Boots, or shoes?

[Lauruffian]

Hey all! I’m having a blast taking my mare on little local trail rides (60-90min each). I met y’all a month or so ago, asking for beginner tips and whether my barefoot Arab mare should be shod.

Well, on our last trail ride (a little over an hour), she was a tripping, stumbling mess. I felt horrible for her, and horribly embarrassed as I was riding with a new trail companion. She must have stumbled a few dozen times. My companion, who happened to be a farrier (but a polite one–he wasn’t pushing his business on me, but rather suggesting I speak with my farrier), suggested she might benefit from shoes on the front legs.

I called my farrier and left a voicemail, which he later returned (playing a bit of phone tag), and he said she might be tender due to the wet December weather and might do better once it dries out. However, if I like, he’ll put shoes on her.

I’m debating. I don’t mind spending the money on shoes, and I want my horse happy and comfortable. I was wondering if those EZ Boot-type thingys might be a better option than shoes? I’ll be talking with my farrier, of course, but I came here to get your trail riding experienced advice as well. Thanks so much!

[Icecapade]

could be any number of things… you might spark a war between the barefoots vs shods factions

I think it can go either way… I have had issues with my horse this month due to the extreme muddy conditions then horribly cold (okay you people in the norhtern nothern states I KNOW its not below zero as my high here in Jersey. but give us a breakd we were california raised!).

You need to do whats best for your horse. Shoes could help, or she could just not be in good shape and not familar with the terrain.

If you ride often, yes shoes will help. If you only trail ride on the weekend and arena ride the rest of the time, boots are perfectly acceptable.

I don’t have access to trails where I am but haul and hour and I can easily put 20 miles on my horse. So 20 miles without shoes frequently will cause wear and tear on their feet and likely to become ouchie with no protection given whatever terrain you might have. Between the mud and cold, I purchased the old mac g2’s. Shortly following that it became very clear he needed the support full time… so now I have front shoes on and he is much happier. But in the spring I might go back to the boots, they will only take the wear and tear from trails wear the shoes take the wear and tear every day, and likely will be replaced ever six to 8 weeks. If you are lucky you can get them reset. But at that point its like just buy the boots.

which depends too on if you want to bother with boots. =) you will hear both sides but it really is up to you and your surroundings.

[Auventera_Two]

The two cases where horse owners dumped their farrier and called me out because their horse was tripping and stumbling so horribly, it had nothing to do with the feet. It was terrible fitting tack. Once they fixed that, the horse didn’t stumble anymore. I’d really look into the saddle fit first.

I use Easyboots and LOVE them. Easycare is coming out with some new styles of boots in the next couple of weeks that should fit even better and be lighter than traditional boots. Check out their site www.easycareinc.com

[irishcas]

I would try boots first either www.easycareinc.com or www.renegadehoofboots.com and IF they don’t work, think about shoes.

The boots are really vastly improved upon then their ancestors and work well.

I say start simple and then get more complex (some will say the boots are complex LOL) but there you have it.

Regards,

[asbjockey]

I agree with trying boots first, especially since she’s never worn shoes.

[Shadow14]

I’m for shoes and you don’t have to break in a horse to wearing shoes either. It also means that someone competent is at least regularly looking at your horses feet and keeping them trimmed.
Depending on your riding conditions and distance travelled but he will get at least one reset and possibly years out of a set of shoes.
Boots to me are just band aids to the real thing

[pj1]

[QUOTE=Shadow14;3814048]
I’m for shoes and you don’t have to break in a horse to wearing shoes either. It also means that someone competent is at least regularly looking at your horses feet and keeping them trimmed.
Depending on your riding conditions and distance travelled but he will get at least one reset and possibly years out of a set of shoes.
Boots to me are just band aids to the real thing[/QUOTE]

:eek::eek: For myself and my horses I agree with Shadow!! I don’t want to fool with having to put on and take off boots. I don’t want to worry about rubs or whatever…
but what is right for me and mine is not necessarily best for you and your horse.
I have to disagree with Shadow though on the time you get out of shoes. We don’t reset cause the shoes are worn out at the end of the six weeks I don’t know anyone who gets a year on a set of shoes. :no: but we ride a lot of really rocky trails.

[ponygrl25]

Is this the first time she has been this trippy? When was she last trimmed? Was she paying attention to where she was going or more interested in her new trail companion? If she has been good without shoes/boots this long maybe there is another cause. I would try going out again on a routine trail ride and see if she is the same (as long as she isn’t sore). Sometimes it takes very little (distraction or hoof growth ) to make a horse trip.

[Lauruffian]

Ponygrl, we’ve trail ridden before (maybe 5-6 times) and it wasn’t anywhere near this bad. Then again, that was before the storm-after-storm period. We did do a few short over-the-hill and back rides after the rain, when it was still quite damp out (as far as my farrier talking about the moisture softening her feet thing) and the arenas too flooded for use…she was fine.

