy who is fine unshod but my mare who has always been shod is another matter. I took all her shoes off while I was ill and have been doing short hacks on her for the last month or so, trying to break us both back in gently! She seems ok but if I am to go further she needs shoes on at least her fronts as they are wearing down now and rounding off a bit on the toes. She seems much less stiff with none on the back so I'd like to try her with just fronts on. Does anyone on here ride their horse with just fronts on? I don't want to damage her back feet, will she feel wonky and uneven? Should I just stick all four back on?
 
My mare is currently unshod, due to lack to work, but she normally just has fronts one and she's absolutely fine. She shouldn't feel wonky or uneven. I am sure she will be fine but if in any doubt have a chat with your farrier. x
 
Rounding the fronts isn't always a bad thing, if she's just taking the horn back to the breakover point. If you are willing to build up her work slowly, the hooves do respond by growing faster, so you can hack for some distance without wearing the hooves to bloody nubs (some endurance riders compete barefoot after all). In fact I got to the point with mine that I cannot do enough hours roadwork to get her to be self trimming, she just grows even more horn.

If she is footy and sorting her diet doesn't help, then you could boot her fronts or shoe the fronts. It's not a problem to have the fronts booted/shod and the hinds bare.
 
Yep the horse I ride only has fronts on - he always feels even and his feet are in good condition. Hack out on the roads with only fronts on and no issues either.

I'm no expert so cant give a good explanation why you'd do fronts only vs a full set - just seems to me like he has good feet anyway so doesnt need hinds on, he's happy and farrier is happy so no need to spend extra money on shoes he doesnt need!
 
Welcome back into the land of the living, I too spent last year being poisoned and burnt to a crisp.

My mare had her shoes taken off March last year when I had surgery, rode her barefoot in May before all the treatment started and she was foot sore, put fronts on her and then managed to ride her on week 3 of each chemo session she was fine. Eventually I was too poorly to ride her and the farrier took the fronts off.

I started again early December barefoot and she self trims. She did have a sore week or two but I have found the more I do with her the better she is. She remains barefoot, I am £75 better off every 5 weeks, she does not slip on the roads and she strides out better.

I hope you continue to get stronger, it takes longer than I thought it would ! Very best wishes.
 
Lots of people ride with just front shoes. Back feet do better as there is less actual weight on them, plus they work harder propelling the horse forwards, so they adapt quicker than front feet - or so I was told.
 
Yes, in fact it is very common. Ive found that most riding school ponies have just the fronts on, my last 3 ponies just had fronts. Never felt uneven at all or wonky compared to my barefoot horses, or when I took one of them barefoot.
 
My first ever post on H&H was about my mare's shoeing disaster when I decided to put fronts on her. The summer here was extremely dry and she started to struggle over all the shrapnel sharp stones on the road, so I decided to put shoes on her fronts. The farrier that turned up was an absolute joke, though I didn't find out until I got to the stables after work. Shoes came off immediately and I bought her a nice pair of hoof boots instead, much happier horse! But to answer the question, it's normal to shoe just the fronts but it sounds like she might not need shoes if she gets a trim and a bit more adjustment time :)
 
Thanks to all of you, espec AdorableAlice!! Glad to hear that you also came out the other side! :D Cancer really is dreadful isn't it! I too was burnt to a crisp for eight weeks and poisoned, couldn't even sit down for 6 months so am very relieved I can at last ride! Horses gave me something to live for! Anyway, that's by the by, I am now wondering if I should even bother with fronts. Ever since I spoke to the farrier I've been umming and arring!? It seems a shame to have nails driven thru her feet which seem in their best shape in 19 years. I guess in the end it is up to me! Thanks for the food for thought!
 
I too only have fronts on my boys and we go out for rides of upto 8 hours at a time. The only time we have had any problems with soreness was when we went to Exmoor with them and some of the stone tracks were uncomfortable - so we did a lot of in hand walking on those tracks. Other than that we go over all terrains and have no problems at all.
 
It is nice that you are better. My gelding was rode for around 2 years, hacking out for hours around 3/4 times a week with just fronts. It was fab. He eventually got a bit footsore so I now have all four, but he lasted a good few years before this, so it should be fine! It all depends on how the horse goes I suppose.
 
It's good to hear you are back in the saddle! :)
As others have said, if you take your time building up the hacking, her feet will grow as much as they need to keep up. Is it possible that the "rounding" is just plain her wearing her own breakover, which would be a good thing?
I'm one of those peeps that does Endurance barefoot; I put boots on the fronts if necessary, but have done quite a few rides without. And I know about granitey Aberdeenshire tracks! ;)
 
Glad your on the mend :)

I took my mares back shoes off a couple of years ago for the winter and never put them back on! We hack out on tarmac roads and never had a problem, saved me a fortune & I don't have the worry of her over reaching & hurting herself if she has a maddy in the field or when we are galloping etc. My advice would be to leave them off and see how she goes- you can always have them put back on if you feel shes a bit 'footy!'.
 
I have a 10yr old who has never been shod and I have tried to build up her hacking without needing shoes but as she stupidly paws the ground when she eats I've had to give in and put fronts on. I have another one who was unshod for over a year but also struggled hacking so has had just fronts on for a couple of years. Her hind feet are white but cope fine without shoes and it helps reduce slipping on the road by only having fronts rather than a full set.

Glad to hear you are well enough to start riding again, enjoy.
 
Both of mine are shod only on the front, although am considering putting backs on my mare as she'll be doing more work, and is footy on our gravel drovers tracks.

In other news, I went through same as you, about 6 years back. Take it easy and don't expect to do too much too soon. Don't beat yourself up if you can't get back to where you were straight away, just do what you enjoy doing. Glad to hear you're getting back in the saddle! (You too AA) Good luck xx
 
When brining my horse bacl to worl after a bad injury he had just fronts on.

I know lots of horse that too just have fronts on.
If horse copes grate, better for their feet and cheaper for you!
 
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