No sole carving. He only has his bars? (assuming you mean the walls) trimmed and barely ever has enough to do that. I could probably go longer than 6 week intervals but I prefer to stay with the 6 weeks at the moment. Even if he doesn’t get trimmed I at least want his feet checked because I’ve already had to get rid of thrush once with all of this rain. I would rather catch any problem that may arrise early on. You have to press pretty hard to feel the give and you barely feel it then, but it is there. The only time he would need shoes or boots at this point would be while riding… Which is yet another sorce of reluctance to go with shoes. He doesn’t need them 24/7 and I’ve been told that they are prone to throw a shoe in pasture more so than if he were stalled more often or otherwise confined…
Add in*** when I say “no sole carving” I mean he isn’t trimming the whole sole??? I agree with JB though. A certain bit has to be trimmed in order to see wall growth. That much does get done.
Thrush doesn’t develop just because there’s a lot of rain. I’d really be looking at how these feet are trimmed if you’re dealing with soft soles and thrush.
Whether a horse is more or less prone to pulling a shoe in the pasture or a stall depends on a lot more factors than just stalled or turned out. Many many horses live entire lives turned out with shoes, and rarely lose one. More than a few horses have stepped on themselves in the confines of a stall and ripped shoes off. And, it goes the other way as well.
It sounds like boots are your better choice at this point, but I would still be investigating the trimming.
If the horse’s sole is already thin and soft, I wouldn’t be sure that the horse doesn’t need shoes in turnout, too. What are you basing that on? Just because he’s not visibly lame doesn’t mean he’s comfortable. If he barely has enough wall to trim every 6 weeks…why are you trimming every 6 weeks? Or, is the horse wearing his feet down faster than it grows…in which case shoes might be indicated.
I’d have the vet give you their opinion on your farrier’s trim. Maybe time for a 2nd opinion farrier, too. No one can really give you good advice on the internet. Pictures would help, but not as much as a hands on evaluation by someone else.
I agree that rain doesn’t cause thrush. My horses are turned out 24/7 with access to stalls and i’ve never had a case of thrush. They stand in mud, wet grass, snow, etc. and still no thrush.
Bars are on the sole part of foot. And what is described here is normal ,same for my own horses who by no means have thin soles. As other have said rain doesn’t cause thrush mud mixed with manure and pee does. If there isn’t hardly enough hoof wall to trim why are you having farrier out every six weeks??
Get hoof boots and boot him let him gain enough hoof wall .then if needed get shoes put on. Mine get a little ouchy on rocks but i sure don’t jump on the they need shoes bandwagon. Only way they toughen up is to leave them barefoot shoes won’t do that. Get Durasole and paint his soles daily for a week then do it a few times a week there after. I use durasole 2 times a week when rainy that’s been all summer long now.
Lets see some pictures of the horses feet in question.
The bars are the part of the wall that wraps around and follows the frog crevices. Some horses keep them worn down and you never see them, other horses grow big ones that need to be brought down to the level of the sole.
It would be useful to see photos. IME recurring thrush is often related to contracted heels, which are related to trin.
And many times nothing will help. If this were possible, no one would put shoes on their horses except for traction control. You can’t “toughen up” poor hoof quality or poor conformation. Some horses have great feet, many others just don’t.
You are so right. I had one gelding who could not be comfortable anywhere without front shoes. We need to put our prejudices aside and do what is best for them. They should not have to be in pain.
In my case horse either is able to be barefoot and use boots as needed. My trimmer doesn’t do shoes won’t do shoes. Took mine a year to toughen up good to where they now can for most part ride barefoot 98% of the time. Good trimmer and durasole did wonders even for a crappy footed QH. Who i was told would never be able to go barefoot.
Wouldn’t buy a horse with poor conformation.
That blanket statement isn’t valid.
Some horses will never, ever have “tough” feet, and there are many reasons why - genetics, injury, not allowed to develop a healthy digital cushion when the feet were growing, and more.
Others won’t have tough(er) feet until the trim quality is improved, and enough trims have been done, and in the meantime, shoes are a way to not force the horse to be sore, or worse, until that happens.
