All my horses are barefoot and I usually trim myself. I don’t go by a set schedule. I look at their feet and if I think they need trimming, I trim them. I try to keep on top of it so that it isn’t so much of a “job” over a more lengthy gap of time, but just little touch-ups here and there. For sure if there’s chipping I’ll take care of that right away. Otherwise, I’ll pick up the rasp every 3-4 weeks and do just a little bit. But to wait 8-12 weeks is just allowing too much hoof growth/potential deformity (if the horse has a problem, like my TB’s toes get too long very easily) for my liking.
Mine is shod all around and gets trimmed every 5-6 weeks in the warm part of the year, and 6-7 when it’s cold. She grows hoof very quickly and there have been a couple of summers where farrier care every 4-5 weeks was the best for her.
When she was barefoot, or just had shoes in front, she was an every 6 weeks sort.
Every once in a great while, she is a tiny bit sore if I get on her right after she’s shod. Sometimes it passes very quickly, which makes me think she is just getting used to her “new feet.”
Between 3-5 weeks - I do “touch ups” every two weeks or so. Mine needs frequent trims to keep heels and flares in check.
I have the luxury once again of trimming my own. I like to trim every 2-4 weeks based on a number of factors but it all boils down to what’s best for my horse. I’d rather keep her as close to “perfect” as possible rather than deal with some weeks of “meh”.
I have met quite a few folks who prefer things done “short” to extend time between trims but to me, that’s just silly. Why would you (potentially) sore a horse in order to wait til week 8 to trim again? These schedules are guidelines that don’t work for every horse.
That said, I’ve trimmed horses who hadn’t been done in a year, were slipper footed, etc, who limped in for the trim and galloped out. I don’t think a horse should be sore after a trim except in certain extraordinary circumstances.
There’s just no magic number IMHO but I think that for many, going out 8 weeks is a real stretch.
[QUOTE=BuddyRoo;8256138]
There’s just no magic number IMHO but I think that for many, going out 8 weeks is a real stretch.[/QUOTE]
Even in the dead of winter in Michigan? My mare barely grows enough to trim in 12 weeks in the winter.
My horses get trimmed every 2 weeks if possible.
It’s specifically so that all trims are extremely minor. My gelding is barefoot because he had major hoof pathologies and NEEDED trims that frequently so they could just take teenie tiny bits each time. It’s literally just a few swipes of the rasp on him since he grows hoof slowly, but it is gradually and slowly helping to reshape and rebuild his hooves.
My mare has excellent feet, but does get flares pretty quickly and the 2 week cycle may be overkill but works really, really well for her - so she is perfectly happy over on the hard and rocky dirt roads in my area as well as in the arena. My mom’s mare has great hooves but has had some heel issues which the regular trims help prevent. And most importantly, the crippled mare is flourishing with the trims. She had a barbed wire injury she shouldn’t have survived approximately 10 years ago (before I had her) and the very frequent trims help even out her balance and I can see in her body that she is doing better with it. Her leg on which she’s crippled used to have a square toe, and the hoof is now round, and she has naturally improved her topline muscling from the improved balance. In her case, she is in no pain but the crippling injury causes imbalanced forces on her body which will eventually make her in pain and make me have to make a tough decision… and the frequent trims prolong us reaching that point.
My horse is shod in front and has been barefoot behind for about 5-6 years.
He is doing well on a 5 week reset schedule. In the past he has done well on a 6-7 week reset schedule but no more.
The hind hooves maintain themselves really well and only get shaped every other. I rarely see him trim with nippers. Usually he just takes off a bit of flare from the outside of heels.
[QUOTE=saultgirl;8256296]
Even in the dead of winter in Michigan? My mare barely grows enough to trim in 12 weeks in the winter.[/QUOTE]
I have only actively trimmed outside horses in MI but it’s been 3 years since I lived in MI and now I’m back.
IMHO, most horses really do need to be trimmed much more often than every 12 weeks. If they’re getting proper nutrition, they still grow in the winter. In fact, they often don’t have the opportunity to do normal “wear” in the winter. Some may slow. But 12 weeks? That would be interesting to see. I’ve never seen a horse who could go 12 weeks with no measurable growth who was otherwise in good health. Not criticizing you, just saying that I’ve never seen it.
My horses are barefoot and get their hooves trimmed every 5 weeks. They are never sore after trims.
