Why do we shoe by default rather than necessity?

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soloequestrian

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Tradition in the horse world is to shoe a horse before it starts work. I wouldn't think that anyone would argue that shoes can't be good for feet (a rigid metal structure nailed to a flexible living one), and we all know about conditioning the other skeletal structures slowly (tendons etc), so why are young horses routinely shod? Why don't we wait until they get to a point where they actually need shoes (for instance when starting to compete on grass and need studs) to shoe? If 'bare' became the default setting, and shoes were only used as neccessary and then taken off again when not (eg a horse competing on surfaces in the winter wouldn't be shod), would we have a healthier set of horses out there?

What do you think?
 
I dont know many people that whack shoes on before the horse has even started work.

But realistically, you take a horse at 3 (for example), whos been in a field eating grass for its entire baby life, maybe a little bit of in hand work/long reining, and then expect it to walk on roads, stones, with you sat on its back. So, most people, and I'm sure I will with my little one, put front shoes on to prevent them getting too foot sore and therefore having to stop their education.

With our older two, our thoroughbred has always had 4 shoes on as her feet are pants and she goes footsore just looking at concrete. However, our gelding only had front shoes for most of his life (he's 12 now) until he started regularly hacking and working much more, when he had back shoes put on.

I think that people try and do the best by their horses, and there are too many people out there critising people for doing this, doing that, doing the other. In the grand scheme of things, whether you shoe or don't shoe is less relavant than if you beat them or don't beat them! There are many, MANY worse things. I think its very easy to make people feel guilty for things that don't matter, and ignoring the things that do.

x
 
I don't know, but I'd certainly like to see more people sit back and think of WHY they do things. It doesn't help when there's comments on forums like these along the lines "if you do a lot of road work your horse must be shod". I'm not totally convinced that all horses need studs on grass, anyway.
 
For my particular horses

1. Came to me barefoot (with terrible chipped hooves) and had just been re-backed having not been ridden or shod for 4 years. As her workload increased it became obvious that she needed to be shod. She is much happier with shoes.

2. A two year old (has really good hooves) and will only be shod if she needs it, once in ridden work.

3. Retired mare, hasn't been shod for years and years but... she became so footsore on our new sloping and stonier fields that it was horrible to watch her walk, she is now shod and sound again!
 
flamehead said:
But realistically, you take a horse at 3 (for example), whos been in a field eating grass for its entire baby life, maybe a little bit of in hand work/long reining, and then expect it to walk on roads, stones, with you sat on its back.
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Would you try walking on roads etc without shoes first though? Presumably no-one would start with hard work anyway because none of the structures of a baby horse are up to it, and if people found that they could actually cope with the more challenging stuff, they wouldn't need to shoe till later. This was kind of what I was getting at in the first post, probably badly put though, that people presume the horse won't cope and so shoe it, rather than seeing what happens. What do you think about developing the digital cushion?
 
Yes, I would, but I would react before she went fully footsore as I wouldnt want to have to go back to starting her again if she has times off work.

I also wouldnt want the shoeing experience to be painful for her if she was already bad.

I also trust my farrier with the world, and I would fully trust his opinion on what she would need doing to her feet. I would trust him to tell me if shoeing her would do more damage that good, or if NOT shoeing her would do more damage than good.
 
QUOTE 'Tradition in the horse world is to shoe a horse before it starts work.'

It may be where you are but no one I know does that. Youngsters are started off & worked without shoes & eventually, when they reach a point where shoes are considered necessary to continue the schooling/work then they are fitted. Every horse is considered individually.
 
The old boy must have shoes. He has them made each month by hand, to fit. With out them he is hopping lame even in the paddock, his heals drop, he trips etc. It would be grossly unfair and blatently cruel to leave him unshod. He was unshod in the paddock for 4 months after I had a nasty fall and never ever again will I put him through it. I took another year to get his feet right despite him being well trimmed etc during that 4 months. It was left that long to give him time to "harden up" and become accostomed to no shoes but oh my. No.