Trying to force “toughness” on certain feet is asking for things like pedal osteitis, regular abscesses, and even fractured coffin bones.
When there’s no hoof wall to nail a shoe on. Your not going to nail shoes on. That was the case with my gelding. Shoes are what caused all the damage his hooves had. I used hoof boots for the first month. And Durasole.
Shoes not put on properly trimmed feet only cause more problems then they solve. Most farriers here aren’t worth having. I’ll pay 50 for a proper trim before I’ll pay 80 for front shoes. On a poorly trimmed foot. From what I see of other people’s shod horse’s I’ll pass on having shoes nailed on. My gelding has crappy feet and he goes barefoot, because i have a competent trimmer.
Of course. There are also options to glue on shoes for a few cycles, or use casts. The discussion wasn’t about “what can you do with a foot with nothing to nail shoes to”. And, I wasn’t implying you should do or should have done anything different with your horse.
Shoes not put on properly trimmed feet only cause more problems then they solve.
Another “of course”. That wasn’t part of the discussion. But just taking shoes off those feet isn’t necessarily the answer either.
Most farriers here aren’t worth having. I’ll pay 50 for a proper trim before I’ll pay 80 for front shoes. On a poorly trimmed foot. From what I see of other people’s shod horse’s I’ll pass on having shoes nailed on. My gelding has crappy feet and he goes barefoot, because i have a competent trimmer.
Glad something works for you.
^^I agree. Shoes might be the best way to prevent a horse having no hoof wall, because the horse is obviously wearing faster than it grows. Boots for a trim cycle and then shoes, or glue ons and then nailed on shoes are possible solutions.
My issue with most of these threads is that the main reason many people don’t want to shoe their horses is the expense, the the time it takes to shoe and/or the inconvenience factor if they lose a shoe.
But…newsflash…NO ONE prefers to pay more, be inconvenienced, or hold horses for the farrier instead of riding. But most people who shoe their horses do it because it’s better for the horse.
These threads tend to be looking for a “work around”…“my horse is barefoot and can’t ride on the rocky trails that i find fun but I don’t want to shoe him.” Boots can be an option. But in many instances, the better option is to put shoes on them, because it’s not only the “rocky trails” or the “gravel driveway” that is painful; it’s just the place that the human notices that the horse is uncomfortable.
A first step would be to have your vet watch the horse move and/or do a lameness eval, and look at the feet to assess the trim.
In the future, if I ever buy a horse again, I might make sound feet a priority over other traits. But most people buy the horse and deal with the feet, rather than the other way around.
OP, i’d go with hoof boots then,much better can remove after your done riding. That’s what i do and my horse’s feet are so much healthier. Most of the places that sell hoof boots have a guide on how to measure hoof after a fresh trim. Boots have been wonderful ,nails from shoeing destroyed my horse’s hoof walls. Previous owner shod him not me. There are many options for hoof boots out there, plus is they last way longer then steel shoes.
Where I live shoeing with a very good farrier runs about $200 and you need to do it every six weeks. Renegade boots cost just over $200 Can now and last me for a year. I don’t need them in the arena and I only need them on the trails periodically, depending on the weather, trim cycle, and if we’ve been doing more aggressive trims to resolve balance issues. I have my own rasp and touch up between trims.
So they are cheaper. I do believe they are healthier as her feet get constant wear. And really they are not hard to put on. Horse cooperates. Other brands of boots may be more difficult. You do have to lean over but then you do that to clean the feet and to rasp them. Rasping is more effort!
I’m not sure what “having no wall” to put on shoes means in a barefoot horse. A good barefoot trim on includes a mustang roll bevel and a healthy barefoot in work will ideally keep that bevel and have a tight hard rounded edge. I can see where it would be hard to set a shoe on such a foot but that doesn’t mean the foot is deformed!
I realize boots aren’t for every horse and aren’t permitted in some competitions, but for most recreational riders they work really well.
I’ve actually been rather shocked by the lond toes and under run heels on a lot of the shod trail riding horses I’ve seen out and about this summer. My guess is that for the recreational rider there is a temptation to extend the wear of the shoe and perhaps to bargain hunt for a farrier.
