Why do horses need shoes? Thoughts.

[pennyturner]

Traditional logic has that domesticated horses doing more work and carrying unnatural loads, led to the development of the metal shoe. Further that the cold, wet climate of northern Europe makes horses working in soft ground prone to hoof weakening. A number of things make me think this isn't the whole story.

- endurance horses, with appropriate management, do huge miles on bare feet.
- IME driven ponies 'pull' perfectly well barefoot, with less slippage than if shod, and no damage (I know some drivers dispute this)
- experience with my own ponies, kept on water meadow, is that their hooves wear no more in wet than in dry, even if they are visibly 'soft' at the coronet.

A couple of thoughts:
Stable-kept horses are often standing in soft urine-soaked beds. Might this weaken the hoof?
Working horses on a traditional diet are the ones who seem to 'need' shoes - how much was the diet, rather than the work?
Horses in nature are moving about all the time. I think we underestimate the role that this plays in circulation and hoof health.

Has anyone done any study on this? What are the lessons for the modern equestrian?

 

[wingedhorse]

Traditional logic has that domesticated horses doing more work and carrying unnatural loads, led to the development of the metal shoe. Further that the cold, wet climate of northern Europe makes horses working in soft ground prone to hoof weakening. A number of things make me think this isn't the whole story.

- endurance horses, with appropriate management, do huge miles on bare feet.
- IME driven ponies 'pull' perfectly well barefoot, with less slippage than if shod, and no damage (I know some drivers dispute this)
- experience with my own ponies, kept on water meadow, is that their hooves wear no more in wet than in dry, even if they are visibly 'soft' at the coronet.

A couple of thoughts:
Stable-kept horses are often standing in soft urine-soaked beds. Might this weaken the hoof?
Working horses on a traditional diet are the ones who seem to 'need' shoes - how much was the diet, rather than the work?
Horses in nature are moving about all the time. I think we underestimate the role that this plays in circulation and hoof health.

Has anyone done any study on this? What are the lessons for the modern equestrian?

The vast majority of top level british endurance horses are shod. Mid level can work quite well barefoot. High level regrettably most do have to shoe. Look at the statistics, or speak to top level endurance riders.

 

[wingedhorse]

Traditional logic has that domesticated horses doing more work and carrying unnatural loads, led to the development of the metal shoe. Further that the cold, wet climate of northern Europe makes horses working in soft ground prone to hoof weakening. A number of things make me think this isn't the whole story.

- endurance horses, with appropriate management, do huge miles on bare feet.
- IME driven ponies 'pull' perfectly well barefoot, with less slippage than if shod, and no damage (I know some drivers dispute this)
- experience with my own ponies, kept on water meadow, is that their hooves wear no more in wet than in dry, even if they are visibly 'soft' at the coronet.

A couple of thoughts:
Stable-kept horses are often standing in soft urine-soaked beds. Might this weaken the hoof?
Working horses on a traditional diet are the ones who seem to 'need' shoes - how much was the diet, rather than the work?
Horses in nature are moving about all the time. I think we underestimate the role that this plays in circulation and hoof health.

Has anyone done any study on this? What are the lessons for the modern equestrian?

Personally I think it is the sugar levels in most mono grass ex-dairy fertilised grazing in livery yards combined with damp muddy ground, that make it hard to keep barefoot horses, that are in full work, and hacking over rough surfaces.

I know people do manage it, but the large yard I have been at longest no one with horses in high level of work managed to keep them barefoot all year without significant soreness despite all the diet, grass restriction, trimming, conditioning efforts, I watched this over a long period of time, across lots of horses.

I don’t think it works for all horses, all set ups and all people. If you have the set up and get the environment right, and horse does well, barefoot is a no brainer.

But personally given a choice between shod, and able to be turned out with friends most of the year, and barefoot, and in solo paddock, kept in stable a lot more, heavily restricted from grass, and sometimes foot sore – I know what I’d chose for an arthritic horse.

