to shoe or not to shoe??? HELP x

[LittleMouse]

sorry its wordy...please bear with :l

well basically i have a connemara cross. he was shod on all fours when we got him (4 years ago) but we had to remove the backs after a year because he went to a riding school. now we have recently moved yards and the ground is more stoney. his back feet have craked up quite badly (mainly chips with a few small cracks) the largest chip comes almost half way up the hoof at its highest point. however, his hoofs are quite dry, and this summer for the first time they have noticibely (sorry, spelling lol) begining to crack up around the nails on his front feet and a little bit around the edge near the shoe, however not as much as his back feet. should i put back shoes on him? im just worried coz they have cracked up quite a lot after just one week. im just worried that they will crack up around the nails if he has shoes, i dont think his hooves are particullarly strong or good quality. i have tried things like effol and kevin bacon...didnt really work. has anybody used the Worlds Best Hoof Oil? it looks good. any advice will be nice thanks guys xx

 

[welshies]

Only you know your horse and your situation (riding over winter etc). But the experience I have with mine is while he wasn't used muchover winter I used to remove them then have them back on in summer, this year for the first time in 13 years I left them off all year as I bought a house and was too busy to do much and his feet are best they have ever been! The slight crack in 1 front has gone, he has had that sinse he was 2! Will have them back o for the summer if I'm doing more as he doesn't cope with the stoney lane but will always give him a break. My farrier agrees its good to give them a break. As for hoof oil Kevin bacons has been the miracle cream for me this year with almost no rain, farrier noticed a huge difference and I didn't even tell him. I have a shire who used to split a little due to the sheer weight of him, uned KB all year and no probe. Same with sec d.

 

[FionaM12]

Littlemouse, have you asked your farrier's opinion of the cracks and chips? I'd call the farrier out if my horse's hooves were cracking so that he could trim or shoe if he thought it was needed.

 

[almrc]

Ditto above, also check the horses diet to make sue they are getting all the correct supplements, sometimes their feet can be bad due to lack of supplements. When I first got one of my horses her feet were like this