Signs that you need to shoe your horse

[motorgypsy]

First of all today's horse with good genes and good feed that is lightly ridden on grass, sand, dirt etc., generally doesn't need shoes.

There are three things that we've seen that were serious indicators that shoes were needed on a horse

1. On a very rocky and abrasive ride the hooves of the horse in question wore to the point of pinking the horse. The ride was not over. This horses needed either shoes or boots but the sucking mud was such that boots were not a good choice. The owner shod the horse until the end of the ride, then pulled the shoes.

2. This former race horse's front hooves split all the way up to the coronary band in multiple places so that the foot was going flat. The farrier used the two part hoof patch material and shoes to stabilize the hoof. It took over a year to grow good strong new hoof. The horse was a rescue.

3. On a long parade the owner noticed later that the horse had some bruising. For the next parade the owner is looking for synthetic glueons to reduce impact. They make some with tabs that look promising.

Pleasee add your experiences where it was obvious the horse needed shoes. IF you are going on rocky rides and know well in advance you can build the strength of your horses' hooves by putting gravel in the areas they frequent. You also don't necessarily have to shoes all four hooves. Sometimes just front or rear are adequate. We have two who are just ouchy on the front.

[Barbwire]

Oh boy, here we go.....http://smiley.onegreatguy.net/ohboy.gif

[CarolU]

If the horse is 'ouchy' on gravel or rocky surfaces.

If the horse's hoof chips or cracks.

If the horse is ridden a lot on abbrasive surfaces - sand, asphalt, cement.

If the horse's hoof is too soft and 'crumbly' or other hoof/leg correction problems.

If the horse needs traction on ice or snow.

[PASOFAN]

If horse is trippy or purposly walking on the grass not the road/gravel, need shoes..

[motorgypsy]

Here's another one I remember - the horse was extremely long toe, low heel. the farrier put wedge shoes on her to get her angles up and to allow her heels to grow in. They did and she now maintains the angles barefoot.

To us any horse that is ridden on unforgiving surfaces regularly (concrete, hard clay, cobblestone) like daily at more than a slow walk needs not only shoes but some sort of pad that absorbs concussion or energy absorbing shoes.

[Jaci]

You also don't necessarily have to shoes all four hooves. Sometimes just front or rear are adequate. We have two who are just ouchy on the front.

Motorgypsy
A bit off topic but since gait is a timing sequence don't you find that only shoeing the front or the rear can throw the gait off?

As to when do you need shoes... My husband rode NATRC for several years and spent so much time in the saddle conditioning his horses that we found they just wore their feet to nothing. And no matter what we did a horses hoof will only grow so fast. Since my husband was taking off more than they could grow back to stay sound, we not only put shoes on but we had to got with a wide plate.

My husband and his horse would actually wear the shoes out. They would come off looking like foil instead of a chunk of steel. Usually they were so thin that I could bend them with my bare hands...

Jaci

[Edurne]

my horse is shoed only in front, and no trouble with gait. Newly trimmed and shod..... he's a gaiting machine.

[Laura S]

Yes, it is easy to wear shoes out too!

One of my horses I was just trail riding had shoes on front only and it never messed with his gait once he got used to it.

[Terry Wallace]

Just a note...if you are SHOWING...you must have all four shoes...or NO shoes. If you come into the ring with only front shod feet, or only rear shod feet, you will be excused.

Yes..shoeing only the front...or only the rear can indeed interfere with gait.

[motorgypsy]

Yes it can throw off the gait but not in a horse with a set gait. They will get used to them and gait fine.

That's interesting about wearing the hoof down and that is why our friend put on shoes for an ride that had worn the hooves to the pink. Our horses used to do this and would wear the shoes razor thin. When our farrier said to pull shoes we did so but I guess our horses' hooves toughenedd up because they never wore to the pink and we rode several hours daily for a while. But we have one line that is famous for having really dense hooves. Dense heads too!! (very stubborn but very loveable!)

We're still waiting for the perfect boot! And the perfect glueon shoe. From what we've read the US is very much behind on crative hoof protection.

[Jaci]

. When our farrier said to pull shoes we did so but I guess our horses' hooves toughenedd up because they never wore to the pink and we rode several hours daily for a while. [quote]

Naturally genetic hoof quality will be a factor but I also think that a lot of it depends on the terrain that you ride in. Here in Arizona we pretty much have 3 types of ground. Hard pack clay, that I believe is actually harder than asphalt. Rocks, and sand. The desert is riddled with sand washes.

Most of the NATRC rides here are a combination of climbing in rocks, lots of sand washes and a little fast work on hard pack clay roads. So you train for what you will be competing in. After a while physics just takes over. One horse hoof, regardless of hardness, grinding in sand for a given period will reduce hoof matter faster than it can be replaced.

You try and rest the horses feet in the down times but you still have to keep them legged up and the only way to do that is to ride.

You end up not having very many options... quit competing or put on some sort of protective device on the horses hooves and as you said there just aren't a lot of good options out there.

Often times I think that shoes end up being the lesser of the evils...

Jaci