Winter Shoes

[Mittenkitten]

Ok all need some advice…

I live in the cold and snowy north so unfortunately we have to use winter set up for shoeing.

My farrier originally put the snow rim pads on and then some carbine tipped studs these were super sharp to the finger if you touched them and my horse ended up cutting her leg pretty good - which could have been from something else as we all know horses… I looked at another horse in the barn same farrier and that horse had not as sharp studs so I reached out to the farrier asking if I could have my horse switched… they kind of blew me off and then said the other horses were defective…

When the farrier reset my horse a couple weeks ago they put nail head studs on and pulled the other ones off which is fine but they put two nails on the outside of the hood and one on the inside so now the hoof looks unstable landing to my untrained eye. Is this normal? Should I call my farrier and ask more questions I am not trying to make them feel I don’t trust them but this seems like a odd set up and I asked a couple other people that have their horse shoed by the same farrier what they have and they have all said the rounded studs at the back of the hoof only…

Help?!

[walktrot]

I live in southern Maine and had my horse for 21 years. He needed a 2 degree pad to keep the angle of the pastern correct. He had shoes on the front only. I had the same excellent farrier for the entire time. I tried rim pads but didn’t like them. They created huge snowballs so when you stepped onto a plowed driveway or road the horse was walking on the snow balls. Slobbering a lot of vaseline on the sole did not create a no-stick surface. We used the same frog pad with a triangular pad over the frog year-round. Although there were snowballs they were much smaller and sometimes fell off. Keep a hammer in your brush bag.

We used borium studs in the shoe. If you get the correct ones the farrier can drill holes in the shoe and hammer the studs in. The farrier had a drill press in her truck. She usually drilled his shoes at home and fitted the shoe as usual. I never, and I mean never, had one fall out. The growth rate of the hoof wall is much slower in the winter. We were riding on surfaces that didin’t wear the shoes down as much so we could reuse them several times. I usually had a set in my tack trunk for next winter. I put him down in 2022 but found one set of winter shoes which I keep as a sentimental treasure.

If the hoof is properly trimmed the heel hits the ground first. We went to front-only studs. If they are on the heel it comes to a screeching halt as soon as it hits the ground. It is not as drastic with studs only on the front of the shoe. It cuts down on the stress.

I put winter shoes on in mid to late December. A lot of people put them on in November. There isn’t that much snow or ice. If it was too slippery outside I rode inside of skipped a day.

[Weezer]

I’ve never seen unbalanced studs like that. It seems to me that it would affect balance for the horse. I’ve also never seen sharp studs used for winter (I also live in a very snowy/icy area).

Is it possible for you to discreetly get a second farrier opinion? The unbalanced stud placement seems quite concerning to me as that could put a significant strain on the horse’s musculoskeletal system.

I just did a quick google search about stud placement in horse shoes. All the articles I came across stated that balanced placement is important. If the studs in your horses shoes are screw in, you should be able to remove them with a wrench. I would remove the extras until you can get confirmation about correct placement. If you can’t remove them, I would not ride the horse until you get the situation corrected.

[Mittenkitten]

Thank you for the response this is my exact concern … they are the nails to keep the shoe on which is so odd I have no clue why they would have done 2 on one side (lateral) and 1 on the other side (medial) of the hoof and not two and two… it’s been a couple weeks and my horse isn’t unsound but it’s concerning watching her walk.

I will call the farrier this morning and talk to her. Not going to lie I am pretty frustrated and upset as I have questioned a couple things by this farrier but also realize I am not a professional but first the sharp studs now this … thanks again.

[Weezer]

Oh, I think I misunderstood. There’s an uneven placement of shoe nails, but not an uneven placement of studs or anything protruding from the bottom of the shoe?

If it’s just nails hammered in flush, that is not a significant issue for balance, but it may make it easier for the shoe to pull off. I wouldn’t be worried about that, but next time the farrier is out I’d say something like “I’m curious about why there are fewer nails here than there?” He may have a logical explanation for that.

[Mittenkitten]

No you didn’t miss understand the nails are borium or stud nails so they stick out further than then shoe to be ice traction. So again she is standing basically on 3 nail heads two on the lateral side and one on the medial on both fronts… when I watch her walk on the concrete I can see what to my untrained eye looks like imbalance and I never seen a farrier do this before - again originally they put two carbine drill in studs on the backs of the shoes but those were super sharp so I asked if she could have the more rounded studs like the other horses in the barn had rather then the sharp ones of course I don’t want my horse to fall on ice but I also didn’t want her ripping her legs up with sharp studs in the shoes… I feel seriously at a loss right now and I feel horrible as my horse has been in the current set up for 2.5 weeks …

[Weezer]

Yikes! ok, I would get a farrier out immediately to fix this situation. I’m sure your horse will be okay but I would not ride her until you can get this resolved. You should be able to pull the nails yourself with a pair of nippers. You can buy nippers at most tack shops and some farm supply stores. If these nails that are acting as studs are not also holding the shoes on, no problem. If they are holding the shoes on, I’d rather have a barefoot horse than the situation you are describing. Once you get the situation fixed, your horse may require some time to adjust to the new balance so I’d give her a few days of turnout and then gradually start her back to work.

You should also be able to buy the appropriate studs at a local tack store and screw them into the holes that the farrier previously drilled into the shoes.

I am always reluctant to advise switching farriers, but I think that may be the best approach here as your current farrier seems to lack the expertise to safely equip your horse to handle winter. Good luck!