Slipping on Tarmac ........ Help!!!

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Nativelover

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When I first got my horse, he slipped on the Tarmac on the lane to the stables and other lanes that aren't 'roads'.
I've tried nail studs, road nails etc and they've not worked that well. Farrier also mentioned they can alter the way the foot lands.
I've had his shoes taken off for about a year due to my lack of time and confidence to ride.
I've had to put his shoes back on as he's feeling the stones on our rides.
Front shoes on and it's back to slipping again. Doesn't bother my horse I have to say! But it bothers me, and I don't know what I can do about it!!??
Non of the other horses slip like he does, could it be simply just the shoes? Or nails used??
He didn't do this in his last home but they had proper 'Road ' Tarmac. Anyone had this problem??
 
Could be an SMA surface which is extremely slippy for horses. The BHS guidelines say it shouldn't be used on roads used by horses. Our lovely council have resurface a few roads locally with SMA despite it being a very horsey area. We've have had them back to 'brush' the top surface off a meter wide strip down either side this takes off the slippery top surface which exposes a more grippy layer.
 
Agree with farrier, you can't use studs on fronts, I would start him on minerals Pro Hoof from progressive earth, and try barefoot again. Start with the hinds.
Wear knee boots and keep a contact when walking on slippy roads.
 
I would go barefoot again and use hoof boots, one thing that they are great for is tarmac. I would also boot up every time you ride out, I use westrop knee brushing boots for all roadwork as our lanes are very slippery.
 
Interesting your council has been so helpful, pass the shampoo.
Tungsten on the shoes may help. Your farrier can put it in,but it does add to the cost.
 
Nativelover said:
When I first got my horse, he slipped on the Tarmac on the lane to the stables and other lanes that aren't 'roads'.
I've tried nail studs, road nails etc and they've not worked that well. Farrier also mentioned they can alter the way the foot lands.
I've had his shoes taken off for about a year due to my lack of time and confidence to ride.
I've had to put his shoes back on as he's feeling the stones on our rides.
Front shoes on and it's back to slipping again. Doesn't bother my horse I have to say! But it bothers me, and I don't know what I can do about it!!??
Non of the other horses slip like he does, could it be simply just the shoes? Or nails used??
He didn't do this in his last home but they had proper 'Road ' Tarmac. Anyone had this problem??
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I would speak to the farrier or vet as he might have another pain issue which has altered the way he walks and places his feet. In the meantime put knee boots on.
 
Barefoot for me too. If your horse was footy then you might not have got the diet quite right. Mine is fine most of the time but can get footy if he's had too much grass
 
I use hoofboots and the very slippery roads around us are no longer a problem. I used to hate coming down some of the hills and he sheared off frost nails, but with boots he is fine. I did try having the tungsten added to his shoes at one time but it made his feet crack even more than they did before, due to the jarring. Feet breaking up all the time was the reason I took his shoes off.
 
It's not on 'public' roads that he slips, it's more the farm lanes and country lanes that he skates on. Some worse than others!! He's got great feet so no problems there but would feel the stones if going over stones ground.
It's a shame as we had managed for so long without shoes!
It's not the grass either as this started before the fields were open.
I've got knee boots so I'll stick those on and try and keep him on the verge when we are on slippy ground.
There's no problem on the main roads, he doesn't slip on those, wierd really!!
Thanks for your suggestions!
 
from I have seen and heard, horses who have shoes on after bf do tend to slip more as they have relied on the natural grip of their hoof and frog.

Shod horses who are used to shoes place their feet differently.

I'm sure your horse will learn to walk in metal soon enough.
 
tallyho! said:
from I have seen and heard, horses who have shoes on after bf do tend to slip more as they have relied on the natural grip of their hoof and frog.

Shod horses who are used to shoes place their feet differently.

I'm sure your horse will learn to walk in metal soon enough.
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I am pro barefoot, there are so many benefits to horse health: there may be blips and owner has to micro manage the horse for a short time including grazing/stabling/feeding/mineral or hoof boots, the expense may even be the same as shoeing and a bit more work, but if the horse health is improved then it must be worth it and you will not be faced with "lost shoe syndrome", the day before an important weekend competition.
Yes the horse may adapt to wearing steel, he will do this by adjusting from his natural long confident stride to a short choppy stride, and that is not ideal. They may not adjust, I rode a big trekking cob last year and she strode out alarmingly downhill, having been barefoot for most of her early life.
 