One of my shetties would need fronts if he were doing lots of work on roads and tracks as he can be a little "tippy" with out. He isn't in work at the moment so they are off and the other shettie has hooves of iron and doesn't bother.

Shoes or no shoes is individual to each horse. Its all very good and well preaching nature and natural but we humans have made the world unatural and we have to help our horses cope with it.

Am agreeing totally with many of the other comments on here, do what is right for your horse and your conscience will be clear.
 
I've never had shoes on my mare, She came to me without them and I've never had to change this. If it aint broke...
She competes dressage/jumping all at riding club level and my farrier is always very happy with her feet. If the time comes when she needs shoes, she will have them. But for now I'm enjoying having a horse that doesnt need shoes! :)
 
OK well Dad's a farrier and ours usually have shoes on as and when they need them.

So for example the harness horses have finished for the season so they are out in the field with no shoes on. When they come back in for work they will do their initial work without shoes or just with fronts, then when they go in harness will have back shoes with a flared heel (they can't have studs so this helps them grip).

Our youngsters all start without shoes then have them added as required - so the cob just has fronts on, the NF pony that we sold this summer didn't have any shoes on, the wimpy TBs have all four on (combination of crap feet and lots of road work plus they're supposed to race this winter!)

I think its down to the owners and farriers to work together - you know your horse and its workload, if its uncomfortable you should be able to tell and get shoes or boots or whatever is appropriate and your farrier should be happy to advise you on that.
 
I do think some people get there horses shod just because everyone else does!! My tb came to me barefoot after being turned out after racing and his feet were in a terrible state, cracked, flared just basically well over due a trim!! He was foot sore walking across the stoney yard and to the field so he got shoes and will remain in shoes until he retires as it keeps him comfortable and in work (he has nav). I do know people who shoe there horses and throw them in the field for weeks then go on a wee hack, id personally save my 60 quid and go bare foot!!
 
We always have front plates on the young ones to show, more than anything it is to get them used to a farrier.
My mum's mare has been shod since she was young, she is now 30 and has never had foot complaints of any kind. I suppose habit more than anything.
 
My 2 year old is trimmed every 6 weeks, I also make him stand while the other horses are shoed so he gets used to the smoke, noise, smells etc. I hope to keep him barefoot as long as possible and the farrier thinks he has strong feet but it's good to get them used to it all so hopefully when/if he needs shoes it won't be a big shock to him... That's the plan anyway!!! :)
He's walked out in the roads twice a week to get him used to the world but the farrier gas said his feet are fine.
I don't plan on whacking on shoes until the farrier (the professional) deems is nessessery. Each horse is different and should be shoed accordingly :)
 
I have 3 horses.

2 came to me un-shod. One has had to have fronts on as he became a bit footy. He is fine as he is- no need for backs.

The other one has never had shoes- I will see how he goes as his workload increases.

The other one was shod, but gets very little work- she has had her shoes taken off.

My previous horse required remedial farriery- he was long toe-d/low heeled and needed shoes to stay sound.

I have no preference- its whatever suits the horse. Certainly- its cheaper to have a trim/balance than a full set;).
My farrier is out regularly- regardless of whether they have shoes or not- luckily he is a great farrier and is happy to do whatever the horse needs....he has actually advised me in the past that the horse had great hooves, good growth and would do fine without shoes- he's not in it for the money:)
 
At 2 Bella has good feet and is trimmed when she needs doing. Could be 6 weekly or longer as it varies. She goes out for walks and the lane from our field to the road starts off concrete then goes to gravel so her feet are quite hard from doing this work. I am hoping her feet remain strong and can go barefoot once she is backed and in work. BUT if she needs shoes to cope with her work load then she will have them starting with fronts unless my farrier says she needs them all round.

I'm a firm believer in each horse is an individual and doesn't have shoes or whatever 'just because so and so's horse does'
 
Ive decided to leave my youngster until he needs shoes. In the meantime, I use Keratex to harden his feet and my farrier and I both just keep his feet neat and tidy.