 

[pennyturner]

Not arguing against shoes here. Mine are barefoot, but then I also have a large amount of poor grassland, which is the ideal, in many respects, none of the high sugar rye-based cattle pasture that has become the norm. Our tracks are also grass.

Really trying to understand why it was that 100 years ago ALL horses in work were shod, and what has changed. Is it as simple as the invention of tarmac - before that many roads would have been cinder paths.

 

[DD]

horses feet wear down with work. if they do more work than their feet can cope with they need some help. that's either shoes or boots. I've seen barefoot horses struggling because they are doing too much and shod horses who don't need shoes, it depends on the horse, the weather, the terrain and the work.

 

[DD]

Not arguing against shoes here. Mine are barefoot, but then I also have a large amount of poor grassland, which is the ideal, in many respects, none of the high sugar rye-based cattle pasture that has become the norm. Our tracks are also grass.

Really trying to understand why it was that 100 years ago ALL horses in work were shod, and what has changed. Is it as simple as the invention of tarmac - before that many roads would have been cinder paths.

re 100 years ago. horses that were working actually did work. not and hour or so a day. 8 hour days pulling ploughs or carts. they needed shoes. and there was a lot of remedial shoeing to keep lame horses going, pulling hackney cabs and such.

 

[Wagtail]

Isn't it the road work that makes the most difference? Lots of miles pounding tarmac or stony roads. I don't have to shoe my horses here because we never do road work. The only reason I would shoe a horse now is if I needed to do lots of road work or wanted to use studs. Unshod horses have better traction than shod horses. But sometimes more traction is needed such as when show jumping on grass, or cross country. Shoeing only damages feet and increases the likelihood of concussive injuries IMO, not to mention the danger to other horses when turned out, hence I would only do so if absolutely necessary.

 

[Auslander]

I believe that any horse can be worked unshod, if all the boxes can be ticked in terms of management, but it's when you can't tick all the boxes, that shoes are required. My horse has a good barefoot diet, is worked on a variety of surfaces, and is looked after by a sympathetic farrier, but he is shod in front, because he is 20 years old, and has a few issues which mean that he doesnt do sufficient work to be comfortable without shoes. If I'd had him as a young horse with no issues, I'm pretty sure he'd be rock crunching by now, but he isn't, and I won't insist on trying to transition him completely, as I want him to have a happy, comfortable semi-retirement. He has a decent break from shoes every year, but I have to stick to tarmac during that period, as he isnt comfortable on the stony tracks round here (and he flatly refuses to move in hoof boots!)

 

[Bernster]

I believe that any horse can be worked unshod, if all the boxes can be ticked in terms of management, but it's when you can't tick all the boxes, that shoes are required.

Me too (*waves*). I think barefoot is do-able but it's not always an easy solution in light of various factors - environment, diet, workload, stony surfaces and studding all going into the mix, amongst others.

 

[YorksG]

Interesting thoughts, our current farrier tells the story of a man he shod for, who needed his horse shoeing every four weeks as a minimum, as the shoes were worn through, it transpired that the bloke would finish work at 9am and then drive the horse for the rest of the day, doing a lot of miles each day, I really do doubt that the horse could have managed the workload just on his feet. My grandfather had a veg and egg round, which he used a welsh cob and flat back shandy to deliver with, he was stabled in the town and he would take him "home" at weekends and holiday, a journey of ten miles each way. He was shod throughout his working life, he had very little turnout and I'm guessing that he was fed a fair amount of concentrate (especially given that he was given to randomly legging it from where he was "parked" on the road while my grandfather delivered!) This was over eighty years ago and he was kept in a way that would not be acceptable to most of us now, but then I also doubt if most of us would choose to have the life that my grandfather had, as it was a hard life indeed.

 

[SEL]

We had 70 odd horses in the trekking centre I worked at on the west coast of Australia & none were shod even though most of them were doing hours of riding every day on sand & stones.