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We've also got some very slippy roads, I have tungsten nails in now and they are brilliant but i do have to keep my horse "together" . I sometimes ride with a friend who's horse is unshod and her horse sometimes slips,unfortunately some road surfaces can become extremely slippy. I am neither pro nor anti BF but I do take exception to the suggestion that horses adapt to "wearing steel by adjusting from a confident stride to a short choppy stride" this is just not true.
 
oldie48 said:
We've also got some very slippy roads, I have tungsten nails in now and they are brilliant but i do have to keep my horse "together" . I sometimes ride with a friend who's horse is unshod and her horse sometimes slips,unfortunately some road surfaces can become extremely slippy. I am neither pro nor anti BF but I do take exception to the suggestion that horses adapt to "wearing steel by adjusting from a confident stride to a short choppy stride" this is just not true.
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I am exaggerating to emphasise the method they use to adapt, but as I say above they do not all adapt.
I would not want to use nails as they increase and concentrate the pressure in a tiny area, and shoes contribute to overall concussion.
Once I got my boy barefoot I was happy to trot on the roads, which was 90% of my hacking at one yard. Other than that I used roadwork to harden limbs, eg by walking hunters for eight weeks after summer break, and built up to two hours walking per day. We never trotted racehorses on roads or tracks as this we wanted them to remain sound as long as they were racing.
http://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/houston-police-horses-all-barefoot/
 
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Bonkers2 said:
I am pro barefoot, there are so many benefits to horse health: there may be blips and owner has to micro manage the horse for a short time including grazing/stabling/feeding/mineral or hoof boots, the expense may even be the same as shoeing and a bit more work, but if the horse health is improved then it must be worth it and you will not be faced with "lost shoe syndrome", the day before an important weekend competition.
Yes the horse may adapt to wearing steel, he will do this by adjusting from his natural long confident stride to a short choppy stride, and that is not ideal. They may not adjust, I rode a big trekking cob last year and she strode out alarmingly downhill, having been barefoot for most of her early life.
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I think you will find that I am a huge bf fan...

I'm just trying to explain why horses slip when first shod. No, some may never adjust, however the majority do.
 
OK, your horse, your choice. I was just concerned that your comment was rather prejudiced. Actually I've personally not seen a horse that didn't adapt to being shod, I've seen some terrible shoeing that has appalled me and frankly feel there are farriers out there who should be "struck off" on welfare grounds as well as competence. I have also seen a horse which was being badly transitioned "rocked back on his heels" and in a huge amount of pain being walked for miles so his feet could adjust. Every time the horse started to look a bit sounder the BF trimmer came and wacked another load of horn off and crippled it again! Surely what we all want is a happy healthy sound horse and there are many ways to achieve that.
 
tallyho! said:
from I have seen and heard, horses who have shoes on after bf do tend to slip more as they have relied on the natural grip of their hoof and frog.

Shod horses who are used to shoes place their feet differently.

I'm sure your horse will learn to walk in metal soon enough.
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This is interesting because Lana was shod for 6 months in 2013 and 2014 to compete at endurance. She used to slip all the time, even on grass when she was shod. I assumed it was because she has such a long stride and has a pronounced heel first landing which makes her slip. She obviously never got used to metal on her feet! She's back barefoot this summer as I'm not competing her and hardly slips at all!
 
oldie48 said:
OK, your horse, your choice. I was just concerned that your comment was rather prejudiced. Actually I've personally not seen a horse that didn't adapt to being shod, I've seen some terrible shoeing that has appalled me and frankly feel there are farriers out there who should be "struck off" on welfare grounds as well as competence. I have also seen a horse which was being badly transitioned "rocked back on his heels" and in a huge amount of pain being walked for miles so his feet could adjust. Every time the horse started to look a bit sounder the BF trimmer came and wacked another load of horn off and crippled it again! Surely what we all want is a happy healthy sound horse and there are many ways to achieve that.
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Good post, BF is not for every horse, nor are shoes, we all have to be open minded. Most BF horses I see are slightly lame and uncomfortable out ridden on hard ground.
 
