Shoes on young horses

As above my 4 y o has no shoes and she won't get them unless she can't cope. As a pure dressage horse we rarely 'work' off a surface and we hack off road only too... If she doesn't need them she'll never get them ... Equally if she starts feeling her feet she will be shod then.
 
Hopefully never.

I already have them on a 'BF friendly diet' and I'm willing to build up road work as slowly as required, plus it's highly unlikely that i will do anything with them that needs studs. Both have good hooves and excellent horn quality and are at the moment rock crunching and find an hour or so of walking, with some trotting on tarmac (in-hand for the unbacked one) no trouble at all. I've not had any issues with the sand school either and they both were turned out on it for a few weeks (24/7) a while back. I would also try boots before shoeing either of them.
 
I have fronts put on just before they are to start long reining and then backs put on when they need them, usually a few weeks after the fronts :)
 
for some people it seems to be what they do just because they are starting work.... I have got 2 new forests with lovely bare feet who are starting work,and I hope they will always be barefoot. plan on doing everything with them in the long run.
 
I would only put them on when they need them. My 5 year old is barefoot and she is comfortable on all surfaces, sand school, concrete roads, small/large rocks. My instructor told me to get her fully shod but I asked my farrier and he said there is no point as he said her feet were like concrete! When she starts to compete properly, if she was not coping I would put them on or on farriers/vet recommendation but otherwise she isn't getting them. I really see no point when people put shoes on when their horses start work if their horses are coping fine!
 
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I have fronts on my 4yo as when hacking we have lots of hard stones to walk on, and our driveway is gravel so her feet were chipping a lot. My 17yo has been shod pretty much all her life as she wears unevenly and goes lame.

Only shoe if you need it, why stick nails in perfectly sound hooves unless absolute necessary?
 
Jenna1406 said:
What age would you put shoes on a young horse??

Just a general question. :D
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I wouldn't. I would work out why the horse seems unable to cope with the feet he was born with, which is generally one or more of:

too much grass at a time when their rate of growth has slowed right off and they need less food

too fast an increase in the level of work on abrasive surfaces

too little movement (tiny paddocks, stabled too much)

thrush

undiagnosed metabolic condition (ems, ppid, epsm)

too much sugar in commercial feed

mineral imbalances (most commonly high iron) in grazing and hay.


There will have been a lot of newly backed three and four year olds shod this year for no reason at all, and a lot shod when all they actually needed to work without shoes was to have their carbohydrate intake reduced
 
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When/if they need them, which may be never. I have several teenagers who are still awaiting their first set of shoes...........
 
ycbm said:
I wouldn't. I would work out why the horse seems unable to cope with the feet he was born with, which is generally one or more of:

too much grass at a time when their rate of growth has slowed right off and they need less food

too fast an increase in the level of work on abrasive surfaces

too little movement (tiny paddocks, stabled too much)

thrush

undiagnosed metabolic condition (ems, ppid, epsm)

too much sugar in commercial feed

mineral imbalances (most commonly high iron) in grazing and hay.


There will have been a lot of newly backed three and four year olds shod this year for no reason at all, and a lot shod when all they actually needed to work without shoes was to have their carbohydrate intake reduced
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Agree with all the above other than the fact some horses are "man made" bred for speed or other reasons with disregard for longevity therefore will never be able to cope with the feet they were born with, my 5 year old unshod TB will be having fronts on shortly as he is no longer coping with his workload. It is with regret I will be doing this and he is on a barefoot diet etc, it is the best for him. I would only ever put shoes on if and when required but some horses simply just need them.
 
Mine only got them on as a 5 year old as i tried a couple of events without but she lost confidence if she slipped & it wasn't worth the risk so stod to be able to stud. She still spends the winter unshod & is just shod for the season but it will be her new owners preference this winter.

My now 3 year olds won't get shoes with me i doubt
 
My youngster will be getting her first set of fronts on this weekend and it is only because when we go long reining or our small potter down the road it is all concrete that she has to walk on. Also, when we take her to my OHs place to get into the woods its on a very stoney track to begin with. If I had access straight into woods etc, I wouldnt bother with shoes but I dont want to end up with her having sore feet.
 
Jenna1406 said:
My youngster will be getting her first set of fronts on this weekend and it is only because when we go long reining or our small potter down the road it is all concrete that she has to walk on. Also, when we take her to my OHs place to get into the woods its on a very stoney track to begin with. If I had access straight into woods etc, I wouldnt bother with shoes but I dont want to end up with her having sore feet.
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So she hasn't got sore feet, but you are going to shoe her in case she gets sore feet? Why don't you wait and see how she copes? My horse do fine on concrete and stones. Boots are also a good alternative these days.
 
ycbm said:
So she hasn't got sore feet, but you are going to shoe her in case she gets sore feet? Why don't you wait and see how she copes? My horse do fine on concrete and stones. Boots are also a good alternative these days.
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This! I totally understand it's your horse and have nothing against showing but why shoe your horse when you don't even know they will be sore yet!?
 
Jazmyn101 said:
This! I totally understand it's your horse and have nothing against showing but why shoe your horse when you don't even know they will be sore yet!?
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and if they do get sore you could just pop some boots on the fronts for the short time she is working on difficult ground.
 
Mine got his at 5 - after weeks of trying to get him to cope with gravel/stony pathways. He's much more comfortable with shoes on now and we did try to build up his tolerance in other ways but he was still sore.
 
ycbm said:
So she hasn't got sore feet, but you are going to shoe her in case she gets sore feet? Why don't you wait and see how she copes? My horse do fine on concrete and stones. Boots are also a good alternative these days.
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She struggles on stoney ground! I wouldnt be putting them on "for the fun of it"! If I could get straight into the woods with no road work then I wouldnt bother but as she does "feel her feet" id rather help her out.
 
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