When to take Front Shoes Off and a Concussion question

3Beasties

3Beasties

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I had my mares back shoes taken off approximately 6 weeks ago. For the first few weeks she was great without them, then she got a bit sensitive (had been moved onto lusher grazing) and is now back to being great on them again. She doesn't seem any more sensitive then when she had shoes on.

I was wondering when would be a good time to have her fronts taken off? The farrier is due next week so she'll either have new fronts re-fitted or I could be brave and take fronts off too. I had initially planned to go at least two cycles before removing her fronts but as she's doing so well I'm thinking I should just go for it!

It's not something I feel I could ask the farriers advice on as when I talked to him about it he was pretty negative, stating that "there are very few horses that can cope without front shoes" :rolleyes:

My worry is that she will go sore and I won't be able to ride (I've not long got her going again after behaviour problems so would rather avoid time off if possible although obviously I will take it 'steady').


My next question is I worry about the amount of trotting I do on the road. We don't have any off road riding so I either ride on roads or school in the field. Currently I am trying to build up her fitness and slim her down so want to be doing more trotting then I am currently doing but I worry about concussion. When her shoes are removed will this be less of a concern?

Thanks in advance :)
 
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BF/unshod hooves suffer far less concussion than shod hooves, so that's good news. :)

I would take her shoes off and not let the Farrier trim at all (in fact I would whip them off myself ;) ). Then go by what she can cope with. Build up roadwork slowly, be prepared for an 'owchy' period like she had with the hinds. Maybe order some boots, so that you can boot her to keep her comfortable as she adjusts.
 
Faracat said:
BF/unshod hooves suffer far less concussion than shod hooves, so that's good news. :)
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That's what I thought thanks, more reason to take them off sooner rather then later :D

Faracat said:
I would take her shoes off and not let the Farrier trim at all (in fact I would whip them off myself ;) ). Then go by what she can cope with. Build up roadwork slowly, be prepared for an 'owchy' period like she had with the hinds. Maybe order some boots, so that you can boot her to keep her comfortable as she adjusts.
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That's the plan re. not trimming :) It's what we did with her backs and it seems to have gone fine so far. Will try and avoid buying boots for now but if she does seem to struggle I may have to have a rethink!

How long would you leave it before trimming her?
 
I'm sure the better advisors can give you more detail but I try not to trim at all. My 3yo who is not in work gets trimmed about twice a year. Actually a rasp. My farrier does her. Have a pony here that's never been done. He wears them great. My 2 riding mares who my farrier is now forbidden to touch. Not that he crippled them, just he likes those nice perfectly shaped feet. So we rasp now and again but prefer to let the ridden work do the job.

Here's the thing, you can go back. Try not to panic. Try not to listen to the negativity of your farrier. I have gone back and forth because at times with work and also client horses I didn't have the time to dedicate to my 5. I will say this I had one cycle on Heidi. I hated it and after 3 week took them off as with Abba. But the change in shape was crazy. Heidi had an oval shaped shoe previous to all this. When I took the last ones off they were a size bigger and a normal round shape. The rehab is hard. Horses who have never had shoes, well that's not been one bit of a problem. I find for my rehab ones I sometimes don't have the necessary time and I get really mad a myself. I let them down. But I am really trying and things are going well. If it was only diet great but the work is equally important. Some horses never miss a beat but most need all the devotion. And believe me when you hit that rough patch you do question if it's right or not. It is worth it when you see the changes for the better.

Good luck. Like I said I'm not a great one as I'm not good at this but it may help if you think you're the only one who goes through the rough patch.

Terri
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
I'm sure the better advisors can give you more detail but I try not to trim at all. My 3yo who is not in work gets trimmed about twice a year. Actually a rasp. My farrier does her. Have a pony here that's never been done. He wears them great. My 2 riding mares who my farrier is now forbidden to touch. Not that he crippled them, just he likes those nice perfectly shaped feet. So we rasp now and again but prefer to let the ridden work do the job.

Here's the thing, you can go back. Try not to panic. Try not to listen to the negativity of your farrier. I have gone back and forth because at times with work and also client horses I didn't have the time to dedicate to my 5. I will say this I had one cycle on Heidi. I hated it and after 3 week took them off as with Abba. But the change in shape was crazy. Heidi had an oval shaped shoe previous to all this. When I took the last ones off they were a size bigger and a normal round shape. The rehab is hard. Horses who have never had shoes, well that's not been one bit of a problem. I find for my rehab ones I sometimes don't have the necessary time and I get really mad a myself. I let them down. But I am really trying and things are going well. If it was only diet great but the work is equally important. Some horses never miss a beat but most need all the devotion. And believe me when you hit that rough patch you do question if it's right or not. It is worth it when you see the changes for the better.

Good luck. Like I said I'm not a great one as I'm not good at this but it may help if you think you're the only one who goes through the rough patch.

Terri
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Thanks, that's very interesting :) I am expecting a rough patch, I guess it's just how long I can stick to it without compromising her work load!

It will be interesting to see if her way of going improves, I never feel that she is going forward as well as she could do on the road, on grass she feels much better so I'm hoping that she will be happier with them off.
 
IME if you do a lot of trotting on the roads you will have to reduce the work load when you remove the fronts it's taken time with all of mine to ' condition ' their feet.
 
Buy boots, mine was walking on air when she first had her boots, if you can get cavellos they aren't too expensive and are fine for road work. It will mean you don't need to cut down her work as much.
 
Kat said:
Buy boots, mine was walking on air when she first had her boots, if you can get cavellos they aren't too expensive and are fine for road work. It will mean you don't need to cut down her work as much.
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Boots are 100% the way to go. Once her feet have toughened up you can start increasing the time you ride without them.
 
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