Bare foot horses

[bullbreaker]

I know its an older thread but some info on some long lasting horse shoes.

St. Croix forge Extra-EZ style with welded tungsten carbide on the heels and toes !


UNBRANDED » Blog Archive » Unbranded: Long-Lasting Shoes

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1978488989/unbranded

 

[Ken45101]

Long lasting? How often do regular shoes "wear out"? More often it's a case of losing a shoe.

 

[whistlepig]

Not so much the wearing out of the regular horse shoes. Barefoot trimmers believe that a steel shoe restricts the proper growth of the hooves. I'm not going to argue this either way but my wife does have a following for barefoot trimming and she goes to many places to teach it.

 

[Soundguy]

i used to shoe my horses. all it led to for me was torn up hooves from nails.

I only needed shoeing for crossing roads and gravel trails. so we got those slip on rubber ones for that limited fork.

hooves have never been better.. no more thrown shoes and dinged lawnmower blades..

 

[whistlepig]

We kind of went that way too. Horses on pasture but do get trail ridden a couple times a week. On the gravel trails on some state parks we put the boots on. This is a lot less wear and tear on their hooves than the damage hoof nails did.

 

[bucktaker]

Long lasting? How often do regular shoes "wear out"? More often it's a case of losing a shoe.

Mosty its the nail holes get larger with use requiring a larger nail which is worse for the hoof wall. After 15 yrs of regular trail riding and shoes, i have left mine go barefoot and I seem to be doing of. I I was goin on a long trip where the horse was expected to ride everyday I would use shoes again.

 

[phiferpharm]

Both my Mini's and my Quarter Horse aren't shoed and whenever the vet comes over to visit, he says the hooves all look good.

 

[Soundguy]

i have mine trimmed every 6 weeks or so.. and as said. use them clip on rubber shoes if they will be going over gravel roads.... hooves look 100% better than when I used to shoe them 24-7

 

[Chilly807]

Ours are shod regularly in summer months, my wife does a lot of ring work with them, the sand is pretty abrasive.
Our opinion is that barefoot is fine as long as the horse isn't being worked much and the footing is a natural surface. Gravel, sand and hard surfaces plus the weight of a rider usually means shoes are required for the horse's sake.

 

[whistlepig]

My wife does a lot of ring work with her horse also. We have found that a ring of pea gravel is easy on a barefoot horse.