This last ride was the first one since her last trim, maybe 3-4 days after. Could she be ouchy from the trim? The polite farrier I was with said she might be tender just because the farrier cut back the more calloused portions, if that makes sense, so her sole was tender. He also said, truth or not, that she may have more or less grown her own natural shoe, and cutting it off made her trippy as she didn’t have that protection, or something like that.

Hmm, she was in season too. Might that play a factor? I know I’m extra clumsy certain times of the month.

She also hadn’t been out due to weather and a busy schedule, so she had some cabin fever going on.

She has been fine up to this point, with the occasional oops-not-watching-where-I’m-going stumble 1-3 times in a one hour ride, max. It is pretty rocky in places, too, on all of the local trails.

I really need to call my farrier, but I hate calling him on a Sunday. I will tomorrow, at the latest.

[Shadow14]

[QUOTE=pj;3814061]
:eek::eek: I have to disagree with Shadow though on the time you get out of shoes. We don’t reset cause the shoes are worn out at the end of the six weeks I don’t know anyone who gets a year on a set of shoes. :no: but we ride a lot of really rocky trails.[/QUOTE]

I have been shoing part time for 22 years. One customer went 2 full years with the same shoes. I am the only one I know who sometimes doesn’t get a reset out of a pair. I have a cross section of 25 horses to make this assumption.
I charge $60 a reset of 4

[Shadow14]

[QUOTE=Lauruffian;3814192]
because the farrier cut back the more calloused portions, if that makes sense, so her sole was tender. .[/QUOTE]

The callous runs just behind the toe from about 10 oclock to 2 oclock. It is light brown or tan in color, looks similiar to the frog when trimmed and offers extra protection. Yes it can be trimmed back and it will make a barefoot horse tender

[Icecapade]

@Lauruffian;3814192

. Could she be ouchy from the trim? The polite farrier I was with said she might be tender just because the farrier cut back the more calloused portions, if that makes sense, so her sole was tender. He also said, truth or not, that she may have more or less grown her own natural shoe, and cutting it off made her trippy as she didn’t have that protection, or something like that.

you need a new guy if she is sore after a trim. You should be able to either trim w/ saddle on or throw it on immediately and go ride. It may have been an accident but if thats the common assumption… you need a new guy.

[Lauruffian]

See that’s the thing Icecapade (great name, btw! loved that stallion), she is never sore after a trim. Never. My farrier rocks and has a terrific attention to detail; he always checks his angles and often asks for a gait analysis (“Go walk her away from me…now bring her back”) before continuing his trim with necessary adjustments. She was sore the first time he trimmed her, because the person before her was doing an atrocious job (hey, I was new). Correcting that man’s mistake made her sensitive, but not lame, for a few days. I’ve often ridden her the day of a trim without any noticeable changes.

This time around, it’s just odd. She isn’t lame, wasn’t exhibiting any other symptoms of soreness, and her soles were in great condition (according to my farrier when he trimmed her). Now I’m starting to wonder if hormones and the overly-eager energy of cabin (stall?) fever were the operative factors.

I’ll take her on another brief ride over the same terrain and see if it’s the same thing. If she’s as stumbly as before, I’ll cut it short, take her home, and reassess.

I love trail riding–it’s my new “thang”–and I can see she really enjoys it, too. So, I will make sure we can both enjoy it comfortably and safely. :yes:

[matryoshka]

Can you post pics of the feet? I’ve seen many horses stumble from having their toes too long, barefoot or shod. If the horse stumbles because of overly long toes, boots and shoes are not going to help. Plenty of horses are stumblers before I start working on them. If I see long toes, I ask if the horse stumbles. The answer is often “yes.” Sometimes, I forget to ask, and at the next trim, the rider says, “Hey! He hasn’t stumbled since you trimmed him the last time! What did you do differently?”

What do I do differently is try to put the breakover where the hoof needs it to be. That isn’t always where it is, and sometimes the frog and sole stretch forward to make it appear the toes are the correct length. It can be misleading. Setting the breakover at the right point can be accomplished barefoot or shod.

In one notable occasion, the stumbling abated with the toes brought back, but the horse was seriously insulin resistant (very easy keeper), and when his diet was brought under control, he started picking up his feet better.

I guess when I’m on a trail and the horse is a bit sore, I haven’t experienced stumbling as a symptom of soreness. They try to avoid rocks and hard surfaces, but don’t really stumble unless they step on a pointy rock–then it is more a case of them trying not to put weight on it and shifting to the other foot rapidly. IOW, I’d be looking for another culprit if the horse is stumbling.

The usual suspects IMHO: long toes, poor saddle fit, fatigue, and if one horse’s experience means anything, insulin resistance.