It does seem to be the case that people shoe because "that's what you do" - certianly round where I am. I have lost count of the amount of times that I have had to justify keeping him unshod.
 
As others have said, people I know wait until their youngsters need shoes before having them. I know plenty of people who don't shoe their horses at all and plenty who only shoe in front.

I have tried going shoeless and had my horse shod in front only for a long time, but our bridleways are very stoney - it's not the road work thats the problem.

That said, I own a little sec B who in her previous home did a lot of road work and became foot sore - she had to have front shoes.

What surprises me is the amount of dressage horses that are shod - why? - most only ever work on a surface!
 
My youngster was ridden for a long time without shoes, it was only when I started hacking him out on the road and he became a bit sore that I had shoes put on him, only fronts to start with and he only had front shoes on for a long time, about a year.
Funnily enough I was at a yard that has hacking straight up onto the south downs and no road work at all that I had to have hind shoes put on him as he was finding the chalky paths really slippery behind and there are quite a lot of gravel tracks and stony paths in the forest.

However I was quite pleased when he finally became a grown up horse and had 4 shoes on!!
 
Before I moved to the UK (from the US) it was "normal" for me to keep horses shod in summer while they were working/showing and doing road work. Then as the weather turned nasty (mud, snow, ice) we pulled the shoes and horses then worked barefoot or had some time off anyway. Some of our horses simply could not cope barefoot (one gelding had as a yearling caught his foot in a fence and ripped so much away from the bulb up that it never grew in properly) and therefore had to have special snow shoes/pads (convex rubber pads under borium studded shoes). My horses all lived out and occasionally came in when the weather was awful.

When I came here and got a horse it was "unheard of" for a working horse to be unshod -- at least in the company I kept! On the yard I'm at now, there are a few horses unshod but they are mainly semi-retired or youngsters just being backed. My own mare has been barefoot for nearly a year following surgery and now that she's back into work and doing roadwork 2-3 times a week as the bulk of her "work" she might get some shoes on again soon. But I don't think she desperately NEEDS them. The gelding I have on loan probably couldn't cope without shoes at least on the fronts due to the conformation of his foot.

In general, I would say that the culture of horsey people I've encountered in this country seems to be a very much "if it's working it wears shoes" one, whereas in the US I found that it was different, at least in MY world ;)
 
Think it depends where you are , mine has been bare all the time i have had him , nearly six years. never been a problem before but since we moved here other people give me strange looks and several times they have complained that I made them jump cos he is too quiet . My son likes to ride bareback occasionally , that really gets some stares! but most of the riders round here are the "you can only be a good rider when you have collected all the gadgets" types.
 
It is quite unusual for a horse in work to be unshod, but I knew a girl who evented to novice level with her unshod horse and a couple of people at my yard don't have shoes on their horses, they hunt and go XC with them too.
It seems to be the case that horses have more grip when they are not shod, but my horse found it very difficult to grip when he had no shoes on, and he's fine with them.
I had a very horrible experience riding him up a steep chalky track one time, in the end he was jumping from one side of the path to the other like a mountain goat!
 
Why do we shoe by default rather than necessity?

That was exactly the question I asked my self when bringing on my three boys. I bought them all as foals and yearlings and, when it came time for them to start work, I decided that (unlike everyone else I knew who had youngsters) I wouldn't just have shoes put on them for the sake of it - instead I would wait and they would be shod when and if they needed it.

They are now 10, 10, and 8 respectively and have never needed to be shod. Two of them are endurance horses - and I compete them completely barefoot and have never had to use hoof boots either. One of them will be doing a 50 mile (80km) endurance ride this coming weekend.

I guess that one of the advantages I had with mine though was that even as mere babes, the area in which they've been kept is very flinty, so they've developed hooves as tough as you like, as I've had no choice but to work them over flint most of the time - even as babes just being walked out in hand! They also live out 24/7/365, so the feet are constantly stimulated.
 
