trimming feet/farrier visits

[PerdixPerdix]

Does everyone trim feet every 6 weeks or do you leave it longer?

ive heard from different people that they leave it for longer, much longer, a couple whose horses live out dont really do it at all, i have noticed that they have cracks in their hooves and they look really untidy, does it cause them pain, the horses dont look sore, they still bolt about and arent unsteady.

does it depend what you use the horse for or is letting them crack neglect.

 

[poodle20]

Hi my horses are unshod/barefoot and I use a trimmer. Mine are done every 6 weeks, even when they aren't being ridden. The saying 'no foot - no horse' still stands for me. Feet are so important I don't think they should be just left. Each to their own tho.

 

[ThePony]

My mare doesn't need them doing every 6 weeks as we do alot of road miles, her foot wear is pretty much in tune with her rate of growth. She sees the farrier every other visit, so about every 10 weeks. He does hardly anything when he sees her but I would rather him do nothing, rather than leave it too long if she needs a little trim. If she was out of work I would think they would need checking just as regularly anyway. Although her hooves would be growing more slowly she would also not be wearing them away so much.
I would consider letting them crack due to the hoof wall being too long to be neglectful.

 

[Javabb94]

We book the farrier to come every 6-7 weeks, however java's feet take a while to grow and he can quite happily miss being shod, although he ends up getting feet done anyway as farrier attends our other two!

I dont do many miles on the road, so his shoes last ages !

 

[celia]

Our three are all unshod. They see they farrier when they look ready. Usually every 10-12 weeks but they often go longer over winter.

 

[ferrador]

the average on my books is 6 weeks for shoes , some go 14 weeks ,some only last 3 weeks . most trimmed horses seem to be every 8 weeks although some go 10/12 months and still dont need doing , its that old saying "it depends " every horse is different
chris

 

[jendie]

Our three mini shets are unshod. Two of them could happily go 8 - 10 weeks between trims but as the third needs attention every six weeks they all get done.