Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Michelle,

There is no "shame" in "needing" to shoe your horse.? It sounds like when you condition, you have little choice other than to condition on gravel/rocks and similarly abrasive surfaces.? The face that your mare is getting sore is not necessarily a reflection on her hoof quality.? Even horses with the best hoof quality can only grow hoof just so fast.? If they wear it off faster than they grow it, through moving about on their own, or through being ridden, they will be sore.? As you condition her, you owe it to her to do something to protect her from being sore.? That might be shoes, boots, or?fewer conditioning miles.? Obviously, you need to do a certain amount of conditioning for the level of riding (LD, 50s, 100s, etc.) you plan to do.? If that level of conditioning is wearing hoof faster than she can grow it, then you need to consider shoes or boots.? Personally, I would do shoes, since booting every time I ride would be a pain in the...well, you know where.? <G>? But some riders do it and it works well for them.

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It sounds like you are working thorugh the emotional issues.? Our sport puts a lot more wear on hooves than horses would put on naturally.? And as you said, needing some sort of hoof protection doesn't mean a horse has bad feet or poor hoof quality.? It just means that the rider has acknowledge the demands of our sport and recognized the need to do what's needed for the horse's comfort.? :)

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Dawn Carrie, Texas

On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 10:33 AM, Michelle Aquilino <michelle.antoinette@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I know there's probably no way for you guys to know the "answer", but I figured I'd get thoughts...

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My horse has always had tought feet, never been sore, even barefoot over a good deal of gravel/rocks.? Well, until now.? I don't want to make her sore, so am trying to problem solve.? I am thinking/wondering if it's how the farrier is trimming (too much toe trimmed off?), the particularly wet winter we had, too much frog trimmed off (I really have no idea how to tell what's "too" much), or if I simply rode her too much on the gravel this month.

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She has mostly had just her fronts shod, but am now thinking about shoeing all four of her feet.? Most of the most local places to ride are at least partially gravel and rocks, and it'd be nice not to have to even further limit where I can go for conditioning rides.? I am worried about whether if I shoe all four of her feet more often, that will soften her feet and make them more sensitive (the use it or lose it thinking).

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I am also considering using Durasole, in addition to shoeing her four feet.? Hoping that the combination will make her even more "guarded" against getting sore.

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Lastly, I am going to be completely honest (dangerous on this board sometimes, lol).? I am having somewhat of an emotional response to all of this as well (silly maybe).? I am surprised that my horse, who has always had hardy feet, farriers have pretty much always commented on how great her feet looked (and also hold onto shoes like the devil), is looking to "need" four shoes.? I have already processed most of these emotions, and at this point, have told myself that just because an "endurance" horse needs four shoes, doesn't mean they have bad feet, nor does it mean the feet aren't tough, it's just this is a tough sport, involving a lot of miles of training.? I want to do whatever it takes to make her comfortable and enjoy the ride pain-free, that's most important =)

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I am sometimes worried about what I will get in response on this board, ha ha, but I am curious to hear the thoughts from people who know significantly?more about hoof wear and care than I do.? Thanks!

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-Michelle

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"Don't breed or buy while shelter animals die"