SO1
Well-Known Member
My pony has not wore hind shoes for 5 year and when I took them off him when I bought him he was fine no chipping or sensitivity it was very easy.
He has had his front shoes off for 7 months now due to an injury (broken splint bone) and I am thinking of keeping them off. He was at a rehab yard and on box rest for three months and then came back into light work in November at the rehab yard but was mainly stabled gradually increasing turnout over the next four months however it was not stony there and we did not do much hacking at all so he was the majority of time on soft surfaces.
He is now back at his normal yard and in a normal routine of living out again. However it is a very stony area even the path to the field has small stones and so has the yard drive and a lot of the hacking is flinty. This has never been an issue for his hinds which are like little rocks and self trimming and rock hard he can trot over stoney and flinty fine.
However he is struggling on the stones with his fronts. I know it is a difficult time of year as it is wet so the hooves are more likely to be soft and he is living out so wet hooves most of the time. Roads are ok but small stones he does not like, and also does not like what I think is called pebbledash (stones combined with concrete). He had been doing ok but then I made the mistake of trotting him on some pebble dash on a bridleway as he wanted to trot and then he became footsore on small stones the next day so I had to stick to riding him on a surface in the school and then he had a day off and then today we just did 40 minutes of slow walking on roads but he was not happy going up the stoney drive at all. I think the trotting on the pebbledash has set him back (it was also a little bit flinty on part of ride which was one hour) although there is no chipping on his hooves.
I am considering getting some hoof boots for him but presume to get his hooves stronger and like his back hooves and ok on stones he actually needs to go on to the stoney bits to get used to it?
Obviously he has had fronts shoes on for a lot longer than he did the hinds so I am presuming this too makes a difference.
There are lots of ponies on the yard who are shod on the fronts only, but only one person has managed to go all round barefoot and she said she just had to ride her pony through the potteryness on stone and she only does it during the winter her pony is shod in the summer and she does not do much hacking she mainly competes on a surface or on grass or goes in the school.
I would like to keep his fronts off if possible as the shape of his hooves has improved without them and on a surface he feels so light to ride without them it is almost like he is floating, and his backs are so good without shoes but I hate that he is pottery on the stones and normally I do a lot of hacking and to get to the hacking I have to go up the stoney drive and a lot of the hacking involves bridleways with small stones and flints.
I just wondered what is the time frame for the fronts to get hard enough to cope with long rides on stoney ground or because I do not have an environment which is perfect for going barefoot eg living out am I being a bit optimistic and probably my pony would be happier back in his front shoes again I hate to see him struggling over the stones and it is not optimum conditions (also admittedly I am not very patient and not sure I have the patience to stick to short walk hacks for months)
As it was so easy taking his backs off I presumed it would be quite easy without his fronts as well. Why is it so much harder with the fronts?
He has had his front shoes off for 7 months now due to an injury (broken splint bone) and I am thinking of keeping them off. He was at a rehab yard and on box rest for three months and then came back into light work in November at the rehab yard but was mainly stabled gradually increasing turnout over the next four months however it was not stony there and we did not do much hacking at all so he was the majority of time on soft surfaces.
He is now back at his normal yard and in a normal routine of living out again. However it is a very stony area even the path to the field has small stones and so has the yard drive and a lot of the hacking is flinty. This has never been an issue for his hinds which are like little rocks and self trimming and rock hard he can trot over stoney and flinty fine.
However he is struggling on the stones with his fronts. I know it is a difficult time of year as it is wet so the hooves are more likely to be soft and he is living out so wet hooves most of the time. Roads are ok but small stones he does not like, and also does not like what I think is called pebbledash (stones combined with concrete). He had been doing ok but then I made the mistake of trotting him on some pebble dash on a bridleway as he wanted to trot and then he became footsore on small stones the next day so I had to stick to riding him on a surface in the school and then he had a day off and then today we just did 40 minutes of slow walking on roads but he was not happy going up the stoney drive at all. I think the trotting on the pebbledash has set him back (it was also a little bit flinty on part of ride which was one hour) although there is no chipping on his hooves.
I am considering getting some hoof boots for him but presume to get his hooves stronger and like his back hooves and ok on stones he actually needs to go on to the stoney bits to get used to it?
Obviously he has had fronts shoes on for a lot longer than he did the hinds so I am presuming this too makes a difference.
There are lots of ponies on the yard who are shod on the fronts only, but only one person has managed to go all round barefoot and she said she just had to ride her pony through the potteryness on stone and she only does it during the winter her pony is shod in the summer and she does not do much hacking she mainly competes on a surface or on grass or goes in the school.
I would like to keep his fronts off if possible as the shape of his hooves has improved without them and on a surface he feels so light to ride without them it is almost like he is floating, and his backs are so good without shoes but I hate that he is pottery on the stones and normally I do a lot of hacking and to get to the hacking I have to go up the stoney drive and a lot of the hacking involves bridleways with small stones and flints.
I just wondered what is the time frame for the fronts to get hard enough to cope with long rides on stoney ground or because I do not have an environment which is perfect for going barefoot eg living out am I being a bit optimistic and probably my pony would be happier back in his front shoes again I hate to see him struggling over the stones and it is not optimum conditions (also admittedly I am not very patient and not sure I have the patience to stick to short walk hacks for months)
As it was so easy taking his backs off I presumed it would be quite easy without his fronts as well. Why is it so much harder with the fronts?
