Would you ride with one front shoe?

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djlynwood

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The horse that I part share became lame last week. The vet came out and removed the shoe that was causing problems and he has since been fine.

The owner has said that I can ride him in the menage as he is no longer lame and farrier is coming out at the weekend.

He is 25 years young and I would hate to make him feel uncomfortable by riding him until he is shod.

Would you ride with one shoe?
 
It depends how good your surface is really I guess. If it was good, and the horses foot was in tact (ie not cracked) I guess I would for a short time.....but probably only if I needed to keep it fit for something.

I probably wouldnt risk it if the horse didint *need* riding, as if the hoof cracks there may not be enough to get a shoe attached to........
 
no i wouldn't personally
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Personally I've always said all shoes or no shoes..my gelding has thrown a front shoe and the farrier can't come for another week . But I won't ride him at all as he looks and sounds unbalanced in front in hand due to only having the one shoe on.

This is just my opionion,maybe it depends on the horse and the softness of the surface?Maybe others can say if they would ride in a school in this situation?
 
Thanks,

I was just wondering if I was being a bit too soft about feeling bad riding him.

His owner says that he is just a bit unbalanced having one shoe but still says I can ride. Although he does need riding due to excess weight, I think I may just leave riding him till the weekend. No point putting unnessesary stress on other parts of his body.
 
Depends on the horse, state of his feet, some horses have flat feet and would not cope without a shoe on when they are used to having one on, also there is the risk of damaging the hoof wall (if the shoe has come of awkwardly and caused damage or if the horse just has poor crumbly feet etc)

A bit of schooling on soft ground like in a menage wont harm the horse but it will be unbalanced, but its like you walking about with one shoe on and one off, it wouldn't harm you, just feel weird...horses were born without shoes on yet people go into panic mode when they loose one.

Just common sense really, if the horse seems quite footy on the menage surface then no, if he walks out like there is not obvious difference then yes but only once or twice till the farrier comes if the horse has good strong feet, ideally its not recommended and it might get frowned upon by other horse owners.

But in your case if the horse has already been lame and you share the horse, I personally wouldnt until the farrier has been, if it goes lame again, then there is problem, which has not been caused by you...riding with out a shoe.
 
Depends on the surface you'd be riding on and also how long you'd be doing it for.

If I have to wait for a few days for the farrier and I was riding in a deep school then yes I would probably ride but just be aware of how my horse was going.
 
Our little coloured cob was fine in the menage for 3 days last week. He only had 1 shoe on and has good solid feet. If we didn't do road work he wouldn't need the fronts either.

Our WB no way , when he looses a shoe he is on holiday until the farrier arrives :-)
 
most definatly and frequently do!

Otherswise I would never ride.

horse has a tendancy to rip of one of his front shoes with his back feet, recently on a weekly basis, and always just on the weekend!

Do not do road work though, and only on grass or a surface.
 
I might do with a hind shoe missing if it was just in a good sand school, but not a front shoe. It's nearly the weekend anyway, let him have the rest of the week off and have a good hack when the shoe's back on.
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If the horse isnt lame, the shoe has come clean off and hes going to be ridden on a good surface then it wouldnt bother me.
I would never hack out or ride in a field with a missing shoe.
 
If I was riding on a decent surface and the unshod foot was in a decent state (not crumbling/sore/etc) then I wouldn't have a problem with it.
 
No, because the vet has been involved. If a horse pulled a shoe itself and I was just waiting for the farrier, then yes I'd ride in the school as long as the horse was comfortable. Seeing as it came off due to a previous lameness and the vet took it off, I would rather wait (especially as it isn't your own horse) and make sure everything was 100% before I sat on again.
 
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