I had shoes on my horse as a teen, cold shod by whoever was around, but we actually wore through the metal within six weeks of galloping over rivky ground 3 hours a day, so we rarely went long on shoeing. She never had any soundness issues. Unfortunately I have no photos of her feet. Pre digital one didn’t “waste good film” on such things :).
We have several horses so they are kept on a 6 week cycle. This does not mean that my thin soled horse gets trimmed every time, but he is checked. In his case, with thrush, I WAS boarding him and was told that they couldn’t get the tractor out there to clean up because of the mud. So I have no doubt that half of the “mud” was also fecal material… So far, that has been the only occurance and should very well be the last now that he is out of there. But, so far, our farrier has been patient with my “how is it looking” requests… His comfort is my main concern, and at this point he doesn’t seem uncomfortable but knowing that shoes or boots may be a future option, I just like to get opinions on what everyone has had experience with… I know what I want for him overall, but it helps, in my researching, to hear what others may think… I have got a lot of usefull information through everyone! I’ve obviously never had to shoe or boot my horses before so I need the feedback! Thanks!
I agree!
I’d be sick to my stomach if I could press on my horse’s soles and feel them give. I’d be putting shoes with leather pads on in a hurry if he were my horse. If they’re that soft, I’d bet there will soon be bruising, and then abscess… and worse things from there. It really isn’t worth the heartache to make him “tough it out”.
*This is just my opinion, but I wont take risks with feet. The saying is true -no hoof, no horse!
If you’re saying that sometimes on a 6 week cycle your farrier doesn’t even have to trim your horse because it has no hoof - it sounds like your horse needs more protection. Shoes or boots. But, boots can’t be used 24/7, and if he’s wearing his hoof down to nothing, it might be more than just wear and tear while being ridden…how often/on what terrain are you riding?
What does your farrier want to do? I think my farrier would have recommended shoes in your situation long ago. And not because he’s a “farrier” v. barefoot trimmer - 2 of my 3 horses are barefoot, including the only one in work. He’s not against boots; I’ve used them before.
Or, it’s simply because the foot is wearing at almost the same rate as it’s growing 
In the ideal world, that’s fantastic. That’s better than having a foot grow a LOT in 4 weeks, which means it becomes unbalanced in some way, and then gets trimmed back down to normal, only to start becoming more and more unbalanced again. It’s even worse if that imbalance breaks back the hoof-pastern angle.
The OP just really needs to be critically objective about how sound the horse actually is in the pasture. If the pasture is grassy and soft enough, with truly no rocks, and he really is quite comfy, then boots seem like the best option for now. Used boots can usually be easily sold, or just kept for future use, so they aren’t really a waste of money, especially if you can find what’s needed already used.
But if there are rocks, then a sole that can be pushed by hand, even a little, is a scary thing, and should be protected, because even a smaller rock hit straight on can do serious damage, even if the horse IS sound doing normal pasture stuff. And, if the OP lives where the ground will soon be starting to get a bit crunchy at night, those harder peaks can also do some damage on a sole that thin and soft.
Well, sure. But even still, that there is no need for any correction either? I don’t own any of those. Even my horses with “good” feet don’t wear them evenly. My farrier could trim all of mine every 4-6 weeks…just some more than others. But none would need nothing at all.
It just depends I’m not saying that IS the case here, but there are very definitely feet what wear evenly all around, at almost the same rate they grow, and just don’t need anything done for months and months. Could a tiny swipe here and there every 6-8 weeks make things absolutely perfect? Possible. But at the same time, not doing that swipe isn’t going to cause any harm.
Other feet certainly don’t wear evenly - they might wear their toes to where there’s nothing to trim, but because of how they move, the heels become unbalanced and need correcting every 4-8 weeks or something.
I’m definitely making a giant assumption that the farrier looking at these feet at 6 weeks isn’t just giving a sideways .5 second glance and going “nothing to do”, that he’s actually picking up the feet and judging the overall balance, which should include how much vertical wall there is.
