Old tb guy needs shoes to stay comfy. He’s semi-retired but has tender feet when barefoot. Just wondering about those who shoe year round and have to deal with snow. Do some pads work better than others? Do you maintain the same schedule?
Of course I’m going to talk to my farrier, just wanted to get some insight.
I kept my horse is front shoes year round and I found I could get his feet done slightly less often in the winter. In the warmer months, I had to get his feet done every 4 to 5 weeks, or he’d start pulling his shoes off. In the winter I could go every 6 weeks. So not a huge difference, but somewhat. I live in northeast Kansas and had asked about doing pads for the winter and my BO didn’t recommend it. I grew up in Alaska and we did ice shoes with pads for the horses that wore shoes in the winter.
Where are you located?
My mare has 4 shoes with borium on them and we put the popper pads just on her fronts. We really only keep those shoes with the pads on her from December to February, so only one shoeing cycle, but that is our icey/snowy period in my area. These are the only pads we have tried so I can’t say if they work better then others but they work quite well.
We use the rim pads with the hollow channel in them. Some get borium or small tips, others don’t.
Mine get the rim pads with the hollow middle as well, once my farrier just put a regular plastic flat pad which covered the whole sole but I found that coming in from the pasture the snow could still pack a bit inside the shoe and cause some slipping when first coming in. Definitely prevents huge ice balls from accumulating but for a horse that will be brought in/out I definitely prefer the rim/hollow type.
I have used bubble pads with borium. My logic for it is that I don’t want to cripple him with giant balls of ice in his feet, AND I was most particularly concerned that he wasn’t going to slip and do a split or something and be injured. The first farm I had him at was a steep icy hill between turnout and the barn, so that was imporant to me. The bubble pads were mostly so I could still ride him in the snow.
I have been happy with this as a winter protocol, to date. This winter, he is on lease in Rhode Island, and basically will be walking from barn to indoor, all of about 25 yards, on level ground. He won’t be ridden in the woods or up and down the driveway, only in the arena, and lessor and my trainer have advocated to give him a couple months off with no shoes. So this year, I’ll see how he does. I got the horse with flares and an old abcess and flat soles, so I am not particuarly convinced he should go bare (basically 'if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it kinda thing) now that his feet are really fantastic, but its a more simple environment and might be okay, since they feel strongly about letting him have some time off without shoes.
So in summary (sorry to be long winded on the topic) I say if he needs the traction for his safety and well being, shoe him up. As for pads, if you want to keep snow out of his shoes, bubble pads worked really well for us. Horse never took a wrong step with borium.
Cheers
I use a very small borium studs, about the size of a BB. I don’t like blobs of borium as they are too hard to apply evenly on both heel branches, and applied unevenly they create hoof inbalance.
As for snow pads, I prefer the snow rim pads, which work very well. The bubble pads have been known to collapse inward, creating a nasty sole pressure situation.
I use very small borium studs, about the size of a BB. I don’t like blobs of borium as they are too hard to apply evenly on both heel branches, and applied unevenly they create hoof inbalance.
As for snow pads, I prefer the snow rim pads, which work very well. The bubble pads have been known to collapse inward, creating a nasty sole pressure situation.
I put snow pads on mine last winter but the mud sucked them off before the snow came. :grief: Put them back on the first time. Left them off the second time.
So, in short, if I ever do it again I will wait until the mud freezes. My horse will spring a shoe now and then but obviously pads and mud were an impossible combinations.
I find the snow rim pads to be very effective. I use them on my hunt horses as well as a retiree who has to stay shod.
Just had this discussion with my great farrier for my thin-soled OTTB. Farrier is against pads during winter, says the rim pads are useless, but says the bubble pads are better than the rim pads for snowy conditions.
My horse can’t tolerate being barefoot. We keep his regular shoes on in the winter, maintain his normal 5 week shoeing cycle to keep him from getting long in toe, and I use Durasole hoof hardener on his soles 2-3 times per week depending on how wet it is. I pick his feet daily and try to keep them as dry as possible (although that is really tough in the winter).
Thanks all! I wonder what mine will suggest. Looks like borium is the way to go, he did also mention some sort of pad with it-just can’t remember which.
I’m in the upper Midwest where snowfall averages 70in for the Winter. But it’s also not unheard of to have years of 100+in:cry:
Interesting - my farrier doesn’t use borium any longer, and he instead uses small, permanent studs to make his winter shoes. Mine get bubble pads and can usually go 8 weeks between trims quite comfortably.
[QUOTE=melody1;7253965]
Interesting - my farrier doesn’t use borium any longer, and he instead uses small, permanent studs to make his winter shoes. Mine get bubble pads and can usually go 8 weeks between trims quite comfortably.[/QUOTE]
Melody-those small permanent studs are borium. 
And the reason many horses go longer in winter is, without grass, their nutrition value is not as high, so their hoof is slower in growth.
[QUOTE=merrygoround;7254368]
Melody-those small permanent studs are borium. And the reason many horses go longer in winter is, without grass, their nutrition value is not as high, so their hoof is slower in growth.[/QUOTE]
They’re tiny, tapped pins that are not welded like “borium shoes” I’ve used in the past.
[QUOTE=joiedevie99;7253032]
We use the rim pads with the hollow channel in them. Some get borium or small tips, others don’t.[/QUOTE]
Same here. Worked really well when I lived up north (MN), especially in the late winter when it was icy. My farrier also allowed me to save both winter shoes (+borium) and the rim pads and he put them on for a second season because the horse in question was retired and didn’t wear them down at all. Just like winter tires for my car. 
I shod horses in North-Central WI for almost 20 years and I really like the rim snow pads - I prefer them over the bubble pads, actually.
Borium seemed to fall out of fashion here 20+ years ago and has been replaced with Drill-Tek. The Amish in the area use large gobs of Drill-Tek, so that’s probably what people are just used to.
Mine is shod all around; we do a fair amount of trail riding in the winter, and paddocks are dirt so hard, so ice is part of the picture. She’s had various soundness issues so I’m fairly fanatical about (a) her being able to grip and (b) not letting her hooves grow out too much (so trim and reset or new shoes every 4 to 5 weeks.)
She gets borium on all four shoes; she used to just get it in front, but she does better having equal “grip” all around. Because her fronts get hoof packing (dental impression material with a little copper sulfate (?)), she gets popper pads in front, and in back she gets rim pads.
I have used both the bubble pads and the rim snowball pads. I find the bubble pads are best, although the rim pads are satisfactory.
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