Do shoes for a short while wreck hooves????

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My horse has pretty great feet for the most part. Didn't need to shoe her through last years show season. Any other show horse of mine needed shoes throughout. However, I'd like to put some front shoes on her to maintain her through the upcoming gravel road season so she doesn't step on a stone or get chips off her hooves. Anyone have any experience with using shoes for a short while? Do you know whether putting on a pair of shoes for 6-8 months then removing them will wreck her feet? Will she go back to her strong walled, good structured hooves?

-- Joc (horseaddict@yahoo.com), March 05, 2002

Answers

My own personal opinion on horse shoes is if your horse has great feet then don't shoe if you can possibly help it. Your horses feet need to expand and contract and the shoes just make it harder for your horses feet. I keep a set of easy-boots for rides when I think that I will be on harder surface or really gravely roads. Easy boots do cost more then shoeing but they last for years! One set I have is over 10 years old. About worn out. If you look at the cost of easy boots compared to shoeing 6 at least 6 times a year then the boots are much better! Not to mention the problem of softer feet after removing the shoes.

-- shari (smillers@snowcrest.net), March 05, 2002.

We have a couple horses that we use for barrel racing that are shoed April through late September and their feet do just fine.

Why are you putting shoes only on the front? The back feet need protected as well.

-- beckie (none@this.time), March 05, 2002.


I would avoid shoes if you can help it. I have often ridden my horses on gravel roads with never a bruise! But if your horse does need some help shoes should not hurt the horse if you have a good farrier. Giving winters off is better than shoeing year round and will help prevent ice balls & slipping. A horse carries the majority of weight on the fronts & they are more prone to wear & tear. The few horses I have had to shoe due to tender feet have all done fine with just front shoes. I don't think I have ever had hind shoes put on any, even the mare I used to barrel race on years ago. My morgan mare did a 25 mile endurance ride with Easy Boots on the front feet only. Her back feet were totally bare & were just fine. The only reason I used the boot at all is because the ride required some sort of protection on at least the front feet. As someone else mentioned Easy Boots are a great alternative to shoes. One thing about Easy Boots is they're a PAIN to get on & off. If they go on easy they are too big & will fall off. I have never lost one, but don't use mine very often.

-- ellie (elnorams@aol.com), March 05, 2002.

No, when correctly applied, shoes won't wreck a horse's foot. Make sure she gets reset or new shoes at least every eight weeks (preferably six). It is better for a horse to go barefoot, but if you're showing, you don't want unsightly chips and flares. You can go with just front shoes if that's all she needs. I have lots of customers (I'm a farrier) who just have the fronts shod and just through the show/summer season. There's no change in the foot after going shod and returning barefoot, except sometimes a slight tenderness - just like if we're used to wearing shoes, then try running over a gravel road. After getting shoes pulled for winter, horses are sometimes ouchy for maybe a week. Sometimes not.

-- malinda (teneniel_80@yahoo.com), March 05, 2002.

I had the hardest time convincing one of my 4H kids that shoes won't make her horse's hoof "soft" forever. She'd been told that if you shod a horse then they'd have to have shoes all the time because the hoof would never be hard again.

I never put shoes on my broodmares, the show horses either get shoes all the way around, or just on the fronts depending on what they need. The reason most people just put shoes on the front is that a horse carries the majority of it's weight on the front end.

I discovered a great product two years ago for helping shoes stay on a bit better, it's a hoof hardener called Tuff Stuff-apply from the nail holes down to the the top of the shoe and it really does work. I have a show gelding that was throwing shoes consistently at 4 weeks (that gets expensive) because it was a real dry summer and this kept them on longer. When it's dry I use a hoof conditioner on everyone too.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), March 06, 2002.



thanks for all of your replies. Good Answers. I have always been a fan of the pinetar/mineral oil hoof concoction - and I stumbled across this research article done by veterinarians... check it out if you are interested on some facts on hoof dressings... http://www.aaep.org/ownereducation/dressing_up.asp

-- Joc (horseaddict@yahoo.com), March 06, 2002.