But they weren't on grass and it was bone dry there. They lived on scrub, straw and a handful of some form of grain mix if they were a bit skinny. Farrier care was non existent and I don't remember us doing much apart from a little trim on some of the under used ones. Everything else must have self trimmed.

Feet all tough, no lameness, abscesses etc

I've seen similar in parts of Africa. Rich food, wet climate and under used horses don't help their feet.

 

[ycbm]

Well they aren't shod because of the miles they are doing:



Distances travelled by feral horses in 'outback' Australia.
Hampson BA1, de Laat MA, Mills PC, Pollitt CC.
Author information
Abstract
REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY:

The distance travelled by Australian feral horses in an unrestricted environment has not previously been determined. It is important to investigate horse movement in wilderness environments to establish baseline data against which the movement of domestically managed horses and wild equids can be compared.
OBJECTIVES:

To determine the travel dynamics of 2 groups of feral horses in unrestricted but different wilderness environments.
METHODS:

Twelve feral horses living in 2 wilderness environments (2000 vs. 20,000 km(2)) in outback Australia were tracked for 6.5 consecutive days using custom designed, collar mounted global positioning systems (GPS). Collars were attached after darting and immobilising the horses. The collars were recovered after a minimum of 6.5 days by re-darting the horses. Average daily distance travelled was calculated. Range use and watering patterns of horses were analysed by viewing GPS tracks overlaid on satellite photographs of the study area.
RESULTS:

Average distance travelled was 15.9 ± 1.9 km/day (range 8.1-28.3 km/day). Horses were recorded up to 55 km from their watering points and some horses walked for 12 h to water from feeding grounds. Mean watering frequency was 2.67 days (range 1-4 days). Central Australian horses watered less frequently and showed a different range use compared to horses from central Queensland. Central Australian horses walked for long distances in direct lines to patchy food sources whereas central Queensland horses were able to graze close to water sources and moved in a more or less circular pattern around the central water source.
CONCLUSIONS:

The distances travelled by feral horses were far greater than those previously observed for managed domestic horses and other species of equid. Feral horses are able to travel long distances and withstand long periods without water, allowing them to survive in semi-arid conditions.

© 2010 EVJ Ltd.

 

[ycbm]

Having had a number of unbroken horses, I would say that a primary reason why it became the norm to shoe is that the young stock don't have enough movement/foot stimulation. Then they are broken at three or four, suddenly asked to work the feet and they aren't ready for work. They go footsore, they are shod, soreness goes, hey presto the horse needed shoes, didn't it?

I bought two four year olds three years ago who have been very interesting. Never shod, feet not over grown. But both were badly under run, a situation which fixed itself once they were brought into work. If I had consulted a farrier who was not experienced with barefoot horses, I'm pretty sure the advice would have been that neither horse had feet that were strong enough to work barefoot. Whereas, in fact, both do.

It's very chicken and egg. People shoe youngsters in order to be able to work them. But feet need work in order to perform without shoes on.

 

[LD&S]

Well they aren't shod because of the miles they are doing:



Distances travelled by feral horses in 'outback' Australia.
Hampson BA1, de Laat MA, Mills PC, Pollitt CC.
Author information
Abstract
REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY:

The distance travelled by Australian feral horses in an unrestricted environment has not previously been determined. It is important to investigate horse movement in wilderness environments to establish baseline data against which the movement of domestically managed horses and wild equids can be compared.
OBJECTIVES:

To determine the travel dynamics of 2 groups of feral horses in unrestricted but different wilderness environments.
METHODS:

Twelve feral horses living in 2 wilderness environments (2000 vs. 20,000 km(2)) in outback Australia were tracked for 6.5 consecutive days using custom designed, collar mounted global positioning systems (GPS). Collars were attached after darting and immobilising the horses. The collars were recovered after a minimum of 6.5 days by re-darting the horses. Average daily distance travelled was calculated. Range use and watering patterns of horses were analysed by viewing GPS tracks overlaid on satellite photographs of the study area.
RESULTS:

