rubber shoes?

noblesteed

noblesteed

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So the nightmare farrier has apologised profusely for messing me about. And, scratching his head and thinking about why my horse is always losing shoes despite living in overreach boots, he now thinks my horse is twisting his back feet on the ground, so causing the shoes to twist off. My horse does have a slightly unusual gait, he is a little 'tight' behind and his hocks are wide (opposite of cow-hocked!). The farrier has had some success remedying this by putting trailers on back feet.
Anyway his latest suggestion is rubber shoes - rubber with aluminium inside. Does anyone have any experience of these? I am slightly concerned that they may be too grippy, if the horse is trying to 'twist' his foot on contact with the ground and can't, will he end up twisting elsewhere?
I am tempted to try barefoot behind, so the farrier is giving us 2 weeks to try barefoot and see how horsey gets on, while he waits for the rubber shoes to arrive - then he will fit them if needed.
So, bearing in mind we are hacking 50% of the time on roads, my options now are -

aim for barefoot,
try the rubber shoes;
OR get a 2nd opinion!
 
Go barefoot. All of mine are barefoot and although they all wear boots in front some of the time, it's very very rare that they need them behind, even the TB who has totally rubbish feet (slowly improving!). The only time I've put back boots on was when a car rally used our hacking and reduced it to what looked like a dry river bed.
 
Like you I'd be concerned that he'll strain something higher up if the rubber shoes increase his grip on the roads (which they will, I had them on a pony many years ago & the effect of the extra grip was something that the farrier discussed with me in quite a lot of detail). Have you mentioned your worry to the farrier?

I'd give unshod behind a try, though a fortnight isn't very long. Would you consider boots behind for roadwork if he needed some protection to begin with?
 
hmm yes I have been looking at hoofboots a lot lately - i got shires equiboot for front foot shoe-loss emergencies after we had a suspected bruised sole.

I would prob get a decent pair of glove boots for backs if I go that route as the equiboot falls off easily!
 
My mare twists her hind feet, and the one time I tried hind boots on her she just twisted them round - the boot grips the ground and the hoof twists inside it.
 
What to do then? The farrier seems to think rubber shoes will help...
My horse doesn't twist his feet THAT much, not really noticeably.
My friend's horse does it and it's so noticeable but he doesn't lose his shoes at all.
 
I've only ever heard of rubber shoes for horses doing stage work etc and used to muffle the noise, so I cant really give advice on them for this purpose ..

I had one who would constantly pull shoes and over-reach and in the end (upon farriers suggestion) I literally taped the shoe onto the foot and then put over reach boots on ! A bit like how you would use tape over a poultice to stop wet getting in and it worked a treat !
 
Would second over reach boots - Pro Choice do some very tough ones - used them on my thoroughbred who had absolutely dreadful action - how he raced I will never know - they seemed to do the trick.
 
I'd go barefoot behind, most horses manage perfectly OK but I would agree 2 weeks isn't very long to make the transition. Horse's hooves are meant to slide and move when they contact the floor, it decreases concussion and reduces wear and tear on the joints. I personally would not put rubber shoes on for fear of causing damage elsewhere.
 
I seem to recall a few horses I knew of about 10 yrs or so ago that had the rubber shoes when they first came out- I don't think they were that sucessfull, and they were also very expensive.

If he has trailered heels behind ( my horse has these as he loves the support and lift from them) your horse will get lots and lots of leverage to give extra lift, which in your case may make your horse pick up and twist his feet/legs too much meaning lost shoes- if it were my horse I think I would either ask Farrier to put more of a normal shoe on the hind feet = less leverage- and see if that makes a difference, failing that I'd either speak with my Vet and get Vet/farrier to work together, or get a 2nd opinion from another Farrier and go from there- it must be difficult for you to decide what to do for the best! very tricky situation- hope you get it sorted.
 
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