When did you decide to shoe?

[Azir]

Hello everyone,

I have a slight dilemma. My new, fresh under saddle (about a week now) 3 year old was suggested to have shoes put on by the Farrier. Now, I knew when I bought her she has very flat feet but has very good foundation so it didn’t put me off buying her.

Having her trimmed last last week my Farrier suggested shoeing her due to this reason, and he left this lingering with me to come to a decision. She is comfortable going over hard surfaces and has quite hard feet, I live on an island so hacking out requires an amount of road riding, but we haven’t gotten to that stage yet.

So I was wondering how early everyone had their horses shod? And if it was due to a reason, what point did you decide it was best to shoe?

I’m 16 with many, many years of experience but she is my first baby horse and I also have to fund my horses myself so I’d like to put it off as long as I can, but if it’s best to shoe, I’ll shoe.

Thank you!

[Training_Cupid]

What’s the dilemma? Do you not trust your farrier?

[Dutchmare433]

I had my youngster shod all around in May of his 4 year old year. Pulled hind shoes in November and added snow shoes to fronts in late December.

As a 3 year old, I only put about 75 rides on him, and his feet held up fine barefoot to turnout plus that workload. The upped work load as a 4 year old had him wearing his feet down a little too fast.

If you live where there’s snow and ice, I’d lean away from putting shoes/pads/studs on a 3 (or really a late 2 year old). Did you farrier want it done now, or does he think it can wait til spring?

[PNWjumper]

I usually keep my 3 year olds barefoot too. Same story as Dutchmare - they’re worked so lightly during their 3yo year, that I’m not terribly concerned about it. But with that being said, all of my young horses have had great feet, so I haven’t had to make a tough decision on that front. I like to keep them barefoot as long as possible because of the expense and the fact that I think it’s better for their feet to not have them in shoes when they’re still growing and changing shape so much.

I move into 4 shoes the spring of their 4yo year. Occasionally I’ll do only fronts because it’s easier to deal with when we’re still muddy around here, but they always go into shoes all around once we’re jumping regularly and showing. And that’s partly because I had one that was only in fronts and doing great, but I was wishing that he had a little more “push off” at the jumps. Put hind shoes on and it was a night and day difference. And I realized at that point that I didn’t want to run the risk of not providing the most support for the horse when they were in the early stages of jumping. On the back end of the show season, my general rule is that on the 4yos I pull the shoes at the end of the season and leave them barefoot through the next winter (though I would keep shoes on if my farrier suggested it at that point).

[Azir]

@Training Cupid

What’s the dilemma? Do you not trust your farrier?

Cupid—I completely trust my farrier, he’s one of the only Master Farriers in my area. But he didn’t say it was compulsory to shoe her, rather it would be a good idea to shoe her. I don’t really want to if I dont have to yet but I always knew I’d have to shoe her, just didn’t think so soon! I wanted to gather some opinions of others before making the decision.

[foursocks]

It really depends on the horse, but if he is suggesting it is a good idea, I would do that, rather than risk her getting footsore.

My gigantasaurous baby had fronts put on after I broke him at 3, and hinds when we began doing more intensive work at 4 and his hind feet were wearing too quickly. It helped his balance so much I felt bad I hadn’t put the hinds on sooner, but overall it was a good progression.

[NancyM]

Hard to say, so dependent on your location, the amount of work the horse will do, the footing in the arena you use, how rocky your trails are (if you are riding outside the arena) etc. Since I have moved to a semi arid location, I no longer need to shoe any horse on this farm. I have a 15 year old gelding who has never had shoes in his life. And he trail rides, and goes to horse shows, and jumps around, and wins. Sometimes I am the ONLY horse at the show who is unshod. But my horses all have great feet, now. As I ride around in rings with a million dollars worth of footing in them, I wonder just how horrible all those other horses feet are, that ALL of them require shoes. But I do know how horrible they are, I used to live there, in the swamp, and the hooves with the consistancy of cream cheese were more familiar to me. I don’t often jump on grass over large courses any more, so don’t need studs on shoes. I’ve trained racehorses barefoot, for their early work, before gate schooling and timed workouts start.

IMO, if your horse is not telling you that she needs shoes, she doesn’t, right now. If this changes, then she needs shoes, and it is time to call your farrier to come and do the work.

My husband is a farrier. He agrees.

[NoSuchPerson]

I don’t really understand why, exactly, your farrier thinks your horse needs shoes. Without that, I can’t offer an opinion.

In general, I prefer to keep my equines barefoot, unless there is a specific reason to put shoes on.

[merrygoround]

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! If in the future you have a need to travel over rougher terrain, or if your horse as work, or road travel increases and she shoes discomfort, then shoe her. there are horses who are fine 95% of the time, but on certain footing, go “Ouch”. If that is a problem then add shoes. Usually they will quickly tell you if they are ready for shoes.

I have had horses that were shod only for a short period of their lives.

[enjoytheride]

I would ask your farrier (and your parents or trainer since you are only 16!) why your horse needs shoes. Does he believe that every horse in work needs shoes or is there a specific reason? It’s hard to tell how a 3yo who is just being started will handle being barefoot. Sometimes they get sore or sometimes their feet wear down faster especially on rougher footing.

[OneTwoMany]

We don’t usually shoe our horses until they are four years of age and occasionally we are able to wait until they are five. We have warmbloods and take things slow. We don’t ride our 3-year olds that much. They are green broke to WTC in an indoor with good all-weather footing and then allowed to grow up until they are 4 years of age

Earlier posters raised a good point. If you don’t understand why the farrier is suggesting shoes, you need to gather a bit more information. You could say something like, “Bob, last time you trimmed Sweatpea, you suggested she might benefit from shoes. Could you talk to me a little bit more about this? Why do you think she might benefit from shoes right now? What are the pros and cons that I should consider?” When your farrier answers, listen carefully. Take notes if needed. Ask additional questions. Thank him for his advice and tell him you will put some thought into the decision.

Every horse is different. Every work program is different. Your farrier is on the ground and knows your horse’s feet better than anyone on a BB could portend to know. If you trust him, tap into his knowledge base. You’ll enhance your own education and you will build out your skills as a horseperson. If your parents are “horsey” get them involved in the discussion. If you have a trainer consult them as well.

[leheath]

Like others who have posted, I keep my horses barefoot until they make it clear that isn’t working for them. Sometimes this depends on the skill of the farrier. If the horse is sound, comfortable doing the work it is doing in the footing you are riding in, and not wearing the feet faster than they are growing, then I have no idea why you would put shoes on? If there is no specific reason to put shoes on a horse, I don’t do it.