Posted by sandy on February 10, 2004 at 21:55:42:
I am always at a loss as to know what to do. I live in a very rural area, and none of the farriers I've found has been to farrier school, but has learned it *from their fathers who did it before them.* I'm not saying anything is wrong with this, as experience can mean a lot.
However, I'm finding that when I ask my farriers questions, I'm not getting any definitive answers. I've only been a horse owner for three years, and so far haven't had any problems. But I want to stay educated enough so I'm not the "cause" of problems.
I don't shoe any of my three riding horses. One farrier tells me I should shoe them all if I ride them, and another tells me it's not important.
When I ride them, it's just trail riding. All the trails are usually dirt or grass-covered, but occasionally portions of them will be covered with rock about the size of my fist. I don't want to hurt my horses' feet. I've noticed that two of my horses seem a bit ouchy on the rock, but we could go a month without hitting a trail with rock on it. Should I be shoeing these horses? If they walk on rock for about 15 minutes once a month, is that often enough to justify shoeing?
My horses all have healthy feet with no cracks in the hoofs and the farriers tell me they look good. When they are at home, they are on grass pasture.
Should I perhaps consider EZ Boots as an alternative to shoeing, and just put them on when I know I'm going on a trail that has a portion of rock on it?