Would you ride if your horse lost a front shoe

canteron said:
My horse has lost a front shoe in this horrible mud.

The weather finally looks OK for a just a couple of days and I am balancing not riding because no front shoe against horse loosing fitness because of limited opportunities to ride. Horse is type who is much nicer if ridden most days.

Would you ride - in the school on a surface, or out on a hack?

(PS Farrier due mid next week).
Click to expand...

No, to the point where if I was miles away from home on a hack and my horse lost a front shoe I'd get off and walk, horses carry 2/3 of their weight on their front end, so to have the front end compromised by the loss of a shoe resulting in the horse being unlevel... Riding would not be something I would contemplate. I have ridden home after losing a back shoe and it was about 1/2 mile, but never the front... Just don't see the point in risking it.
 
With the TB I had he lost shoes a lot so I would ride on the grass pretty much just in walk, just so he had been tacked up and ridden that day as he really needed the routine. Certainly wouldn't go on the roads or a hard surface though.
 
tallyhohoho! said:
If sound yes on a decent surface.

Saying that I have lost a shoe on a hack and carried on. No problem. If the hoof is balanced to begin with, why should there be a prob with balance? The other foot with the shoe on will at most be 10mm off the ground if that? Unless you have a very very thick shoe...
Click to expand...

But without the shoe it wouldn't be balanced would it... Imagine if the horse was bf, and the trimmer left 1cm more on the left front than the right, but not because the horse needed it... The balance would be compromised the shoulder leg, back would all feel the effects of the strain, it doesn't take much to cause a problem. The hooves will have been trimmed and balanced, yes, but balanced for shoes to be put on on both hooves... Once one is lost the hooves are no longer balanced, plus there is the risk that the horse not used to being barefoot will be footy.
 
The_Snow_Queen said:
But without the shoe it wouldn't be balanced would it... Imagine if the horse was bf, and the trimmer left 1cm more on the left front than the right, but not because the horse needed it... The balance would be compromised the shoulder leg, back would all feel the effects of the strain, it doesn't take much to cause a problem. The hooves will have been trimmed and balanced, yes, but balanced for shoes to be put on on both hooves... Once one is lost the hooves are no longer balanced, plus there is the risk that the horse not used to being barefoot will be footy.
Click to expand...

Damn. If only I knew that I wouldn't have lost so many horses to bad backs. Silly me :rolleyes:
 
Dependson the horse, for a shortish hack with lots if off road then yes probably, depending on horse and if they're footy or not.

On a school yes. I've competed bs in the past missing a front, had no impact whatsoever on my horses jumping :)
 
No not a front shoe For much same reason as Snow Queen - horses carry lot of their weight on the front.Always was a no no and would struggle to go against it.
I think I'm a bit institutionalised in some things!!
 
I wouldn't with my own horse no. I rode a horse out on a hack that had lost a shoe, owner wasn't fussed and told me to take him out ( her horse her rules) and he was fine until about half way round when he become foot sore, so tried to walk him on the grass verges, got him home and his hoof had cracks round the bottom of the hoof :( poor love
 
Well, I have to say I would take mine out for a short quiet hack on a soft surface, such as our bridleway or the fields. In fact I did last week, as the same thing happened. I wouldn't ride on the roads though, and it was only the once. He's not shod behind and lost one of his fronts, just like the OP's horse, in the mud. I don't think it did his foot any harm.
 
It would only do the foot harm if the foot was already sick. A healthy foot should have no problem coping with a lost shoe.
 
Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

Having considered it all I have decided to take the horse out to school. She isn't the greatest traveller so that is what we can practice, the schooling is less important, its more just keeping loading, travelling and new places all part of her life!! Who knows when I will get another chance with the vile weather forecast.

She has brilliant feet, and has been charging around her field anyway, so I guess a little light schooling can't make too much of a difference.

Maybe if she was a horse with worse feet I would have kept her in and wrapped up in cotten wool, I can see merit in both sides of the argument.
 
If she is sound, then just take the other shoe off. That solves the balance issue if you were even worried about that. Then farrier can put both back on next time he comes.
 
Maybe slightly OT, but how on earth do you get a shoe off without risking taking a chunk out of the foot or anything more drastic. I'd be more nervous of doing that than doing some light riding on a soft surface minus minus one shoe.
 
cazrider said:
Maybe slightly OT, but how on earth do you get a shoe off without risking taking a chunk out of the foot or anything more drastic. I'd be more nervous of doing that than doing some light riding on a soft surface minus minus one shoe.
Click to expand...

You take it off exactly how a farrier does. With shoe removers or failing that a man with pliers or nips. Start from the back on one side and work you way around using the nips as a lever. It's actually quite easy.

However if the hoof started falling off in great chunks like pieces of cheese, I would seriously wonder what on earth is wrong!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top