Aluminium vs Steel - movement

[hokie98]

I know this topic has been covered many before (my apologies for bringing it up again), but it’s been several years since I found a good discussion and like everything else, opinions may have changed…

My 4 yo gelding’s feet are falling apart this cycle, and BM text me this AM to say he lost a front shoe - he’s scheduled to be reshod on Thurs (at a 4-1/2 week cycle). He’s in aluminum (Elite) on the front, steel on the back. He’s on night time turnout and it’s been so humid (ie dew), plus he has to hosed after being worked…fighting a losing battle here. I’m putting hardener on his feet as recommended by my farrier (last cycle he declared his feet “gorgeous”). But during the wet winter/spring, my farrier said “I’d like to put steel on him but your trainer won’t like it.” I told him then we weren’t doing any major shows this summer and if he felt like that was best, we could, but we kept aluminum on him.

My farrier (who is great - this isn’t a farrier issue) contents that a good mover is a good mover and a few more ounces of shoe won’t change that. Trainer says he can tell when a horse is wearing aluminum- they move more freely.

So, how many of you find a difference between steel and aluminum when it comes to movement? I’m not super savvy on shoes but do they make lighter weight steel? I’m doing some research - tempted to try steel for a cycle or two. I have a show in Sept that I’d like to do well at, as well as a major one in Oct where we need to be at the top of our game. Any suggestions/advice?

[HJdaydream]

I have always had my horse in steel. If we ever got to the point where aluminum will make the difference between winning or not, I suppose I’d try it before a big show, but we are a long way from there!

As an interesting side note- a friend of mine showed at WEF for the first time this year and said that some barns bring their farrier down to the ring to actually pull the shoes before the hack!

[dani0303]

I have never noticed a big enough difference in movement to be willing to risk the quality of the hoof or soundness of the horse. A good mover is a good mover no matter what. Put the steel on.

[RAyers]

Shoe weight has less to do with movement than the ability of the farrier to trim and shape the hoof and shoe to fit the specific horse. Weight difference per shoe versus the lifting force of the horse limb is fractions of a percent. Additionally, aluminum work hardens very easily so it becomes a greater shock transducer the longer it is on the horse, thus it can trash a hoof of not managed correctly.

[ToTheNines]

Even if affects movement, better to have good feet than a point or two.

[findeight]

I vote with your farrier. A good mover is a good mover and if your horses feet fall apart in aluminum in summer? Steel is a far better choice then keeping it inside 24/7 which is your only other option unless you just don’t want to jump and horse show all summer.

IMO it can make a .5 difference in front end movement because it is lighter. So if you have a very, very good mover, which would be an 8 1/2 to 9 1/2 you can improve it to a better or even great 10 mover in an elite level show where they are all very good to great movers and a lowly 8 improved to an 8.5 still won’t get a piece of the hack or score an 85 instead of an 82 for a jog. So, if OP is going to Indoors or WEF or the National Hunter Derby or Pre Green incentive Finals? It might help you If you are starting with at least a very, very good mover and expecting the rest of the class to be the same.

For the rest of us with no better then 8 movers on their best day at the rest of the shows against the rest of the show Hunter population? It’s a waste of money. And not fair to the horse you have and what it is movement wise. It’s a situation where you and your trainer need to be honest about the horse and understand the limits on " helping" it move better.

[OneTwoMany]

@findeight made some great points. Aluminum can definitely add a bit to movement, but if you aren’t doing the big shows, it might not be worth it to trade off the support that steel provides for the movement aluminum encourages. If you really want the best of both worlds, keep the horse in the shoe that provides the best support and protection and pay to have the shoes pulled ringside for the flat and tacked back on later. It will run you $100 or more. If the extra movement isn’t worth $100, just show in the steel shoe, knowing that when the time comes you can squeak out an extra 0.5 point of movement when you decide to spend that bullet.

It is great to have a better mover, but if there is a risk the feet fall apart and you may have to resort to resin patches and glue-on shoes, your wallet will be crying.

[vxf111]

I do think you can see a bit of freer movement in aluminum rather than steel, but if your horse’s feet can’t tolerate the aluminum that answers your question right there. Shoe in what your horse stays sound wearing.

My horse was always an excellent mover, always 1 or 2 in the hack until he developed navicular and we started shoeing him with his toe taken back and the natural balance shoes. Then he would get pastels. So even a small change to the shoeing can change the movement. But again, I was more concerned with soundness than ribbons.

[hokie98]

Thanks all! I don’t actually even show the h/j circuit - but asked here because I know a lot of hunter trainers like aluminum too. I actually show AQHA (don’t shun me! ;-))…doing the flat classes. I’m planning on taking him to the QH Congress in Oct where he should be pretty competitive in our division. Honestly, when I bought him I bought him thinking he’d be a good pattern horse but after I had him shod the first time, he moved so much better! Was it the aluminum shoes or just a much better farrier job? I don’t know.

But thanks for the advice. I’m going to talk to my farrier when he comes out.

[hokie98]

And to clarify, he’s not unsound - just after 4 weeks his nails are popped up - and he’s spread out a little over his shoes, and some minor chips. Just wondering if steel would support his feet better. He lost his left front last PM, but he was moved to a different paddock (ie played a little more than normal). I’m not shocked considering I think the shoe was a little loose.