My youngster will be shod when and if he needs shoes, as in when he starts harder ridden work. Still, he has a good few years before that'll happen and in the meantime he will be lead out and long reined etc on the roads with no shoes. If he did struggle for any reason he may have plates put on in front if needs be but i am hoping, as his feet are good he will not NEED shoes as such. My horse is terrible and, like someone else says, he only has to see gravel/concrete when barefoot and he's hobbling! In fact I would probaly walk better barefoot than he does!

We also took all the shoes off our old TB as he's just out in the field but last year he was seriously lame with abscesses in both fronts and his feet just were falling apart. He now has shoes back on in front and is sound.

I think it's just what suits your horse. I have seen some show jumpers whose horses do not have back shoes on and I am sure there are plenty more people who compete in all disciplines without shoes. Each to their own and great if you can get away with it - must save you some pennies!!! As mine do a fair bit of road hacking though i don't actually think their feet would stand up to it too much as they wear down too quickly but, we shall see with the youngster. I have only ever bought horses who were shod so it'll be interesting to see how the young one goes and how long he may stay barefoot.
 
Two of my three are unshod, one of which (pony) can and does do road work, but only on a smooth surface. She has very hard feet. The one who is shod is worked regularly on roads so by necessity he needs shoes. I don't know anyone who shoes horses that do not need them. Since taking shoes off my appaloosa (retired) his hooves has improved and cracks disappeared, but that is only because he is not doing 2 hours of riding per day. I think it really depends. Personally, I would not go hunting or do a lot of road work without shoes on my ridden hunter. But done properly, barefoot can be a great thing to do.
 
Good question. Have asked myself the same thing a lot. Have been brought up in a tradition where shoes were not always done deal and so was happy to try my mare who came to me barefoot to carry on like that - many eyebrows raised around us. THen came to the point when it became apparent that shoes would help her and they have.

The question could be continued to other bits of horse management. Why do we now rug up by default, no matter what type of horse, for example?

THe list could go on I am sure...
 
This is similar to why do people stable by default! I think its just tradition / habit.

Personally, I keep them un-shod until I absolutely need shoes for studs. I competed my last horse for 2 years without shoes but got too slippy competing on grass so had to have them. I make sure the shoes are taken off my current horse over the winter when he's on his annual break - he loves not having them on, I hate having to put them back on come springtime :( But its just not do-able to compete BE & BSJA without studs. Cant wait until they develop "shoes" or boots which are allowed under affiliated rules (I know there's plastic shoes available which stick-on but they're damn expensive!).
 
I must be very odd then as i only shoes my youngsters when needed and so does everyone i know- why would you spend a fortune on shoes unless needed???

i actually prefer to break youngsters and get them hacking unshod 1. in case i come off i don't want to be trampled with shoes and 2. they can be a bit politer for the first few hacks if they can feel their feet (cruel mummy :))

the main reason people shoe by default imo, is because most people keep their horses at a livery yard with grazing not suited to working barefoot horses- most need very scrappy paddocks whereas most livery yards are aiming at lush green paddocks as that is what looks good/most horse owners like to see.

i shoe mine as they have good grazing, lots of stony tracks and also because their grip is far better.
he turning point for my 4yro was when he slipped over working on grass barefoot- it wasn't a tight turn or wet conditions but at nearly 18hh a slight loss of balance is magnified and he hit the floor very hard.
i don't want my horses to lose confidence and as we event they work with shoes and studs.
 
I don't think anyone does shoe youngsters before they start work, so a misleading statement really.

I am shoeing my youngster at the end of this month. He has been on and off in work for 6 months or so, he is crippled on the stony tracks round us which limits our hacking, otherwise I would save myself the money.

In my experience people shoe because they need to - I don't really know any horses doing any roadwork or hard competition work, which could be unshod. I'd love to avoid paying for shoes, no choice unfortunately.
 
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