Would you ride horse who lost a shoe?

oscarwild

oscarwild

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Just wondered what your thoughts are for riding a horse who has lost a shoe. I never ride if the shoe has came off but there are a few people who have said I could do gentle work on soft ground with her. I dont want to incase she ends up lame as I'm hoping to start
competing her in a 6 weeks.

So just wondered what you guys do?
 
If the shoe has come off cleanly and horse is sound then I will ride gently in the school. However, my horse has fantastic feet and we are taking him barefoot as shoes just seem a waste of money with him.

When I tried out my old pony he threw a shoe and was happily trotting down the road and then passed a 5* the next day.

It is really dependent on the horse. :)
 
Thanks for that.
She a new horse to me and only had her since Dec. So still dont know much about her. Farrier has said that she doesnt have the best feet in the world when he shod her in Jan.
She not lame but I dont want to take a chance incase she goes lame. I bought her after my last horse was PTS. That horse had a year and bit of illness and evertime he got better something else went wrong. Perhaps it makes me worry too much :P
 
I think you are right to be cautious. The lack of one shoe is bound to make the horse unlevel. This means that even if you only ride for a short time, the horse will be using its muscles unevenly and developing a potential longer-term problem. You wouldn't go for a walk yourself, if the heel had broken off your shoe.
TBH if the horse has the type of feet which lose shoes, they are unlikely to be hard enough to do much without shoes anyway.
 
I had a horse with very soft feet and before we found a decent farrier he would lose his shoes all the time, I found that he seemed perfectly capable of gentle work in the sand school.

The only time I waited till he was reshod was once when his shoe went flying off as we were trotting down the road and I had to get off and lead him stubbling home.
 
Yes, definitely - the farrier situation is so bad up here that if you didn't ride when you lost a shoe, you would have to wait until the next visit (ie they wont come out)
 
Pearlsasinger said:
I think you are right to be cautious. The lack of one shoe is bound to make the horse unlevel. This means that even if you only ride for a short time, the horse will be using its muscles unevenly and developing a potential longer-term problem. You wouldn't go for a walk yourself, if the heel had broken off your shoe.
TBH if the horse has the type of feet which lose shoes, they are unlikely to be hard enough to do much without shoes anyway.
Click to expand...

^^^^This :D
 
Luckily my TB has only lost 1 shoe in the 3 yrs I have had him, but he instantly goes hopping lame regardless to it being front or back. He is such a baby
 
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