[retiredhorse]

It makes a noticeable difference with some. Had a jumper that was always shod in steel, never really thought much of his movement in a hunter/flat-kneed way, took shoes off completely one winter, and went like, oh, he could get a piece of the hack. He ended up doing some medals/eq in aluminums and did noticeably move better, like I think he could’ve been a derby contender if they had those back when he was showing. But agreed with the above posters saying a sound horse with good feet is better than one with crappy feet in aluminum. Also had a hunter who could not wear aluminums so he didn’t, never pulled shoes off for the hack either, so we just had to be extra good over fences (he did pin in the hack, but only sometimes won). But the hunter’s movement was not as markedly changed as the jumper’s in steel or aluminum; his was more of the difference between 8.5-9 movement, vs like 5 or 6 to an 8 for the jumper.

[Limerick2017]

Some horses need more support from steel. If you trust your farrier, listen to him because “no foot, no horse.” Also an excellent farrier told me, years ago, to always put pine tar and oil on their feet before bathing them. I discovered that Shur Hoof is mostly pine tar and oil and I have now been using it for three years and it works great.

[findeight]

Don’t know that aluminum would encourage the right type movement in the AQHA rail classes. Not sure there’s a need for a more sweeping stride with a subtle touch of more knee over there…and that’s what aluminum encourages with the lighter weight. Likewise any classes where horse movement is not a criteria for judging like Pattern classes, Jumpers, Eq and the like there’s no need to spend up for aluminum. Really only see the need to maybe switch in the major, big money Hunters and even then mostly for the hack, not so much the over fences. Never seen shoes pulled and swapped ringside before a Derby round either.

IMO this is kind of an example of following a trend just because somebody else won something doing it, I tried aluminum on 3 of my hunters in about 10 years. Two different trainers, three different farriers. I thought they moved a little better in front but didn’t make a bit of difference in their placings. My budget was always short of what a real 9-10 mover costs and best mine could do was maybe an 8. On a good day, when they were younger. Never showed where you needed a 10 mover, only saw a handful of those in my 3’ Adult division, a few of those didn’t get around the fences that well but they would win the hack handily…,but probably would have won in clogs as that is judged on movement and they were just that much better movers right out of the womb,

Anyway, the biggest difference I noticed was their feet fell apart in summer in aluminum. I like mine turned out at least several hours daily, preferably overnite. Between fly stomping and rain/wet, my farrier was on speed dial and I missed practice time when too much hoof came off with those shoes. Made good use of the barn metal detector retrieving them, most looked like they just walked out of them and could be reset. Whoever mentioned resin patches and glue on shoes was dead in target. Played that game. . Switched to steel and all 3 improved greatly in one cycle, no more shoe shucking, no more missing bits of hoof.

Wasnt doing any World Championships or Indoors or anything so settled on better feet and .5 less movement in the hack.

[sandsarita]

And all steel shoes are not made the same. There are some light weight steel shoes that maybe weigh a few more ounces than the aluminum’s. I used to use them on my old Trail/AA horse. Then we would put the aluminum’s on before the big show like congress and world and switch back to steel. You have enough time to do that. Get a couple of cycles on with the steel and put the aluminum on as you head to Ohio. And good luck. I’ll be there the hunter weekend. Can’t take off enough time for the hus and eq so just doing those classes this year

[hokie98]

Thanks all! My farrier is coming out this afternoon to reshoe him (moved up from Thursday). I told him his feet were awful…we’re in NC and he says everyone’s feet is falling all apart b/c of the current weather pattern. Without looking at him, he says I’m probably not much worse off than alot of his clients. I’m going to ask him about going to a lighter weight steel, then switching back to aluminum in Oct (then steel for the winter).

[hokie98]

@sandsarita

And all steel shoes are not made the same. There are some light weight steel shoes that maybe weigh a few more ounces than the aluminum’s. I used to use them on my old Trail/AA horse. Then we would put the aluminum’s on before the big show like congress and world and switch back to steel. You have enough time to do that. Get a couple of cycles on with the steel and put the aluminum on as you head to Ohio. And good luck. I’ll be there the hunter weekend. Can’t take off enough time for the hus and eq so just doing those classes this year

Thanks - good luck the hunter weekend - I have some friends that will be there for that. Never been to Congress, but we think this guy will be ok in the Nov Am HUS & Eq.

[x]

Depends on the horse. My old stallion moved like a saddleseat Morgan in steel shoes–and like a fancy hunter in aluminum shoes. For him, it made that much of a difference. He went from very poor mover in steel to very fancy in aluminum. I always kept him in either aluminum or rubber (breeding season). One of my current geldings moves just a little better in aluminum–it isn’t as drastic as my stallion was, but in tough competition it is enough to make a difference. My other gelding wears steel–because there is absolutely no difference in his movement in steel, vs. aluminum, vs. barefoot.

[Blinky]

I have a hack winner and we went through this. As he was losing shoes all the time we switched to steel in the summer as we didn’t show often. It wasn’t that his movement changed so much as the horse himself felt like he was uncomfortable…I likened it to him running around in combat boots…what we eventually did was move to the aluminum shoes that glue on. Happy horse again and his feet were great.

[hokie98]

Well, just put steel on him - we’ll see how he does. The farrier told me to give him a few days off bc he seemed a little sore from pulling the shoe. Fingers crossed that it isn’t a big deal for him. My farrier insist it won’t be but say we’ll run him in a few cycles with steel then this fall put him back in aluminum.

[Mayaty02]

Our horse has terrible feet and stays sounder in steel. He usually gets a top three ribbon in the A/AA hunter hacks and sometimes wins. I have never seen him in aluminum but I can’t imagine he’d move THAT much better. Trainer has said he’d probably pull his shoes if it was a must win hack like at indoors or a finals though I’m sure he’d be dead lame!

glad you took then off off and hope he’s comfortable and happy.