It depends. My stock has always lived on rocky land and their hooves were in great shape; nice and smooth with no chips. The land kept the hooves trimmed. I ride in the rocks and gravel. If an equine is healthy, he'll have healthy hooves.

UNLESS....I moved to soft ground/pasture and the hooves are going to heck. I'm now looking for rocky land.

Many folks who have equine whose hooves haven't toughened up will put Easy Boots on the front hooves. The front of the equine is what does all the work, so the Boots aren't needed on the back.

If an equine is working stock day in and day out in the rocks, the hooves will wear down faster than they grow and will need shoes.

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), March 06, 2002.


I have a ferrier come and check the hooves every 6 - 8 weeks. I have never shod them either and they were show horses, then taken to a lot of trail rides. It was easier to do when I lived up North, but here in Ok. the hooves are much harder to take care of. Right now I have to give them byotic for the hooves.

-- debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), March 07, 2002.

My farriers (three...use different ones for different problems) all prefer that horseshoes be pulled periodically to give the horse's foot a rest. I notice with my own horses that the white feet are most prone to chipping after removal -- but -- I have one old QH with black feet who can't have his shoes removed at all or he'll go lame, start chipping and cracking like mad. He just has punk hooves. Leave him shod, he'll stay sound -- so you have to know your own horse's feet & what works best.

When I worked trail rides years ago, we usually shod the front feet only to help with wear and tear, pulled the shoes come fall, and mostly there was never a problem. Those horses worked 7 days a week, for an average of at least 6 hours per day -- if you aren't riding as much, shoes may not be neccessary, unless you are thinking about putting in pads to keep gravel from bruising the horses soles. I've used Tuff-Stuff as well, and it does seem to help with difficult feet to clinch on shoes, but make sure you only use it around the bottom inch of hoof if you elect to use it, and never over the coronary band. When I'd pull the shoes off my jumper at the end of the season, I'd use Tuff-Stuff around the rims and over the nail holes to reinforce them while they were growing out (3 white feet) and it helped keep them from chipping off.

I afree that Easy Boots aren't quite as easy as they're advertised to be. Once you get used to them and get them semi-broken in, they are easier to apply, but new stiff ones aren't fun. Another rider at our barn uses them on her horse to keep him going sound (can't keep a conventional shoe on) and does admit that you have to remove them after use to knock out the sand, gravel, & bedding. Easy Boot does consistantly get high marks in product evaluations,& properly fitted doesn't come off. Another acquaintance of mine uses Sabre Sneakers on her horse for riding rough areas and he goes barefoot the rest of the time. They are odd looking as they lace up the front of the hoof like a human sneaker does and are a whole lot easier to put on than Easy Boots are, but they're not made for constant use in trail riding. Davis Barrier Boot is another brand available, that one puts on with velcro, but you have to be extra sure you're sizing that one right or they tend to rotate and fall off.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), March 07, 2002.


We board a horse for a friend who is a vet. He just recently had his horse shoed because her hooves were wearing down. He said that he would like to shoe her for 6 weeks then have her not wear shoes for 6 weeks. He says that alternating like this is no problem. However...he will keep close eye on her hooves to make sure they are not getting too worn down or stone bruised.

-- connie (connie@mission4me.com), March 10, 2002.


Having just had a mare founder this week for no apparent reason, I've been doing a lot of looking around more seriously at horse boots. I found a really interesting site pertaining to temporary shoe/boots to put onto horses feet if they are tender and/or not ready for gravel yet. I had no idea that there were so MANY options available these days!

http://members.screenz.com/gretchenfathauer/Section_18_full.htm

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), March 20, 2002.


I've never had shoes wreck my horse's feet. We always pull shoes after shoe season (unless the farrier thinks otherwise and usually he is right). Our mares are a little ouchy the first week, then go back to galloping and running with their bare hooves.

Knox gelatin added to feed once per day will help strengthen hooves. Rainmaker is great too, but expensive. It does seem that every farrier I have had uses his/her own mixture of hoof remedy. I just try to feed the hooves by feeding the horse. Some horses are like people and just have bad "hoof" days... :>) Better to be shod than stone bruised over the summer.

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), March 20, 2002.


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