What are these sometimes reasons for shoes exactly?

[Misskrissy]

My husband and I got into a "heated discussion" if you will about our three horses. One of us is dead set on shoeing, and the other wants to try hoof sealants and supplements first (after a trim). It has rained here for a month straight, except one or two days and our horses have developed some cracking. We don't ride but a few times a month, but when we do, it's on gravel roads. One of us likes barefooted horses but knows shoeing is necessary for show and working horses, and corrective purposes, and the other thinks any horse on any gravel for any amount of time needs shoes to avoid pain and to fix all cracks.

I am trying to gather all the information for the benefit of my horses, (which I was accused of not caring about in this discussion!) not to "win" the argument. I don't particularly trust the advice of my farrier, and they are very hard to come by out here if you don't "stable in a big barn". There's no money in us little guys. I don't think the advice would be bad, just unneccessary for his benefit.

Here are the loaded questions:

Should we try a hoof sealant after a trim, see what that does first?

Should we shoe the fronts only (since that is where most of the cracks are forming)?

[cynthia-jay]

For barefoot riding on gravel roads

Are there alot of Rocks on these roads?

Why a hoof sealant? to try and protect the hoof from to much moisture?

That is where the cracks are comming from

The early morning dew and the hot afternooons in the dry heat it is moisture related /terrain/pastures ect....

The same if they are turned out from a nice dry stall and in the mud and rain

You need to start with a good balanced trim and go from there

Shoes are nice that they can last 6 to 8 weeks with proper application and care

Bare foot you may need a few more trims for the chips and then have to contend with a bit more maintence on your part on applying the sealant

There are sights here that have info on hoof hardners

Most horses can handle a couple of rides barefoot with out the sealants

you may need a moisturizing compound like better hoof to replace moisture and restore flexibility over sealing out any moisture

Simply what type of hoof sealant are you refering to?

And what are your horses living conditions?

best to you
as ever
Jay
All this should be taken into consideration in the decision to go barefoot vs shod

[Misskrissy]

We have heavy clay soil here, so that is exposed around the barn. The horses are in the pasture all day and at night come into the barn. They stay in during thunderstorms with lightning, but are out when its just gently raining. They pretty much let us know where they want to be. Our pasture is sloping with drain tile under it, so it does not flood or have standing water. I imagine just standing upon the wet ground for so long, then tromping up when its dry over the hardened clods is what is causing the chipping. I figured a hoof sealant would repel excess moisture from penetrating the hoof wall.

I don't know how other gravel roads in the US are, but around here, its the definition of gravel: a mixture of aggregate up to 3/8" sometimes 1/2" rocks, and its grated a few times a year to even it out. (I'd say if you took a small bucket of road sample and sifted it, about a cup would be 3/8" or bigger. It's not as horrible as it sounds.)

When we ride though, we avoid the obvious bigguns in the path, and walk on the shoulder were the ground is squishier. No one rides in the ditches anymore because of the jacka__es that throw glass beer bottles in the weeds. We have access to over 200 acres of fields to ride in, but in order to get to them, you have to ride the gravel.

I guess my main concern is lameness. At what point do cracks cause lameness? Are chips and seemingly incidental cracks just commonplace but not immediately harmful? My arab has always had wonderful feet, but its my morgan and quarter that have been getting me concerned. Sure, once in a while the arab would get a chip but the farrier was always "oh well, no biggy" but it seems to be happening alot more with the other two.

[cynthia-jay]

Gravel roads vary...here they are called gravel but are hard dirt no rocks or stones...nice for barefoot or shod

You are risking stone bruising going barefoot which can be more of a concern than the chipping

Also letting your horses go to long in between trims to be able to handle the gravel rds. will cause the chipping

Your morgan and AQ may not have the best of hooves and may require shoes over the Arab who may be able to better handle the changing conditions

There is nothing wrong with only shoeing the fronts of these horses

Horses are as different as with people and other animals...they are individuals and should be treated as such

As for cracks and lameness that varies as well

Think of it as breaking off a finger nail to short and how it is ouchy to bleeding

If you hit the quick of the hoof it will be ouchy to sore and the horse can have a mild lameness depending on the location and severity

Cracks can also be from imbalance and the hoof is trying to remodel itself

if they are just chipping at the toes for example it may be over due for a trim just as you would file your nails as they too are in need of maintaince


hope this info helps you out some

best to you and yours
as always
Jay

[matryoshka]

Hey Misskrissy,

I've had good success hardening the soles using Venice Turpentine. I have flat footed horses that I keep barefoot. We've got clay soil in my corner of Maryland, so it's hard on them to go from soft/wet pasture to rocks. Where we trail ride, they have to walk over quite a bit of gravel roads. They are ouchy for the first few steps, then fine. If I wanted to trot or canter on these roads, I'd either shoe them or use boots. I think it is important for the trimmer to leave the toe callus intact to avoid soreness after a trim.

I'm also considering putting some rounded gravel or crusher run near the barn where they eat hay. I've read that this can help harden their hooves and get them used to walking on rocks. Haven't done it yet, though, so I can't say how well it works. :o

My horses are also on a 5-week trimming schedule, so their feet don't have a chance to grow long and crack. One did have trouble with seedy toe, because his hoof capsule had gotten long and there was separation at the toe. A new farrier worked hard to bring his toes back (brought the breakover back to where it belongs), and now his feet are more round and the seedy toe is gone. Now I trim my own and am able to maintain the balance she achieved.

Good luck!

Pam

[Phil Armitage]

MissKrissy, why don't you trust your Farrier's opinion? If I think a horse does not need shoes I will tell my clients and leave it up to them. If however I think they need shoes, I explain why they need them if they do not trust that and want to go barefoot anyways then that is there choice. It is difficult to teach everything there is about horses and there feet and there are no qaurentees, things happen. I have seen horses go barefoot when they should have shoes suffer for it, because the owner is set on going barefoot. If the enviroment is wet this will present a problem and it will be difficult to achieve hard healthy hoofs. The moisture keeps the hoof wall and sole soft. Inorder for feet to become hard they need dry conditions and be trimmed on a regular basis to avoid chipping and breaking which causes areas for gravel to work up the foot. Some horses soles never get hard enough to be tolerate hard ground, this is due to breeding and genetics. Sometimes weak feet are caused by poor nutrition and improveing there nutriton will do the trick. Chipping and cracking is a natural process of removeing excess horn. Keep in mind horses in the wild do not carry the weight of a rider and pick there path, a riders weight is a significant amount of weight on there soles and frog and the bone colomb. It is also unavoidable for a rider to always pick a path that will be comfortable for the horse. It is bad rideing to just be a passenger on the horse and allow them to go where they want to go, this is a loss of control and when the time comes when you need your horse to go one way or slower or faster and he decides to do the opposite quess what you do not have control and that is a wreck waiting to happen. Trust me I have been there done that, have over 25 years of rideing experience and experienc with many different horses on all kinds of terrain. One more thing you can ask any Farrier which is more profitable a quick trim or shoeing? A quick trim is more profitable and you do not need to use up any materials. So if you think a farrier does not like to do trims because it is not as profitable you are incorrect. It is also a lot easier to trim horses that are not worked often verses shoeing them. Horses that are not worked very often and live the life of Rielly usually do not stand to patiently for the Farrier to shoe them.