Average distance travelled was 15.9 ± 1.9 km/day (range 8.1-28.3 km/day). Horses were recorded up to 55 km from their watering points and some horses walked for 12 h to water from feeding grounds. Mean watering frequency was 2.67 days (range 1-4 days). Central Australian horses watered less frequently and showed a different range use compared to horses from central Queensland. Central Australian horses walked for long distances in direct lines to patchy food sources whereas central Queensland horses were able to graze close to water sources and moved in a more or less circular pattern around the central water source.
CONCLUSIONS:

The distances travelled by feral horses were far greater than those previously observed for managed domestic horses and other species of equid. Feral horses are able to travel long distances and withstand long periods without water, allowing them to survive in semi-arid conditions.

© 2010 EVJ Ltd.

I'm actually surprised, between 5 & 17.5 miles, I know it was only a snap shot but 5 miles is a lot less than I imagined.

I think the vast majority of horses can happily go barefoot though in some cases the owners aren't able or prepared to put the effort into taking their horse barefoot, also confidence in traditional farriers has an impact as a lot of them are not able to give advice about the transition so owner and farrier stick with what they know.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

My personal thinking is that horses don't need shoes. I won't be shoeing my next horse, if I cannot compete because my horses needs shoes by competition regulation then I won't be competing.

 

[tristar]

we are told its good to keep youngsters feet trimmed regularly, this is why when they start work they don`t have enough hoof because normal farriers take off too much, so they need time to thicken the hoof

 

[Orangehorse]

I think it was because the horses had to be stabled, a lot of horses being used for war and transport, had to be ready to be ridden at a moment's notice. Standing in a stable so they are readily available led to tender feet, so they had to have shoes on so they could be used.

If you have an army with a 200 horses they would be kept close, not able to be turned out together.

 

[irishdraft]

It's down to the individual horse I have 2 IDs who are kept out 24/7 on old pasture both of them who I have owned since very young have only been shod in front the mare who has hunted 10 plus seasons has never needed hind shoes but the gelding when he started hunting hard a couple of years ago wore his hind feet out completely and ended up footsore so I had to have him shod all round.So that is 2 horses kept and worked/fed the same , Same breed but very different hooves one required shoes the other didn't.

 

[FfionWinnie]

I've not owned one that needed them. I agree it depends on your set up and other factors. My set up, mineral content of the ground or whatever must be perfect for their feet because it's a piece of cake for me. I've bought a few shod ones now and taken them BF without any dramas. Taking two competition warmbloods BF currently. I think the big one might need shoes for studs because I am planning to event him this year, but time will tell.

 

[only_me]

My personal thinking is that horses don't need shoes. I won't be shoeing my next horse, if I cannot compete because my horses needs shoes by competition regulation then I won't be competing.

What competitions require the horse to be shod?

As far as I'm aware there are no rules regarding shod or unshod, it's up to the owner to decide as appropriate. I've never heard of anything like that!

It might be preferable to have the horse shod eg. In a hunter out twice a week or an eventer/showjumper who needs studs for sharp turns at speed etc. but that doesn't mean they have to!

OP another thought could be that the ground is less looked after now than years ago, where it would have been ploughed/reseeded regularly so level of nutrients remained level and ground wasn't over grazed.

 

[eggs]

I am neither for or against shoeing a horse but will do what is most appropriate for the individual.

Of mine, one has never been shod (coming up for 12 years old).

3 are shod in front only during the summer and two (both coming up for 12) of them have those off in the winter - the one (coming up for 13) that has fronts on all year round gets very sore if he loses a shoe.

The fifth horse (coming up for 16) is shod all round. I tried having only fronts on him but he didn't cope with it. He didn't have shoes on until he was 5 and then only because he was wearing his feet too much with the roadwork.