I trim the ranch horses and they go about 4 weeks in the summer and 6 in the winter. All barefoot and none of them are sore afterwards, even on the dirt/gravel driveway.
Just had this conversation with my farrier. My horse is coming off shoes and adjusting to barefoot - it’s going well.
My farrier says most owners of barefoot horses should be able to rasp off the broken edges and shape up the foot a bit as needed themselves. It’s easy to follow the natural shape of the foot. The farrier can come on the usual periodic cycle and take care of major shaping. It’s the same theory as filing your own nails, he says, if the horse has thinner/flakier hooves, do it more often. The owner can do a little nail-filing, as it were, weekly, bi-weekly, whatever the horse needs.
He also feels it is much better to do them more often and keep the foot shaped and reduce the breaking. But when he works on a 4-week schedule he is not doing much major work each time. It doesn’t take long to do each horse and he doesn’t charge as much. He’s actually inexpensive compared with others.
He also wants horses to get hoof strengthening supplements. He feels they make a major difference. I do see a much healthier new foot growing in.
[QUOTE=Thoroughbred in Color;8253870]
Depends entirely on the horse and the environment. [/QUOTE]
Amen to this.
There is no one formula for how often to trim/shoe.
[QUOTE=Lilykoi;8254000]This farrier is young. He bought the business from my old farrier who I never had this problem with before. If I hadn’t know better, I’d thought my mare had foundered when she came out of her stall and hit the concrete aisle. She was much better when I got her out on the grass. It took days before she was perfect and I used Keratex every day.
I ride her almost every day. Our footing choices are grass fields and sand/limestone combos on our racetrack, ring and the FP trails. So nobody gets long between shoeings. Its kind of like riding on giant emery boards.
I am giving him another chance at 6 weeks. Otherwise, I’ll be looking for a new shoer. Thanks for your input![/QUOTE]
This may seem harsh, but I’d get a new farrier now. A horse moving as if foundered is beyond unacceptable. That is NOT a small mistake, and it wasn’t an easy mistake to make. This farrier needs to do something else for a living.
This happened to my horse with an apprentice farrier. And my horse was not the only one. Whatever it was the young man was thinking while he reduced horses to jelly, it eventually worked him out of the business. I lost an entire horse trials season to one rasping of all 4 feet by this apprentice - it literally changed the course of my journey with this horse. The head farrier did everything he could to make it up - gave the horse free pour-in pads - etc. & so on - horse was still, as you say, moving as if foundered and laying down often to take the weight off, even with meds for the pain.
I am NOT willing to let an apprentice learn on my horse. I did not know an apprentice was working on him when this happened. Since then I have made sure that farriers know this, and if they are not agreed, I’ll get a different farrier.
I know apprentices have to learn somehow … but that is their problem, not mine. I have too much at stake. My horse does not deserve to suffer like that so an apprentice can have a learning experience. Again - not a small mistake; not one that any competent farrier wouldn’t see happening.
We go no more than 5 in the summer, preferably 4. In the winter they can go to 6 weeks.
My horse is barefoot and has been for years. We can go over any terrain including gravel tracks etc. he gets trimmed every three to four weeks, sometimes more often. My trimmer is also my riding friend so there is the easy opportunity for more trims if needed.
I can’t imagine horses going 12 weeks without trimming. Any horse I’ve seen, and I pay attention to feet, usually needs trimming more often.
It’s a pet peeve of mine that not enough people imo get trims and shoeing done regularly enough. I’ve seen some shockers that need trimming and the riders are oblivious.
A previous farrier shod my last horse badly enough that she was never properly sound again. It was gutting and he was the last one in my district that I tried. We have a shortage of qualified, actually know what they are doing, farriers here but an abundance of self taught ‘she’ll be right’ ones.
This is what sent me down the barefoot trim path. I figured why pay someone else to screw up my horses feet when I could do it myself for nothing sigh
It was however the right decision for us my horses feet have never looked so good and are never too sore to be ridden straight after being trimmed. That sore is crazy!
My horses have EXCELLENT hooves (they’re Arabs :lol:), and they get trimmed every 4 weeks, year round. I will also do some light rasping at 2 weeks occasionally. I never want the hoof to get to the point that you can look at it and say, “That horse needs to be trimmed.” My goal is to keep the hooves as balanced as possible so that the horse stays comfortable all the time.
