Shoes lasting ages!

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Ninni1995

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Hey everyone, I need some advise. My boy has front shoes on, usually done every 8weeks. I went to check when he would need doing next the other day and realised he is 3 weeks overdue (oops). The strange thing is- his feet are perfect! Nails are still in, shoes tight and not worn down, toe isn't over the edge at all! It's as if they had just been done!
I understand that their feet grow slower in the winter, just like our hair and nails do, but has anyone ever experienced this?

And just a disclaimer, my farrier has seen images of his feet and said he is in no rush to come out.
 
Ninni1995 said:
Hey everyone, I need some advise. My boy has front shoes on, usually done every 8weeks. I went to check when he would need doing next the other day and realised he is 3 weeks overdue (oops). The strange thing is- his feet are perfect! Nails are still in, shoes tight and not worn down, toe isn't over the edge at all! It's as if they had just been done!
I understand that their feet grow slower in the winter, just like our hair and nails do, but has anyone ever experienced this?

And just a disclaimer, my farrier has seen images of his feet and said he is in no rush to come out.
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I normally get my horse shod every six weeks winter, and five summer. He has excellent feet, he is a WB so strong and well balanced, but they grow so fast. Coupled with that he has lateral extensions on his hinds and a lateral support mid sole on his off fore (to support his current injury) so they are £75 per time, so if I can stretch the time I would, but I have never managed to go much over the five/six weeks.
 
Current horse - every 6 weeks, religiously she is a woosy pants TB.
Historically though (and this is quite shaming) I had a 12.2 that just didn't grow much foot, we didn't do huge amounts of roadwork so the shoes didn't get worn, her record was 6 months... and only then because she lost 1 out hunting.
 
Not having a go at you Ninni1995 because before I knew better I used to leave my horse 8 or 9 weeks. But just because you can last for two or three months doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Hooves need to be kept trimmed or their rapid growth (1/4 “ per month) can cause them to flake or chip and cause chunks to come off. If this happens your horse can become lame.

Humans who wear shoes that don’t fit them can have problems with balance and spinal health, and this also applies to horses. Overgrown hooves can also lead to strained tendons and ligaments.

So whilst attempting to save money by not shoeing every six weeks and leaving it as long as possible, in the long run it is false economy.
 
I don't think OP is trying to extend shoeing time applecart - just saying that if no foot has grown do they have to be done.
Not all horses grow hoof at the "normal" rate if the farrier is happy then they MAY be able to go longer. No point taking a shoe off and ending up putting extra holes in the same area of the hoof to put it back on, or trimming hoof too short for the sake of it.
 
We normally get ours done every 8 weeks, their feet don't grow terribly quickly. I think Jazz's record is 13 weeks though ... we were in the middle of organising the great pony move so it slipped my mind, and then it took a while to get the farrier booked!
 
Feet with thick walls that have a conformation where they grow down rather than spread will hold shoes on for ages. In my youth I had a Fell whose feet grew like that and I'm afraid he often got left a long time between shoeings as I didn't have much money so didn't buy new shoes until I really had to. He was tough enough not to come to any harm from it fortunately.
 
I was going to say something similar. Mine is done every 7 weeks and her hooves grow straight down (ie they don't splay and crack, they just get longer in their original hoof shape).
However I would still stick to shoeing regularly at 7 weeks because there is always a good amount of hoof to come off, even if the shoes were tight.
 
My last TB went 8-10 weeks in winter, and about 7-8 weeks in summer.

I didn't hack her out much so her shoes didn't wear down often, and her feet just didn't grow. She only had front shoes on though, I had to put backs on when I started turning her out across the road because the short trip over the road was wearing her feet down faster than they were growing.

Current horse, when she had shoes on, needed shod every 6 weeks religiously as her feet just splayed like dinner plates. She is barefoot now and I try to leave it as long as possible before I have her trimmed, she wears them down herself on the road.
 
Never ever more than five weeks and I don't do fast work in the fifth week unless I can't avoid it .
The thought of a horses foot balance after thirteen weeks is giving me palpations .
 
Take the shoes off and feed for growth, I like to see hoof growth, but every horse varies, mine were booked in every 6 weeks, and sometimes were left by farrier, who attended every week.
My hunter did road work, and I had to hack six miles cross country to farrier, so it was a matter of shoes wearing out.
Barefoot horses can often manage with a little help from "road rasp"
 
Goldenstar said:
Never ever more than five weeks and I don't do fast work in the fifth week unless I can't avoid it .
The thought of a horses foot balance after thirteen weeks is giving me palpations .
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You don't do fast work in the 5th week? Why?! I have never heard that before and my horse is in full work whatever the week of his shoeing :O
 
Goldenstar said:
The thought of a horses foot balance after thirteen weeks is giving me palpations .
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Me too. People think they are saving money and it almost gets turned into a competition about whose horse can last longest! But in the long run the damage to the joints and tendons are not worth the money saved.

Just because you can (go 3 months) doesn't mean you should.:eek:
 
See this is why i was always concerned when my farrier said my horses back hooves never needed done. At one point even though i got the farrier out every 6 weeks sometimes more often if the damn horse lost a shoe his back hooves (shoeless) never got done for about 3 months. I kept pointing them out and asking if they were fine (farrier probably got sick of me pestering him) but they never got trimmed until about December. Now i am worried again even though I did ask on here if this is normal and everyone said it is.

He got the front ones done recently and the farrier trimmed the front ones but put the old shoe back on as it was fine apparently.
 
If he's bare behind he will be self trimming to a degree hence not needing a trim. Shod feet can't self trim..

rachk89 said:
See this is why i was always concerned when my farrier said my horses back hooves never needed done. At one point even though i got the farrier out every 6 weeks sometimes more often if the damn horse lost a shoe his back hooves (shoeless) never got done for about 3 months. I kept pointing them out and asking if they were fine (farrier probably got sick of me pestering him) but they never got trimmed until about December. Now i am worried again even though I did ask on here if this is normal and everyone said it is.

He got the front ones done recently and the farrier trimmed the front ones but put the old shoe back on as it was fine apparently.
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Michen said:
If he's bare behind he will be self trimming to a degree hence not needing a trim. Shod feet can't self trim..
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It's just the fact it was about 3 months with nothing and i think the farrier only did something eventually to shut me up. The guy is a great farrier so i doubt he would miss something but it made me worry his hooves weren't growing. The weird freak outs you get with your first horse...
 
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