To Shoe Or Not To Shoe??

[Holzdweaver]

I have a 14 yr old TB and as he has been off work for two months and the farrier wanted to whip his shoes off but because of the hard ground we never actually got lol i kept them on, he has said three times now about him going barefoot as he says he has good feet and doesnt see why he cant even when working.

But now he has come very nearly sound and should be ready to work again in a few weeks.

I do a lot of roadwork, as i havent got a school. I only school once every few weeks in jumping at my friends school (30 mins ride away) and the rest of the time we will hack in walk (about 45 mins- an hour) to an open common field where i can trot and canter him to loosen him up and do his faster work.

I really dont know whether he would cope, il be taking it easy and building him up to get him fit again but i really dont think this is enough time for his feet to harden enough to get back into his weekly routine. Surely he will get sore very quickly?

The farrier has said that if he doesnt cope, he can always shoe him again but i dont want to put shoes on him when his feet are going to be sore.

What do you think?

 

[Holly Hocks]

I would take the advice of your farrier. There aren't many farriers out there who would recommend taking the shoes off if they didn't think the horse could cope. If he is recommending it, then he really must think his feet are ok. Good luck whatever you do.

 

[coss]

i agree with the above - but does your farrier know your roadwork plans.
There is the option of hoof boots too.

 

[Holzdweaver]

Yeah he is brilliant, the best farrier i have ever had. Brutally honest but very good with horses and his advice. He has also said that he would leave the fronts on if i didnt think he would be ok with it. I think im going to have to have a very long talk with him about just how much roadwork i do and see if he still recommends taking them off. Its just a big step lol, iv always had my horses shod all round, except my mare who had just fronts on in winter.

 

[cptrayes]

I think your farrier is an absolute GEM

I wish there were more like him. Lots of us do lots and lots of roadwork with no shoes on our horses, including TBs

Join the club

ps you live near me, you can come and see my hunter if you like

 

[Bikerchickone]

Why don't you try taking the backs off first and see how you get on? Not too drastic to start with and it'll give you an idea of hether or not he can cope. I also think if you have a farrier you trust it's worth listening, after all, what's the point of paying an expert for their opinion if you don't make use of it?

Good luck whichever way you go.

 

[madmare1]

both my girls (25 yr old arab and 6yo arab) are barefoot....neither has problems with roadwork..we do quite a bit of it! My farrier sees my girls about 5 times a year...he doesn't need to see them that often as the amount of roadwork we do keeps their feet down naturally...we generally call him in to 'tidy up' before going showing, and in winter when we can't get out as much.

Listen to your farrier...

Emma xx

 

[Alyth]

Have you heard the expression "ride it or rasp it"?? Basically it means that as long as you don't overdo it to start with the road work will inspire your horses hooves to grow more rapidly, to match the amount of wear..... Here, in the Southern Hemisphere, there are quite a number of endurance horses that are barefoot and they can compete up to 100 miles in a day....sometimes they wear boots, sometimes they don't....and often their hooves need rasping at the end of the ride!! You might even find you are able to keep their hooves tidy so the farrier/trimmer doesn't need to visit quite so often!! Good luck anyway.

 

[Alphamare]

I don't know why it comes as a surprise but farriers often advise taking shoes off. Good ones anyway and I do know that there are some out there who ruin it for everyone one else.

Thing is though since you have to do some conditioning work now anyway when are you going to get a better opportunity to try it?

Also think about getting hold of boots for the fronts at least, second hand shouldn't cost much and can be resold if you choose going back to shoes.

Either way though it is your horse and your decision.

My hubby recommends shoeless to a lot of clients, especially those whose horses need a break from shoes, the thing is though it's the clients decision at the end of the day. Which is where I think this notion that farriers only want to shoe horses comes from. Many peopl hubby has suggested it too say yes, just as many say no.

Married to a farrier with four barefoot horses

 

[MerrySherryRider]

You have a great farrier, have a word with him about management and your intended workload and give your horse a chance. Long term, its better for him.

 

[TigerTail]

Fabulous farrier, congrats on him!

Get them off, I hate this practise of taking backs off and leaving fronts on, tis like having wearing a heel shoe on one foot and a flat boot on the other!

Also what is his diet? Best way to ensure success is that he has a clean diet, as low in sugar as poss

 

[sbloom]

Agree with everyone else but will stress that you may need to ease off the work a little to begin with if you don't get boots. He may feel stones etc, and MIGHT be sore if you overdo the roadwork to begin with, but you build that up gradually and should be back to your previous workload pretty quickly, judging from the farrier's recommendations. But as others have said, boots may help you get straoght back to your previous level of work.

There are tons of posts on barefoot on here, it is worth becoming your own expert as you do become kind of "more" responsible for hoof health, as there are no shoes to mask the issues. And I think that is a good thing

 

[Artax]

Wow what a guy!!!!

Take his advice, take advice about getting diet right... hooves will never wear out!!! That is a load of baloney! If that were true, there would be Mustangs out in the desert running on leg bones.

More road-work = better hooves.

You're on to a winner... if only you would realize that

Boots are awesome.