$35 for a trim, $60 for fronts with or without pads( when needed on my older mare for soundness related issue). My guys do a 7-8 week schedule.
Since I would still need to have my farrier trim my horses and purchase boots and have my farrier out more often so the boots fit–my own math says shoes are just a better fit for me and my horses.
If I had horses who lost shoes that may make a difference.
Holy moly - I don’t care how far out in the boonies you are, that is CHEAP. And a long cycle, almost double the longest I personally will let mine go.
We do 4 or 5 weeks, trims are $55, front composites are $175, front steels with pads and packing are $200+. Therefore, composites or boots are cheaper than a “basic” pad setup. This has been the case for multiple farriers in my medium/LCOL area.
The cheapest guy in the area is $50 for trims, $100 for front steels, $125 for steels all around. And I would trim my own rather than use him, and I have!
All this goes to show is that unless you have a farrier doing work on a longer cycle for very cheap, boots can be a great, inexpensive option for a horse that needs extra protection.
yeah, those are very abnormal prices, I didn’t even pay $35 for trims 20 years ago. And 7-8 weeks is longer than the vast majority of horses can go, especially with shoes in. Not normal/typical at all, that’s a very edge of the bell curve
I am not actually out that far but yes I am so thankful. That isn’t a long cycle as it is what has been the norm from when I had my first horse in 1976. Just how it was done as per the farriers back then.
I think the trend has been for many to get feet done more frequently. If I had a farrier who tended to leave them long ( as I have encountered in the past) I would need to do them more often but I don’t.
I see the OP has hit the classic “your horse wouldn’t need shoes if you…” welcoming wagon.
I have even seen foals with corrective shows, so the answer is “when and if they need it put the shoes on” I have horses that have never and will never wear shoes. I have horses that wear shoes all around and pads. I have horses that have plain fronts only. I have horses that wear boots on rocky trails.
I would say that a discussion about shoes should be between you, your qualified farrier, and your horse.
My mare I had was first shod when she was a long yearling. Her feet were chipped and tender when she was turned out on the frozen ground when I got her, so my farrier and I decided that fronts were the best course of action for her to keep her comfortable. Kept shoes on her the entire time I owned her. Her hoof growth was normal, never had any issues with her there.
Personally, I keep mine shod all the way around once I start riding 4-5x a week.
IMO if the horse is sore footed and can benefit from shoes, put some on.
Because more and more people have recognized that it’s much healthier in the long run to not have feet get too out of balanced. It’ SO much better for the entire body for feet to stay more balanced, more regularly, then go from perfect to too-long, to perfect, to too-long, back and forth for years.
Even if the foot grows such that it only gets taller, and doesn’t break the HPA, those heels are still running forward, which is starting to pinch the back of the foot. Repeat those couple of weeks, cycle after cycle, year after hear, and you’re inviting hoof issues you didn’t need to invite. And it’s not even about a farrier leaving the foot long to begin with, it’s about the amount of growth in that amount of time.
Now, if the feet aren’t growing fast enough to get that much out of balance by 7-8 week then by all means don’t trim more often, That’s not the norm though, especially for shod feet whose growth isn’t being mitigated by any wear.
Thankfully, some “trends” are because we know better so can do better.
I think a better question would be “How many miles can you get on a pair of boots?” Obviously if a horse is ridden only once or twice a week the boots will last a lot longer than if the horse is ridden every day. I find that with the riding I do over gravel roads and rocks I can get about 500 miles on a set of boots. And the fronts wear faster than the backs because they have less weight on them.
For me, boots are more economical than shoeing would be. My horses need trims ranging from 5 weeks to 7 weeks, because their hooves grow faster in summer than winter. They would still need trimming that often if they were wearing shoes. But yes, if you let the trim go too long the boots will be snug.
As you say it depends on the hoof growth of each individual horse. I am sure there were plenty of horses being done at 4, 5 & 6 weeks ( even back then) because they needed it.
I don’t know if it is so much that we " know" better but more like it is difficult to find a farrier or trimmer who knows how to competently do the job.
We DO know better. We know that the more often feet are better balanced, the healthier the foot and all the structures above it. It’s always been hard to impossible for many people to find a competent HPC.
That thinking is not new? Maybe it is more widely publicized with the internet and has reached more average horse owners.
That is the truth.
If people want to use boots, you do need to trim more often. I started trimming my own this year. I do a bit every 2 weeks to maintain the trim. When I was getting her trimmed she was done every 5 weeks and her boots sometimes are too snug after 4 1/2 weeks. Now that I am trimming her myself, her boots always fit. I use boots for protection. She just wears too much without them. In the past, she was a certified bitch to shoe. Something about the vibration with nailing. So, boots it has been since she was 6. We have never lost a boot in 15 years.
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