All the horses have been kept at home since they were foals and live in the same fields and on the same feed

 

[Lintel]

My boy has shoes on because we do so much roadwork he requires them in order to still have feet left at the end of the month!
I would love nothing more than to be barefoot as he is a highland is his feet are solid, but our local hacking is mainly road unforutnely.

- and when stabled he does paw and square off his toes. And he's a total wimp on stones due to an old bout of lami causing him to have slightly more sensitive feet.

 

[Regandal]

I believe some of the showing classes require shoes, possibly working hunter. Couldn't swear to that though.

 

[fattylumpkin]

Need is a strong word. The horses who absolutely must be shod are those who have remedial shoes against a physical weakness, who go sound when shod, but are miserable when unshod. Neither are shoes an unnecessary evil which destroy hooves; there's a lot of veterinary science out there which has no strong opinion either way, other than to indicate that selective breeding means there are many horses who are more comfortable when shod.

For everything else, shoes are a piece of utility equipment like anything else we put on them. I spend a lot of money putting shoes on my girl and I like to think I do it with good reason, but there won't be much consensus between the shoe vs. barefoots camps on what a 'good' reason is.

 

[spotty_pony2]

Interesting post. My Appy has always gone through shoes quicker than most. Usually in the winter he is shod every 3-4 weeks during hunting season but last season he ended up with thin soles due to this so my Farrier advised me to have his shoes all off for a but during the summer to allow him to grow more foot. I continued hacking him barefoot off road for 4 months, he was fine walking on roads also after approximately 8 weeks of conditioning his feet over different ground. He was footy on stony ground though but I believe this is largely based to him being a Laminitic in the distant grass and the sugar levels of the grass poetically making him a bit footy. Shoeing offers support to horses considered 'footy' but obviously doesn't cure the problem - the effects of being Laminitic just don't show up as early as a horse which is barefoot so you still have to provide a careful diet, etc. As Laminitis is a circulation problem, I am a strong believer than being barefoot actually helps them as wearing shoes restricts the blood flow to the foot.

Anyway, to cut a long story short he was barefoot for 6 months and the changes to his feet were visible to the eye and amazing to see - healthy wide frogs developed, he started walking heel first rather than toe first and the separated white line began to repair itself and regain its health. In November, I had front shoes put on for hunting, but he was so much more comfortable behind that I decided to leave his hinds off and so far he has hunted successfully barefoot behind. He is shod in front every 6 weeks and the hinds are just rasped smooth. He is a lot less stiff (he suffers with bone spavin) and although occasionally footy over stones still, is happy to trot on the roads out hunting although I do limit his road work in trot during exercise but he is started to tell me more and more how much he is happy to do. Sorry for the long post, it's just a subject which really interests me - my boy will never be shod behind again if he remains comfortable and I may consider trying to go completely barefoot again at some point but will purchase some hoof boots for his front feet.

 

[Equi]

I always try to have unshod, not because I'm a barefoot fanatic or anything but it saves a bit of money and is less likely to harm the hoof if it's kept correctly. Unfortunately my current couldn't cope and despite having great feet he got sore at the front (my arena is quite stony - it needs a bloody new surface) and his heels have gone very low on the back because I'm doing so much road work and bad arena work now. So shoes all round tomorrow.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Higher levels of showing and most sports seem to have the requirements of being shod.

I've never understood why SJ or DR which are trained for and held on a surface the majority of the time require shoeing. Also my barefoot horse has slipped a lot less on grass out of shoes than he did in them so go figure.

 

[only_me]

Higher levels of showing and most sports seem to have the requirements of being shod.

I've never understood why SJ or DR which are trained for and held on a surface the majority of the time require shoeing. Also my barefoot horse has slipped a lot less on grass out of shoes than he did in them so go figure.

But there is no rule to say you can't compete a horse unshod - it's just unusual at high levels. You can't wear hoof boots, that is a rule in some, but the horse can compete without shoes. At high levels competing the risks are higher, the stakes are higher, the cost of training is higher - one slip and you could be out! so you want to minimise any potential risk you can and having shoes on helps with that as can put studs in to suit ground.

