Rubber shoes?!

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Zaf

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After I made a complaint to our local authority about the lack of grip for my horses on the roads around here (despite 2 road nails in each shoe) I was advised that the council believed rubber shoes were available and I should consider getting some - anyone heard of such a thing, I'm not thinking of the boot things that Ive used in the past on odd occasions for various reasons (and hate), but they are telling me I can get rubber shoes!

Before writing back telling them they are mistaken (possibly not quite so politely) has anyone any info on such things?! If so I feel they would be totally impractical for a driving horse that gets through a set of shoes in 4 weeks, any comments on that??!!
 
They could mean the 'boots' you put on horses' feet, like old macs although these aren't really rubber! You can get some special shoes made of rubber that look similar to the material running trainers are made with but I have never seen any in the UK, though I believe they are used for endurance riding in America though some people debate against their use saying horses aren't designed to have this much padding on their feet. These are the closest things to rubber shoes I can think of. Then again the council might just not know what they were talking about!
 
I think the latter and a way of squirming out of admitting the roads arent up to par. I thought it was worth asking though, the US does seem a logical place to look though, thanks, I'll do a google.

Ive only ever seen boots, as opposed to shoes, and although have used them occasionally I wouldnt want to use them regularly, certainly not for a driving horse, I can imagine the grip might be better but definitely negated by all the disadvantages I can think of.
 
I have just dug out and a shoe that was given to me.It is a glue on shoe but is rubber coated it is the only rubber sort of shoe that i have seen.

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thanks - any idea of the details or a web site I can look on?

I imagine stick on would mean superglue like the old plastic shoes? In which case wouldnt part of the hoof surface need to be cut away to remove them each time?

Is it metal covered with rubber?
 
It is very light so i would say probaly a alluminium plate (similar to racing plates) covered in hard rubber.As for fitting it i have no idea!.Might be tricky to get a hoof to fit into it without reshaping the shoe or hoof.
 
The shoes Rema posted pictures of, my friend used them on her horse for awhile when he had very poor feet, the shoes fell off every few days and the farrier was constantly back to stick them back on again, highly annoying! Fortunately his foot problem resolved in a few weeks and he went back to normal nail on shoes!
 
You can indeed get rubber shoes. A SJer I used to work for used them initially on her stallion and then switched to trying them on the SJers for their hacking work.

They got absolutly slated by our vets however because there is zero "give" in them. When the horse puts its foot down, it stops.. theres no slight sliding, it just stops dead and we were told this was extremely damging for the leg (the horses foot will naturally allow for some degree of slipping.. rubber shoes do not and therefore jar the legs quite badly)

They were all removed and ive certainly never had any inclination to try them again :P
 
There is a farrier in the North East who appears to try and put rubber shoes on most things he shoes. These particular ones are Green and Yellow. Faily hard wearing I believe but I would agree with the slipping (or lack of) factor that someone mentioned earlier
 
I have witnessed this 'dead stopping' too Tierra and it was very obvious early on that altthough the owner wanted these rubber shoes predominently for walk and trot hacking they were actually jarring her horses feet and legs up even when just in walk.

In theory they sound like a wonderful idea but sadly in practice they are way too grippy and restrictive. I certainly wouldnt use them.
 
Years ago we used some plastic/rubber shoes on my Mum's mare. they were made in Denmark, and had an aluminium housing which was nailed on to the foot in the usual way, and then the plastic insert was clipped in (you could get different inserts with studs etc depending on the type of use required). They were brilliant for a few months, as the stuff they were made of reduced concussion by 300% and she was really comfortable in them. However, eventually she went lame and the farrier said that it was because there was no slip at all between the heel of the shoe and the surface of the road, and so any rotational movement was absorbed further up the leg.
It's really sad that modern technology can't find an alternative to good old metal shoes that have been used for centuries!
 
It might be that your roads have been resurfaced using SMA - a special mix of tarmac that is noise reducing for local residents but very slippy for horses with metal shoes. You can report the problem to the BHS (http://www.bhs.org.uk/Content/Ods-More.asp?id=2591&pg=Safety&spg=Information&area=5)

Your council has a duty of care to all road users, including horse riders and as such have to take your complaint seriously. Telling you to fit rubber shoes is nonsense.

If SMA is the problem then there are a number of steps the council can take, including adding grit to the top layer to reduce slip. There's also evidence that SMA becomes less slippy the longer its been laid.

In the meantime I've found that roads are slippier after a prelonged period without rain, coupled with heating from the sun. The part of the road that is most often in shadow will be safer. You should also find the road less slippy towards the middle that is less worn by tyres. I ride right down the middle of our village road as the sides are too slippy. Its a quiet road though and if a car comes I do move across. When the road is too slippy I've been known to go onto the pavements - again not legal but better than my horse slipping over on the road. All these options are assuming very quiet roads with virtually no traffic. On busier roads your options are much more limited. But if your council keep fobbing you off then get the BHS involved.
 
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