Composite Horse Shoes

[wahoowa]

Good morning! I board at a wonderful barn that provides individualized care to meet all my horse’s “special needs”, but doesn’t allow hind shoes. My OTTB has moderate hoof quality, but the hard ground really does a number on his barefoot hind feet. I’ve tried both Hoof Armor and Keratex consistently for months. He’s on a hoof/biotin supplement. He’s not reactive to hoof testers, but always has chips, some months worse than others.

My farrier suggested composite horse shoes. My barn’s key concern is that if a horse is kicked with a steel shoe, it’s so much worse than a bare hoof. Are composite shoes design to be as hard as traditional shoeing materials? What are folks’ experiences with composite shoes? Thank you!

[blue_heron]

The problem, IMO, with shoes vs. non-shoes and kicking is that the shoe stands off the foot. Especially at the heels. If this is an argument about steel vs. composites (I’m assuming you’re talking about plastics?) then composites are much softer, especially at a lower price point. It also means you’re going to be paying to replace them more often.

[CanteringCarrot]

@Amberley

I have the same issue here: one gelding that I got over the summer that apparently just doesn’t grow any foot in the winter so it’s a choice of ride him on grass/ indoor and not go on trails for months or put hind shoes on him and move to individual turnout which is very limited. He is desperately bored after a month of no trails. Very interested to hear the answer.

Why can’t you ride him in boots?

[CanteringCarrot]

I have no experience with composite shoes. The one time I was going to try it with a new farrier, he literally robbed me (police involved, had to go to court, etc). Then I just switched over to barefoot and never looked back.

I would think that a composite shoe would help with your issues, but I’m not sure if your barn would be ok with it? Are you looking at something like the Duplo shoes?

Some horses just don’t have the greatest hooves but IME chips are usually due to an insanely rocky environment, poor trimming, or diet (too much sugar, mainly). If he really cannot handle the hard ground and there’s a substantial amount of chipping, and it’s causing an issue, then it’s either ask the barn if composites would be ok or move.

I would think that the composite shoes would be a bit less damaging than being kicked with a steel shoe, but by how much, I’m not sure.

[Horsecrazy3]

Love Duplo’s. Used them front and back on my dressage horse. Worth every penny as the design allows the back of the hoof to expand. My other 3 horses are barefoot. All 4 were together in winter and summer pastures. No injuries, but they were in a stable herd situation.

[beowulf]

Your barn’s concern is fair. I’ve lost a horse to another horse with hind steel shoes (and boriums), so I understand that reservation. Composites would be slightly less dangerous, but keep in mind some composites have ridges for traction, and those can be just as dangerous.

Chips tend to be the hoof’s way of correcting an imbalanced trim; either correcting a flare that’s unaddressed or a toe that is too long, the two often complementing each other well.

Does your farrier supply the composite horse shoes? I have had a very hard time getting local farriers to be on board with them, but I have taken care of horses in composite set ups. If memory serves, the farriers actually got several resets out of the composites and they wore just fine, but these were also horses that did not see 24/7 turnout. The more the horse is out on substrate besides shavings, the quicker the material will wear. One concern with composite is their traction in ice/snow is not so good, so if you live in an area with snowcover in the winter you may want to keep that in mind.

[IPEsq]

According to my farrier, some of the composites like Polyflex wear a lot less than steel. They can be very expensive and need skilled application.

I think some of them that have more composite surface area need to be studded for winter, and as far as kick risk that’s no better IMO.

[fivestrideline]

Did you ask your barn about the composites? I was in your exact position (shoes behind needed for other reasons than tenderness or chips, though), and the barn would not allow ANY type of shoe on the hinds for group turnout.

It’s not the hardness of the shoe so much as the protrusion and “edges” that focus the impact force to a small area.

In your situation, I’d be looking at hoof boots, and the trim in general (chipping and cracks are usually attempts by the hoof to self trim, meaning the foot is unbalanced in some way). Not every horse can go barefoot due to environment and genetics, but most can hold a neat wall on a short cycle with a good trim.

[Kyrabee]

A lot of chipping is just cosmetic and as mentioned above, an issue of imbalance. I would make sure the trim is balanced and correct and use boots for riding.

I use boots on my mare and am usually on board with using 4 for balance but this summer, I could not get her previously fitting fronts on during the end of cycle and was unable to get the left front adjusted (cable seems frozen) so I just went with the rears and she did fine. Sounds like you have shoes on the front so there shouldn’t be much balance disruption.

Susan

[wildlifer]

I use polyurethane shoes (equiflex) sometimes. My retired gelding wears them up front due to reduced concussion & I put them on another horse behind in part to try to reduce injury risk.

I really like these shoes, my farrier introduced me to them. I order them, he puts them on. You do need a horse with decent hoof wall thickness bc it’s harder for the farrier to see where the nails are going, so my farrier doesn’t like to use them on real thin walled horses, too high a chance for error.

I don’t find them inordinately expensive- a pair is about $20 or so & I routinely get 3 cycles out of them. The horses seem to really like them. Traction & foot support is great.

If you have specific questions, you are welcome to pm me.

[blue_heron]

Interesting. The last time I really followed composite shoes was then they were first popular a few years ago. I wonder if this is not a material property but a difference in how the horses carry themselves in lighter shoes. There are some plastics more resistant to shear stresses but I would think this would be prohibitively expensive. But, this is horses, so who knows.

[JB]

@blue_heron

composites are much softer, especially at a lower price point. It also means you’re going to be paying to replace them more often.

it entirely depends on which composites.

I have friends who do 50 and 100m endurance rides, along with the conditioning rides in between, who get full use of their Duplos and another brand whose name just escaped me. This includes sometimes being able to use them again for a reset, depending on the footing they were doing most of their work on during that time.

Composites have come a LONG way in the last few years.

And yes, boots are an option Those same endurance horses are often wearing things like Scoot Boots, or several of the newer Easy Boots, and a variety of others. Boots for riding have also come a very long way recently. But, i don’t know how well any of them say on for serious jump work. It’s less about traction (because some of them can have caulks put in, some are meant to have pretty good grip, way more than regular steel shoes), and more about the potential twisting if they don’t truly fit like a glove.

[wildlifer]

Did you mean to quote me? I did not mention boots.

ETA to another poster - the equiflex shoes are more durable than metal shoes, not less. Different brands & materials may have different wear patterns.

[Peggy]

Have no idea about kicking risk with composites but, as far as jumping, the horse in my profile picture is shod with Epona shoes.

[Weezer]

I agree with other suggestions to take a closer look at the hooves. Some horses just chip, no matter how perfect the trim is. If your horse is in this category, maybe you can manage the situation by rasping out the rough edges, etc. between trims. I’ve seen that be effective in the past.

I would also be inclined to consider hoof boots over composites in this situation. I ride in Renegade boots. They are great for jumping because they don’t shift and don’t put pressure on the coronet band.