Re: [RC] SHOES IN THE FRONT - Normanjudyv - Lynne Glazer
Kathy, believe me, it wears down the entire foot. Walls and all, not just sole. I have two horses barefoot at the moment, mother and daughter, and neither is being ridden. The retired distance horse's front feet are cosmetically, not functionally trimmed every 15-18 weeks, beveled a bit, the 4 yr old daughter's slight high low watched and trimmed as necessary. No length trimmed almost EVER on their hinds and they live in 24x48 pens! They do get turnout, but that's different than work. They can chip out the quarters on rocks a little when it's late in their cycle. I expect the daughter to be able to go barefoot until she starts doing serious miles, she has seriously thick walls and seemingly iron soles.
I'm glad for people who have perfect, non-abrasive footing!
The damage that is usually done to a shod horse when they lose a shoe is due to the hoof wall being too long(to ride barefoot) and breaking off, often too high. A horse that is kept barefoot and ridden that way, generally keeps the hoof wall worn (or owner keeps it rasped) to sole level and beveled a bit, so there is rarely any chipping or breaking or leverage forces on the wall. The sole is what gets sore on some horses, likely due to genetics, feed, lack of freedom of movement as a youngster, or other issues. I haven’t yet seen a horse with hooves worn to nubs, only read of it happening, mostly with DG or sand footing. I guess it wears down the protective sole callous.
Kathy
A lot of riders In my area shoe their horses only in the front. What are the pros & cons with doing that? I think it,s done to save money, surely not because it,s what,s best for the horse if in fact the horse gets ridden anywhere other than a few times around the ring or a mile down the trail.
Can,t imagine doing 100 mile rides without shoes. The 100s I rode back in the day, the horse the was lucky to get thru a ride with his shoes still on and no damage to his hooves. Judy