Your horse may slip less, but some may slip more, hence why being unshod works for some and not for others. At 1.60m or coming into the vicarage see at badminton I'd want to be very sure the risk of slipping is at it's minimum! Will still happen regardless, but studs will reduce risk.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

But there is no rule to say you can't compete a horse unshod - it's just unusual at high levels. You can't wear hoof boots, that is a rule in some, but the horse can compete without shoes. At high levels competing the risks are higher, the stakes are higher, the cost of training is higher - one slip and you could be out! so you want to minimise any potential risk you can and having shoes on helps with that as can put studs in to suit ground.

Your horse may slip less, but some may slip more, hence why being unshod works for some and not for others. At 1.60m or coming into the vicarage see at badminton I'd want to be very sure the risk of slipping is at it's minimum! Will still happen regardless, but studs will reduce risk.

Although being sat at some of these fences and having a shoe fly past your head I would be quite concerned about. I've used studs for jumping, I've also had the frustrating issue of a horse pulling a shoe the day before/during the night/in the trailer on route and having to cancel paid for plans. I don't have that issue.

There are people competing successfully at higher levels who don't use shoes and studs. I am not barefoot fanatical, However having seen the difference in my own and others horses barefoot after a lifetime in shoes I am definitely a convert

It's also easier on my bank balance

 

[MDB]

Well they aren't shod because of the miles they are doing:



Distances travelled by feral horses in 'outback' Australia.
Hampson BA1, de Laat MA, Mills PC, Pollitt CC.
Author information
Abstract
REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY:

The distance travelled by Australian feral horses in an unrestricted environment has not previously been determined. It is important to investigate horse movement in wilderness environments to establish baseline data against which the movement of domestically managed horses and wild equids can be compared.
OBJECTIVES:

To determine the travel dynamics of 2 groups of feral horses in unrestricted but different wilderness environments.
METHODS:

Twelve feral horses living in 2 wilderness environments (2000 vs. 20,000 km(2)) in outback Australia were tracked for 6.5 consecutive days using custom designed, collar mounted global positioning systems (GPS). Collars were attached after darting and immobilising the horses. The collars were recovered after a minimum of 6.5 days by re-darting the horses. Average daily distance travelled was calculated. Range use and watering patterns of horses were analysed by viewing GPS tracks overlaid on satellite photographs of the study area.
RESULTS:

Average distance travelled was 15.9 ± 1.9 km/day (range 8.1-28.3 km/day). Horses were recorded up to 55 km from their watering points and some horses walked for 12 h to water from feeding grounds. Mean watering frequency was 2.67 days (range 1-4 days). Central Australian horses watered less frequently and showed a different range use compared to horses from central Queensland. Central Australian horses walked for long distances in direct lines to patchy food sources whereas central Queensland horses were able to graze close to water sources and moved in a more or less circular pattern around the central water source.
CONCLUSIONS:

The distances travelled by feral horses were far greater than those previously observed for managed domestic horses and other species of equid. Feral horses are able to travel long distances and withstand long periods without water, allowing them to survive in semi-arid conditions.

© 2010 EVJ Ltd.

This is really interesting. I have also read somewhere else (although I cannot remember where) that American wild horses can travel up to 23 miles a day. I would have thought that most people would consider 16 -20km per day, every day to be heavy work for a ridden horse.
Personally, I don't believe that the need for shoes is down to heavy work versus light work. I believe that there are a number of prerequisites for a horse to be successfully barefoot. Assuming healthy and no serious conformation faults, a species appropriate diet and freedom of movement, as well as sufficient movement on a variety of surfaces would be top of the list of requirements. If you can provide an environment as close to the natural environment for a horse as possible then the chances of success are higher. Unfortunately, it is often impossible to provide this for many horses due to a variety of reasons. This could be why some horses struggle and others don't.