to shoe or not to shoe??? really cant decide.....

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Brambridge04

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All my previous horses have been shod. Current mare is barefoot and was running on forest barefoot till she came to me.

However she has been trimmed but i keeo debating getting her shod even ii
f its just fronts. We do far bit of road work and will be doing a lot of mixed terrain hacking.

Opinions??
 
I wouldnt shoe an already barefoot horse just for the sake of it. Roadwork is not an issue for barefoot horses, infact the more you do the better. If she has healthy feet the new growth will catch up with the extra workload quite quickly.
 
The foot is much healthier without shoes - it can function properly. If you look at slow-mo footage of horses trotting on hard ground you can see just how much the foot absorbs the concussion. With shoes on the force can only travel up the leg, and the joints have to take the concussive force. Plus, having metal weights on the foot causes the flight of the foot and leg to change, thereby altering the natural locomotion of the horse.
 
Brambridge04 said:
I think im paranoid as my previous mare went lame and needed shoeing as she was really down on her frogs. x
Click to expand...

I'm sorry I'm a bit confused as I am not sure what you mean by this?

However it is correct that frogs should touch the ground and it is incorrect for them to be lifted clear of the ground.
 
I think if she has been running on barefoot for such a long time, it would be detrimental and pointless for the horse and your bank balance to put shoes on.

Obviously, if after she is introduced to the kind of work you describe and she struggles - then think about front shoes.....

If it isn't broken....don't try to fix it :D
 
Thats what i was going to say too Lucypriory, the frogs are the shock absorbers of the hoof and should touch the ground. Shoes mean that they dont touch the ground and cant absorb anything, so the shock is absorbed by the joints....
 
Agree agree agree ^^

My old pony went barefoot until we hacked and found he was a little hobbly on the second half of the hack and ta-da decision made!
But no point ruining a nice foot as the chances of you being able to stop shoeing and go back to the nice barefeet later is pretty minimal!!!
 
What i meant by down on her frogs was the farrier said my previos mare was very flat footed and down on her frogs.

Current mare is still a youngster and ran on forest all her life till she came to me.
 
The other option is to keep your mare barefoot and purchase some hoof boots if you feel that she is uncomfortable with the increased work. This way she is comfortable when worked yet gets to stay barefoot for the other 23 hours a day when she is at leisure.
 
Farrier is trimmed her today, he worked in new zealand for a while so everyone says he's best at barefoot, he said he'd be very suprised if she needed doing before 9-10weeks as she has solid little feet that are they type to hardly grow....
 
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