Shoes or no shoes ?

DAPNET Forums Archive Forums Draft Animal Power Animal Health Shoes or no shoes ?

  • This topic has 24 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 14 years ago by Anonymous.
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 25 total)
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  • #41694
    PhilG
    Participant

    I seem to have met a few people lately that feel very strongly for both camps, I was just wondering what you all are doing ? Mine are four year old Belgians and never been shoed.

    #60454
    jac
    Participant

    We have 5 Clydes.. 2 aged geldings, An 11yrs mare her 5yrs filly and 3yrs son {gelded}.. I have been trying the “barefoot trim” on the mare and daughter as done by Pete Ramey and have to say it works for me.. they do a mixture of field and road work and the feet have never looked better. Also because the heels are kept well down and the toe backed up I think it helps with the cpl issue these Clydes have as I feel it opens up the heels and thus improves the pump effect to help drain the endemas. I plan to gradualy change them all over to it.. As I say “It works for ME “.
    John

    #60450
    mitchmaine
    Participant

    no strong feelings one way or the other. what ever your use is, i think. we don’t go off the farm much, and don’t work the woods like we used to, so pavement, ice, roots and rocks. our nags have been barefoot for about 12 years, and two have never been shod, and it works well for us, cause it’s hard to mess up a trim (i’m gonna catch heck for that one), and we don’t miss the cost of shoes.
    we do little minnie trims every three weeks or so, and if you go off a little it’s not so bad that you can’t catch up the next time. google hoof trimming and see what comes up. you’ll be an expert in ten seconds.

    #60445
    Donn Hewes
    Keymaster

    Shoe if you have to. Other wise bare foot is great. Either cheaper or easier depending on who is doing the work. Good for the horse foot health. You just need to know when “you have to shoe”. A lot of road work, rocky trails, and hard logging are the most common examples. I have done a far bit of logging with out shoes, but I wasn’t trying to make money most of the time. A shod logging horse will move bigger logs and make more money. It doesn’t hurt the horse to log bare foot.

    I just sold a horse and one of the reasons was she needed shoes on her front hoofs.

    I also agree with Mitch it is easy to do the trimming your self, but it would be nice to have some one show you how. I think you could mess up a trim pretty easily if you did not know what you where doing.

    #60451
    mitchmaine
    Participant

    hey donn, right. i think you could do a botch job on a first trim. i think i probably did. i’m guessing i might undertrim being too timid at first. maybe the best way would be to hire a farrier to come 2 – 3 times a year, and trim in between yourself. the farrier could get you back on track, and after you made enough mistakes, you’d be better. there is some connection between picking up your own horses feet and being more in control or “in touch” with them. i’m not saying it well. i just like to handle my horses, the more the better for both of us. mitch

    #60443
    Carl Russell
    Moderator

    I pretty much keep mine shod year-round. I agree that barefoot is best, but I have found it to be lacking when traveling gravel roads, ledgy ground, or for traction in the woods.

    As I have said in other posts, the biggest problem with shoeing is not being able to afford to ave it done for you at intervals that will protect the health of the hoof. I shoe my own, and therefore I can keep the hooves trimmed and reset the shoes every 6-8 weeks.

    Over 24 years I have played with both with and without, and I have found more benefits with shoes than without. Not saying the hoof is made to have shoes on, but done right, shoes do not have to be detrimental.

    I agree with Mitch, handling the horses feet is a big communication builder, whether trimming or shoeing. So don’t let the choice to shoe or not be an excuse not to handle their feet. Even if you hire someone else to do it all for you, handling the feet regularly to perform something other than picking will be valuable.

    Carl

    #60461
    dlskidmore
    Participant

    Any opinions on the various boots for the transition period, or for working in tough conditions with a barefoot horse?

    Like these: http://www.easycareinc.com/

    #60455
    jac
    Participant

    I’ve never had to fit boots but the general opinion seems to be that the heat fitted boot is the best. If the horse has never been shod the transition seems to be a lot quicker..like 6 weeks..I have to say I was a bit sceptical at first but after seeing it work on my own team I would have no problem recomending it. When I mention it to most folks they seem to think all you’re doing is running the horses with no shoes..not so…totaly different trim to what our farrier calls a pasture trim..
    John

    #60452
    mitchmaine
    Participant

    hey john, describe a heat fitted boot to me, will you? i’ve never heard of it. mitch

    #60460
    PhilG
    Participant

    I looked into te easy boots also, I don’t think they make a draft size – 7-8 ?

    #60462
    dlskidmore
    Participant

    I think one of the vendors made them custom sizes, I’ll post the link if I find it again.

    #60456
    jac
    Participant

    From what I can gather Mitch its a rubber boot made of a rubber that softens with light heat and you can mould into the right shape. Only need them for the transition period and only for horses that have had shoes on usually. Google “barefoot for soundness” and that page lists suppliers for draft horses. Drafts apparantly respond really well to this type of trim…Bob h on this forum does this trim and mentioned it on the shoeing draft horse discussion..
    John

    #60453
    mitchmaine
    Participant

    thanks john, i went to “barefoot…..” wow, what a site. lots of reading to do. thanks again. mitch

    #60446
    jen judkins
    Participant

    @jac 18690 wrote:

    When I mention it to most folks they seem to think all you’re doing is running the horses with no shoes..not so…totaly different trim to what our farrier calls a pasture trim..
    John

    This is a point alot of people miss, John. I use the ‘high performance barefoot trim’ they discuss on the ‘barefoot for soundness’ site. Not only do I rarely need shoes (yes there are times when shoes are beneficial), the horses have no transition time when I do choose to shoe. Keep in mind, I only shoe for specific jobs….skijoring for instance, where speed is crucial…..and only for short periods (less than 12 weeks). When I pulled my skijoring horse’s shoes in March, we were off running down gravel roads the next week.

    #60463
    dlskidmore
    Participant

    Here’s the horse boot that is made in custom sizes:

    http://www.horsemocs.com/

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