I have a boarder horse who now needs corrective shoeing. He loves to rip around like a maniac and occasionally pulls a shoe. The pasture is 5 acres so it’s not easy to find the shoe. I was wondering about attaching big magnets to the harrow. Wondering if anyone has any great tips?
Turn out a horse that has something important to do the next day, they will find the lost shoe by stepping on the nails or clip that are sticking up.
Just kidding. Well… maybe not.
I sure hope someone has a good plan on how to find them. I have yet to come up with a good technique to find lost shoes. You can see further if you are up higher so doing it on horseback helps.
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THIS! I have actually been asked to go ride around a field to look for lost shoes with my horse. We’ve found several for the barn, maybe he’s just the right height? But, honestly, that is the best way I have found. I’d be looking into bell boots for the booger they belong to, too.
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I used to pay barn kids 10.00 a shoe found in the pasture or buy ice cream. Otherwise horseback is easiest.
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I mow. Always find it then. Usually when it breaks the blade on my mower.
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I love my rolling magnet… https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200321231_200321231
If walking the pasture is too much, I’d be tempted to attach one or two of them to the back of the harrow and see what they find. The problem will be that if they bounce too much the magnet will release what it has found. You might need to zip-tie it in the ‘down’ position for this task.
As the farms “Finder” I think the rolling magnets work well, or the old school grid pattern search, walk straight line looking down in a 2ft wide area, get to the end of pasture and repeat, if still unfound start new pattern going across. Also dragging a pitchfork or rake off the side of the gator or golf cart works. I hate missing shoes, Good luck!
Riding the field on horseback is the best way, other than training a dog to find them - which I have never done, but I have been told it is easy to do.
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I need to know more about this!!
As to the original question, I think it depends. When I boarded, he was on 2+ acres and that pasture ate like a dozen shoes, never to be seen again. Currently on an acre and I have found ever lost shoe, touch wood. I think your odds decrease exponentially as acerage goes up.
I have never trained it myself, but the way it was explained to me by the woman that told me about it, it did seem like a very simple trick to teach if you’re familiar with clicker training / shaping / target training. Have the dog present for when the farrier resets your horse’s shoes. Start by shaping the behavior by teaching the dog to target/touch the freshly pulled shoe with a new verbal cue (not “Touch”, since you use that for everything). My friend used “find it” since “shoe” was for a different trick (fetching her shoes). Once the dog understands the target is the shoe, place it nearby for the dog to find. Gradually increase the range the shoe travels, and then start working on finding a planted shoe in the paddock.
I did see her dog retrieve several shoes this way, and he was very well trained for a horse person’s dog.
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I have a shoe puller. Absolutely easier to find from on horseback. Something about the height advantage I guess. I also became quite the sleuth. If your terrain allows look for when the horse got exuberant … those deep bucking tearing hoof prints were helpful. In the end I found a really good farrier and touch wood it’s been better.
My one mare had to wear corrective shoes that were very easy to pull. Bell boots rubbed her raw. I always thought someone should invent a shoe that would beep for 24 hours if pulled. Any inventors out there?
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When I was walking my hound yesterday, I wondered about teaching him to find a shoe but I didn’t realize people do that. Maybe I’ll ask my farrier for an old pulled shoe to work with. Could be a fun winter project.
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Super random but I have a co-worker that plays disc golf/frisbee golf. Players can buy little beepers to put on the discs so they can find them if they fly off course. He said they are expensive for what they are but maybe something you could use? I can’t remember how you turned the beeper on or off. He actually ended up making some with a 3-D printer and computer components.
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Another thought. My farrier hot shoes …shapes in the fire and burns on when he fits all of my horses sneakers. When my horse did pull them off (which he hasn’t been doing much lately thank goodness)they are a twisted mess. Farrier usually just started from scratch. The shoes my horse used to pull religiously that seemed to pop off with a slight over reach weren’t fitted well
Even if the farrier starts from scratch, it is best to find the shoes lost in the pasture so no one steps on a nail.
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That’s really interesting. Unfortunately, the mare in question passed on many years ago. The problem would be to have the beeper go off only if the shoe loses contact with the hoof or to have some type of remote control to activate the beeper once it’s hiding itself in the grass.
Just as an aside - The only time I had no trouble finding one of her shoes was on a day when the pasture was wet. There was an area not far from the gate where there was no grass. I pulled her in, saw she had lost a shoe and went out to search. I saw some VERY long skid marks heading toward the gate. Sure enough, sticking straight upright at the end of the skid marks, was the shoe.
Very obviously, my elegant and prissy dressage horse had been doing a reining horse stop and pulled off the shoe with a hind foot. 
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Old, school. I walk a grid pattern in 6 foot strips, using two orange surveying flags that I move at either end to keep me lined up with no skips. Good exercise, and I over the years find maybe 95 percent.
I also learned the hard way to thoroughly check the stall first before taking the 5 acre walk. Sometimes the horse gets turned out and someone hasn’t noticed the missing shoe.
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My horse is now in plastic shoes, so, hot pink is very visible. I never did find the last metal one she lost. I think it was sucked down and buried in the clay.
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I text my barn mates that I will buy a 6 pack for whenever finds it! It’s usually found by the end of the day!
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