Taking shoes off before turning away

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KRjumpjump

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I'm thinking of turning my boy away for a year as he has hock problems and I can't afford to carry on injecting at the moment. He had his shoes off last year for a few weeks as he needed X-rays and he was VERY footy, he could barely walk on a hard surface. I'm really reluctant to keep his shoes on while he's turned away though so I was wondering if they all start out like this and if so how long does it take for them to get used to it? Are they generally better walking around on grass?
Is there anything I can do before he's turned away to make him more comfortable?
Obviously if he needs to keep them on then I will just have to do it.
Thanks in advance.
 
Hello.
My horse was diagnosed with spavins and changes in both hocks 4.5 yrs ago. Total nightmare as he was never one of those inject and get on with it cases. Vet bill ended up at 5k.
He had always been shod and was very very footy if shoes came off for X Ray's etc. I was adamant he always needed shoes and he always had remedial shoes.
When my money ran out I had no choice but to turn him away to 20 acres of grass with 10 other geldings. They had a rule of no shoes so had no choice. He was hopping coming off the Lorry but seemed okay as went charging off thru the field. He was turned away for a year and I only saw him 3 or 4 times in that period so didn't really notice if he was footy or not.
I decided to bring him back into work and got him shod before he had even left the retirement field. He was okay for 5/6 months but not 100% he then went lame again. I was going to have him pts but decided to turn him away again for winter and shoes off again etc. Then this time when I brought him back farrier said why are you bothering with shoes?? And I was gobsmacked. Fast forward to now (14months later) he is bare foot and the soundest he has been in a long long time!! Fully hackable in all paces across all terrain.
Sorry have gone off point a bit but turning away and taking shoes off a horse that I thought always had to be shod has been the best thing I have done!!
 
To me this has always been such a strange question.... it really ought to be "should I keep shoes ON for turning away?"

20 years ago you would only shoe horses in hard work. I mean hard as well - not an hour a day 7 days a week. That's not work IMO.

Since then, Tarmac got laid down nationwide, and is fantastic so if your doing roadwork and schoolwork, horses should not really need a set of shoes. If your off out on gnarly tracks all day then maybe but you see so many endurance horses doing that with no shoes you wonder what's the point.

Shoes have a place for compromised hooves, so, that's what you need to establish. I find it hard to imagine the horse on soft pasture being turned away, that would actually "need" shoes.

I think it depends on your farrier... one that needs your money will always tell you their hooves will deteriorate in the mud. One that has brains and has some decent background will probably say "turned away horses need a trim and that's that". People who want horses that can work without shoes altogether will use their own brains and come to a conclusion that will suit both themselves and their horse. Whatever that is.

If joints are your problem, you need to really consider if hoof pain and compensatory motions is a contributory factor in that. Only you can decide ultimately so take some time to really think about stuff.
 
KPLequine said:
I'm thinking of turning my boy away for a year as he has hock problems and I can't afford to carry on injecting at the moment. He had his shoes off last year for a few weeks as he needed X-rays and he was VERY footy, he could barely walk on a hard surface. I'm really reluctant to keep his shoes on while he's turned away though so I was wondering if they all start out like this and if so how long does it take for them to get used to it? Are they generally better walking around on grass?
Is there anything I can do before he's turned away to make him more comfortable?
Obviously if he needs to keep them on then I will just have to do it.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

we have two here where the shoes were taking off, one tendon, my boy the other a livery who does get footy.
 
Yes I'd take off shoes and turn away. My mare was on the previous yard for a little while and she seemed fine although the surfaces were clear I've not flinty etc. I conditioned her feet a little bit over that time and she seemed OK, a bit footy when lunged for vet check but otherwise comfortable enough. She's seemed to manage fine whilst turned away too, again a bit footy for vet check but that's to be expected as I haven't done any conditioning on surfaces to toughen her feet up.
 
When I bought my daughter's pony it lost a shoe and it was utterly crippled. I kept her shod until about December and took them off. She was just out in the field all winter. When she came back into work in the spring her feet were much better and she has been BF for over a year now. You've got nothing to lose with trying it. If you are truly turning him away and won't be dragging him up stoney tracks every day I would think he will be fine.
 
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