Just throwing this one out there. Anyone have experience with the different types of snow pads (for shoes)? Pros/ cons of full pad vs rim pad?
Rim pads always worked better for me. The translucent blue-ish ones, not the black ones.
My farrier didn’t like the full popper pads as he’d seen too much bruising under the edge of the dome.
There’s horse a my barn now who had the full popper pads under bar shoes and his owner still needs a hammer to get the snow balls out.
We like the rim pads because they leave hoof sole exposed. We used the full pad with popper years ago but found it collected stuff underneath. You could not get the junk out, so horse was walking on a big hard lump fairly quickly. With our usual mud-snow cycle during winter, the snow rim pads work so much better keeping hoofs clean in winter.
I also prefer the rim pads to the poppers. With the poppers I still had ice balls and my then mare seemed less comfortable.
My current farrier only uses rim pads, and switched to orange ones this year from the black ones. They seem to stay softer despite the cold.
My horse hates the bubble (popper) pads. We tried them once and the next day she was incredibly footsore.
She’s in the rim pads now (translucent ones). No pain/pressure/bruising. Good snowball prevention. Can often be re-used for a second shoeing cycle. I’m a fan.
My horse has the rim style also with borium spots on his shoes for traction.
I’ve used the full poppers also and do prefer the rim style ones. The thing I didn’t like about them is stuff gets under there and impossible to clean out. And it always seemed impossible to schedule the farrier for the right time to get them off so by the time they got there, the ground would be muddy and the poppers would get full of mud underneath. I always worried about horse getting thrush.
Rim pads! They’re saving my horse’s life (and my wallet)
My mare has the full poppers on - not sure if other farriers don’t pack the hoof underneath but yes it would seem like stuff would get under if you don’t? My farrier uses oakum and pine tar so it can be a little annoying to apply if it’s extremely cold - he has to warm/mold it in his hands, but it does the job very well.
I’ve used them for many years and never a problem…my mare loves her winter shoes.
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I use rims. They work great. and the foot can breathe a little bit better.
I changed things up and put poppers on this year. Wish I had done rims. He can’t feel anything in the indoor and keeps slipping. Rims next time for sure.
My horse used to wear full pads with equipac year round for thin soles and never had a problem.
Now he just wears rim pads with small ice studs in the winter.
Havent noticed much much of a difference as far as snow and ice build up.
I am liking the rim pads. A friend can’t use them because her horse gets foot sore in them. But then he got mud all under the poppers and wound up with an abscess.
I have used the full “popper” pads and had no issues—all 4 of our horses, every winter. Never have any snow or ice build up. My shoer uses oaken and pine tar to pack—it seems to work well. They all get ridden through the winter (except my 24 year old!) Have not tried rim pads before though!
Much can depend on your type of local dirt. We are on clay, with lots of added gravel fill dirt in paddocks, gates. When we get the freeze/thaw times the resulting mud got under the full pads to make hard lumps. No pressure relief on sole, no "POP’ to the bubble. Everything got rock solid hard under the full pads. Even with packing under the full pads, dirt and stones worked their way in. That might not happen in sandy or faster draining kinds of soil.
We changed to the snow rim pads and love them. One horse got some orange ones, kind of a cheerful, bright color look seeing him moving away! We usually have the translucent colored snow rim pads. With open soles they get no hoof buildup in any kind of winter footing, mud or snow.
I have clay and stone dust paddocks. What did your farrier use to pack under the bubble pads?
I used rims once or twice but my mare with thin soles found the frozen mud ruts and jagged ice to be very difficult. She wore leather pads a few times when I first got her to give a little extra protection all year but hasn’t worn them in years now. But winter is still extra tough in my NY climate so the popper pads do double duty as a snow pad and a full pad for protection.
We mostly use rims in the winter, although a few get a very slick, tough plastic that has done a remarkable job of shedding snowballs.
My horse needs front shoes and is in a 2 degree pad for his pastern angles. Farrier used to switch to the popper pads for the winter until she couldn’t get them one winter so we kept him the frog pads. She uses medicated packing and adds powdered copper sulfate and oakum. He doesn’t have problems with stuff getting under the pads, and rarely gets a little touch of thrush. I have him on biotin now and his hoof walls and soles are much thicker, and the nail holes don’t crumble.
I thought he would have problems with snowballs this winter but he hasn’t. Some of the barefoot lesson horses have had big problems and slipped in the aisleway. I keep a hoof pick in my pocket and have stopped a few just inside the door to clean their feet out before they go any farther.
