Thinking of taking of my horses back shoes

[Ly1327]

I’ve been thinking off taking her back shoes of a while now. I’ve had my girl for six years now and she’s always had all shoes on, but we don’t do a huge amount. I probably ride about once or twice a week. We will hopefully be going out hacking more with the weather starting to get better, but even then we will usually probably hack once a week and once in the arena.

My only concern is that she has got a long standing rear hock injury (it's a bit like arthritis’s) which I treat with bute everyday and the vet does check it when they come out and they don’t have any concerns. It doesn’t tend to effect her to much at all. I do tend to give her a longer warm up when I ride in the arena as well. My concern is that taking the back shoes off might put more pressure on her hock.

any advice? I will be speaking to my farrier about it when I see him next time.

 

[meleeka]

I’ve always only shod in front. I think your farrier is the best one to advise, but you can always go back if it doesn’t suit your horse.

 

[Equi]

It may work or it may not. The hammering could be worse for her hock but the bare foot may wear incorrectly and exacerbate it too. It’s one of those “see what happens” type of scenarios. You can always put them back on again but barefoot is nearly always preferable.

 

[Bobthecob15]

a friends horse has hock arthritis. 2 different farriers she’s used over the years have said they are better off barefoot on back legs if rear hock issues. Not sure is specifically arthritis but your farrier should be able to advise you. She’s only got her horse shod in front x