Clodagh said:
Good post, BF is not for every horse, nor are shoes, we all have to be open minded. Most BF horses I see are slightly lame and uncomfortable out ridden on hard ground.
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Well my horse was never lame, barefoot or shod [one abscess excepted], it took him 12 months to be fully rock crunching and I always let him pick his route up a track, believe me if he had been lame or in any difficulty he would have let me know!
I did have him on one estate where they used free rubbish from house demolition to repair tracks and my farrier told me he would not manage on that estate, but I think he would have after a year. They were so bad in places that he had to select his route even when shod, he was fine on good forestry tracks after a year, walk or trot, but at first would be careful where he was walking. If he was being careful I would not have trotted.
Yes I have seen a few horses struggling, horrible feet, and I don't view these as barefoot, they are neglected and abused, but to be honest I have seen a lot more horses badly neglected and shod, purely due to the fact that more horses are shod than unshod.
I have seen people shoe one front foot and the horse walks away with one worn shoe and one new one, the owners [including BHS approved RS] have no idea that could cause damage or don't give a damn, it is all about saving a few pounds. They are saving nothing, unless they continue to shoe alternate feet!
I went to a vet night, they showed a video of a lunge on hard surface, asked audience to vote [using an electronic buzzer], I was one of 45% who agreed that horse was lame [behind], 55% voted horse was sound!
 
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I have to say that my BF ponies slip less on sheet ice than most shod horses slip on tarmac. It's downright dangerous. If we'd had tarmac roads when horse shoes were invented, they'd have gone back to the drawing board.
Try hoof boots.
 
pennyturner said:
I have to say that my BF ponies slip less on sheet ice than most shod horses slip on tarmac. It's downright dangerous. If we'd had tarmac roads when horse shoes were invented, they'd have gone back to the drawing board.
Try hoof boots.
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Agreed, that sheet ice test is very scary though, I don't think I would do it voluntarily :)
 
I haven't done it deliberately (unlike you, I'm not Bonkers, hehe). Sometimes you realise when it's too late, and it's riskier to get off - knocking the pony off balance, and dismounting onto ice, which is never going to go well - than stay on board and trust the pony to get you to safety.
 
A few years ago on a fun ride on a barefoot horse, we really struggled coming down a very steep grassy hill- the grass was short, dry and sheep grazed (typical welsh hill), and we were overtaken by all the shod horses as we 'zig-zagged' slowly down it...anyway made it out onto the road, and surefootedly overtook all the shod horses that were skating down the smooth tarmac, very steep road- its horses for courses- having said that- I would never had been able to ride either terrain had my horse been wearing hoof boots!!! That's if I had managed to keep them on at anything more than a trot!
 
My boy is exactly the same when the road is wet its fine but on dry sunny road the metal apparently reacts with the tarmac causing it too be slippy - the opposite of cars.
- I've also put it down to the way mine walks he doesn't pick up his feet all the time!
 
Lintel said:
My boy is exactly the same when the road is wet its fine but on dry sunny road the metal apparently reacts with the tarmac causing it too be slippy - the opposite of cars.
- I've also put it down to the way mine walks he doesn't pick up his feet all the time!
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A whole new thread Lintel :)
 
Clodagh said:
Good post, BF is not for every horse, nor are shoes, we all have to be open minded. Most BF horses I see are slightly lame and uncomfortable out ridden on hard ground.
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That's not good at all :( Poor horses.

At this time of year I generally boot to ride on the rough as I keep mine out on the grass so I know she will be slightly footy on that sort of surface. I would have thought an owner of a bf horse would have the capacity to manage footiness and know when the horse needs protection or not. It's not like they have protection permanently like shod horses do so if you want to "do" bf, you should be mindful of that.

On tarmac she is 100%. I ride mainly on tarmac. However - it does remind me that she does walk very differently to a shod horse as she has never been shod. She only knows how to walk like she walks. Quite high stepping and bouncy as she knows she has grip and she doesn't ever look where she is going! Her feet are so hard they sound like coconuts!! (You know, like you do when you're pretending a horse is trotting by when you were little? No? Just me and Monty Python then...) I honestly think if I shod her now we would be like bambi on ice... legs all over the place :D
 
pennyturner said:
I have to say that my BF ponies slip less on sheet ice than most shod horses slip on tarmac. It's downright dangerous. If we'd had tarmac roads when horse shoes were invented, they'd have gone back to the drawing board.
Try hoof boots.
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My horse can walk trot and canter very happily on Tarmac in shoes and without it makes, to my horses ,very little difference .
Slopes on wet slightly long grass is where I see the biggest difference BF can be lethal in those circumstances and my horses will pull themselves up when they BF which is fine if they feel it's not safe it's a good for them to do .
Mine are unusual as they go BF and back to shoes within every year so they well used to adjusting .
I have three horses just starting work ATM BF after two months holiday shoes came off at the beginning if the holiday and one starting a shoeing break next week ( his first since I bought him ) it will be interesting to see how he copes as he's not stopping work completely ,I am hoping to keep him light work .
 
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