[wylde_sage]

I am married to a farrier. I have resisted easyboots (even tho’ he recommends them for other clients at times) because it was just as easy to get my horses shod. :yes:
I just pulled shoes off of my LD endurance prospect and switched to easyboots. Oh Man! Why didn’t I do this sooner?! The horse loves them, he didn’t need a “break in period”, he just went with them and seems even more sure footed than before. I like them, have not found them impossible to put on, and the horse gets to go barefoot the rest of the time.
I really do see a difference in how much more comfortable my horse is on different terrain. I doubt i’d go back to shoes now.

[Lilykoi]

I do all, barefoot, sometimes boots, sometimes shoes, all on the same horses. Never had a tripping problem with a barefoot horse because it needed shoes. Maybe a trim because her toes were long, but not because it was barefoot. Maybe your mare isn’t used to or just not good at real rough terrain. Not sure this is a shoes vs. barefoot problem.

[irishcas]

[QUOTE=Shadow14;3814048]
I’m for shoes and you don’t have to break in a horse to wearing shoes either. It also means that someone competent is at least regularly looking at your horses feet and keeping them trimmed.
Depending on your riding conditions and distance travelled but he will get at least one reset and possibly years out of a set of shoes.
Boots to me are just band aids to the real thing[/QUOTE]

So you are saying you’ve never used the current boots on the market and that they suck and need a break in period and a band aid… Hmmm how can you give advise for or against, when you obviously haven’t used them.

The current crop of boots offer such a variety of fit, style and use that for the majority of horses there are no rubbing issues.

Breaking in?? HUH? I put them on, the horse walks to the mounting block (thats all it takes for them to get used to them) and off the rider goes.

They are not a band aid, they are an alternative and in some cases more helpful than shoes.

IF, bare isn’t working and IF shoes don’t work, then shoe the horse.

[gothedistance]

@Lauruffian;3814496

See that’s the thing Icecapade (great name, btw! loved that stallion), she is never sore after a trim. Never. My farrier rocks and has a terrific attention to detail; he always checks his angles and often asks for a gait analysis (“Go walk her away from me…now bring her back”) before continuing his trim with necessary adjustments. She was sore the first time he trimmed her, because the person before her was doing an atrocious job (hey, I was new). Correcting that man’s mistake made her sensitive, but not lame, for a few days. I’ve often ridden her the day of a trim without any noticeable changes.

This time around, it’s just odd. She isn’t lame, wasn’t exhibiting any other symptoms of soreness, and her soles were in great condition (according to my farrier when he trimmed her). Now I’m starting to wonder if hormones and the overly-eager energy of cabin (stall?) fever were the operative factors.

I’ll take her on another brief ride over the same terrain and see if it’s the same thing. If she’s as stumbly as before, I’ll cut it short, take her home, and reassess.

I love trail riding–it’s my new “thang”–and I can see she really enjoys it, too. So, I will make sure we can both enjoy it comfortably and safely. :yes:

Then I would suggest you pay heed to A2’s suggestion to check your tack. A saddle that appears to work fine for one ride a week may have unseen pressure points that start aggravating and become downright painful when the rides become more frequent and/or longer. Your poor horse could be changing her way of going in trying to save herself from pinching and hurting tack – while you only see the end result which is stumbling. So many times the feet and back are the ones that pay the piper for tack that hurts!

Check her back and points along her back for soreness. Do it about an hour after the saddle has been removed, not the second you take it off. If you find her flinching or dropping her back in pain, you may have found her problem.

If she is fine, then slap a pair of borrowed boots on her to see if that helps. But I would certainly check her tack first and foremost.

[SharonA]

Try boots

I agree that the simplest thing to do might be to start with 1) saddle fit and 2) hoof boots. My barefoot horse can trip if she’s so busy looking around that she forgets that her feet are in motion, but this happens very rarely. When my horse has hit an uncomfortable patch of footing on the trail, it’s a very different feeling – she slows down and goes uncomfortably, just like as if you were walking over rocks in bare feet. So, we both love having boots as part of our gear – what a relief to not have to worry about the footing when on an unfamiliar trail. Horse likes her boots just fine; she had zero “break in time” and zero rubs with Renegades, and even I could put them on in a few seconds, but then her feet grew… I’m waiting for the Easyboot Glove to come out in a few weeks. They sound great and the price for a pair seems very reasonable.

[saratoga]

Like SharonA said, when my horses are barefoot and having trouble with the rocks, its a particular kind of tripping- not just plain old stumbling, but I can feel them slowing down to pick through rocks, then hit a rock and go down a little on that side. If thats what she is doing I would try boots.

Renegades are nice, very easy to put on. Easyboot Epics are a little tougher to put on but get pretty easy once you have the technique down. I definitely want to try the Glove also. The thing is that you may have to go through a few different sizes or try another boot before you get your system down and it can be frustrating. But if you buy a boot that doesnt fit you can easily resell them on ebay and not lose much $.