To shoe or not to shoe that is the question *pics*

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picolenicole

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Hiya guys, hope all is well.

Info first my horses hooves were trimed on the 11th these photos were taken a day or two ago. We do a lot of hacking some on road some off road.

Now for the questions..... sorry

1) What do you think of his feet? (He usealy goes about 10 weeks between trims)

2) Do I shoe him or do I get some hoof boots?

3) If I do shoe him would he be ok with just fronts done? (Will it mess his ballance up, with him only being 5)

His back feet are fine not short at all, I have never had a horse unshod all year. I used to have shoe's on my old horse in summer and nothing in the winter. Would this be an oppition? Oh yeah he lives out 24/7

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Chocolate brownies if you got this far
 
Hello!!

I think King has great feet, but 10 weeks is a long time between trims. Goes to show what good feet he has that they aren't particularly going out of shape in that time! I was going to ask you who you have do them anyway as may be looking for someone new myself. If you can get hold of a rasp and just tidy round the bottom that will stop them looking that little bit tatty (if farrier is happy for you to do this, talk to farrier to show you next time). I don't think he gets sore with the work he does, does he? I wouldn't be in a hurry to put shoes on him at all unless you get to the point that you do need them. My big cob is coming up to 14, and was only shod for about a year or two max when we were working regularly on a woodchip surface that did make him sore, he's not shod now and works 6 days a week mix of work on a surface and hacking for a couple of hours on roads and tracks.

If you do need a bit of protection on his feet, boots are an option and there are several different makes that suit different shaped feet, plus you can hire from some places to try them out. Shoes on for part of the year is a good compromise and the old fashioned way of letting the feet have a breather from being shod. I don't particularly like shoes just on the fronts as you are altering the forces being placed on the horse but plenty of people do it.
 
I think the feet look good. I'd highly recommend a book called "Feet First" - my boy is unshod, and we hack on all sorts of surfaces, and his feet are tough as boots. I have learnt so much from that book, and keep going back to it. It emphasises diet as the most important factor, and explains barefoot inside out.

I don't think my boy will ever need shoes, which I'm so pleased about as I hate the nailing process. Hope that helps, sm x
 
Bethie - Helloooooo!!! He does sort of get sore, I think on stoney ground, but not all stoney ground. So not sure if hes beeing lazy or if it does hurt him. He shortens his step in front and gets a bit on the forehand. As soon as hes on mud he goes back to normal.

Shysmum - I'll have a look and see if I can find that book. Thanks
 
should be on amazon, by Nic Barker. Honestly worth the money. Oh and my boy gets a trim every ten weeks, tho he doesn't really need it - farrier last visit said his hooves are growing and wearing out at the same rate. It's simply not true that roadwork wears the hooves out - done properly, the hooves grow at the same rate. :D
 
picolenicole said:
Bethie - Helloooooo!!! He does sort of get sore, I think on stoney ground, but not all stoney ground. So not sure if hes beeing lazy or if it does hurt him. He shortens his step in front and gets a bit on the forehand. As soon as hes on mud he goes back to normal.
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My definition of sore would be that he is lame on one/more feet, taking short strides, unwilling to stride out, etc. If he's just being careful over a bit of rough ground and ok immediately after you've got past it I wouldn't be too worried, and if that's the only issue he's having then hoof boots are definitely something to consider as you can put them on just for the rides when you are going to go over the stony ground. Even with shoes on horses can and will stand on a stone and say "Ow!!!" for a few strides then get over it ;).
 
I've just gone through exactly the same thought process. We had the farrier look at my girl and he recommended shoes all round - but her hinds were actually more worn than her fores.

Since having a set of shoes she is like a new horse - she is so much more confident and happier. We've hacked about 20 miles this past week without a stumble or trip.

I didn't realise how footsore she has obviously been in the 6 months that I'd had her. She used to stumble and trip down from her field to the yard and the school to the yard - both are stoney tracks. It was only after a couple of hacks out that she became visibly footsore and the farrier took a look at her.

A lot of horses are shod front and not back, but for us this was not an option based on the existing wear on her hind hooves.

I've also got the book Feet First - it's a great reference book and a very good read.

Good luck with your decision, it's hard to know sometimes what is the best thing to do for them :)
 
I'd say stay unshod, but the I would as I am pro barefoot. I don't think his feet are overly short. Looking at the growth rings and the separation and you saying he gets a bit ouchy on stones I'd say you need to take a look at his diet and probably at least tweak it. FF will give you an idea on a decent diet for a barefooter. Shoes would probably stop the ouchiness but they're not addressing the root cause :) If you want to stay unshod the UKNHCP forum is a friendly place to ask questions and discuss ideas :)
 
his feet look good but i'd be putting a roll all round inbetween trims (get farrier to show you how) as that will help the chipping a lot.
the ridge around his hooves - what happened there? depending on growth rate that would have prob been between 3-6months ago...?
i had my horse barefoot for a while and the only reason i put shoes on was for studs for jumping on grass/xc. other than that she coped fine- i would use front boots though for stoney ground as she was footy on longer hacks if we did a lot of track work.
i'd keep shoes off as long as poss tbh - but if you need them - whack them on and don;t let anyone make you feel guilty about it (coming from someone who got abuse from dedicated barefoot peeps when i decided i needed studs :rolleyes:)
 
Right got the book, ordered and will be here in a few days. Also found some Old Mac's hoof boots, I think I've used these ones before with a different horse years ago. Now next question would you get 4 hoof boots or just ones for the front? Is this the same as shoes on front thing i.e messing up balance?
 
posie_honey said:
the ridge around his hooves - what happened there? depending on growth rate that would have prob been between 3-6months ago...?
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I don't really know he's always sort of had one, I've never known a horse to have it. Farrier said it was ok, and his feet are good, but I worrie (a lot) about him. He does get little stones stuck in there so I have to "dig" them out when we get back from hacking, he's never flinched over it or even looked lame in any way. So if anyone knows anything about them!! Please let me know!
 
Tbh, I would just get booties for the front feet to start with. As you progress, he may start to not need them, and as he works bootless, his hooves will toughen up accordingly. I looked into hoof boots for Shy, as I was thinking the same as you are, but was told on here to wait and see how he went naked. I did, and I've saved a packet on hoof boots !!

I think just sorting the diet and following the books advice, you may be able to get thru the early stages without them. Fwiw, I was going to get the easyboot epics, and that was after getting a lot of advice from here. Saved a fortune not getting them, and feed Healthy Hooves daily plus some extras. However, if Shy ever needs boots, he will have them. :D
 
Personally from looking at the pics and what you have explained I'd have him shod all round.

If you just riding on soft forgiving surfaces (grass/school surface) etc then I'd stick to barefoot, because then there is no point of shoes.

But if your going on hard ground, roads, stoney and uneven ground, wearing the hoof down quicker than it can grow, also from the pics seems to be very flat underneith so is likely to get bruised soles and feel footy.

However if I was to have him shod, I'd want a bit more growth on there before shoes were put on, so the farrier has something to work with, he may become a little sore if shoes were put on at the moment.

So I'd ease off with the road work, then get him shod or buy some boots (possibly start with just front ones as the horse takes more weight on the front) and see how you go with them, but thats just me. :)
 
posie_honey said:
....don;t let anyone make you feel guilty about it (coming from someone who got abuse from dedicated barefoot peeps when i decided i needed studs :rolleyes:)
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Ha, ha! I felt guilty putting shoes on her because she had been barefoot ever since I got her. Now I feel guilty that I didn't do it sooner because she is so much happier and we can now go anywhere/do anything :)

It's like having kids - you always feel guilty whatever you do :)
 
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