For those of you with Big Horses

[Miss_Fortune]

Do you have to shoe them? Or can you trim them regularly like the minis?

 

[Horsefeathers]

We've had big horses for a long time, and I can honestly only think of 3 or 4 out of MANY that actually NEEDED shoes. It really depends on several things though... Where you like to ride, how good your horses hooves are, and the type of ground they are on, etc.... Most horses do just fine with just a regular trim... Your farrier will know if they need shoes.

Chris

edited for spelling

 

[Voodoo]

It really depends on what you are planning on doing with your horse. If you are riding outside alot or on harder surfaces you will probably need to shoe him, or if he has hoof or loeg problems then corrective shoeing might be necessary. If he has good feet and legs and you only lightly ride and/or stay in a soft ring you probably can leave him barefoot. I prefer to leave them barefoot unless I really need to shoe them, just watch and if he is looking too short, or walking like he's on eggs have him shod, otherwise I say leave him barefoot

 

[HJF]

It depends on the horse and where you ride. If you ride on rough surfaces and the hoof starts peeling at the bottom then you probably need shoes. Also if your horse has sensitive hooves or leg/hoof problems you need to talk to your farrier. JMO

 

[CAM]

As many have said, it depends on a number of things like where you ride (the ground surface: rocky, sandy, etc.), how strong the hooves are (black is typically stronger than white), if they need shoeing to correct a problem, etc. We have Arabians that we used to have shod regularly then, working with our farrier, we decided to do just trims and slowly get their feet "hardened up" over time so they wouldn't be as likely to need shoeing for the type of riding we do. We do have alot of rocky areas around here but we stay away from those w/o shoes on.

 

[Ferrah]

I have to have my big horse Ferrah shod because I do a lot of trail riding now (she is too old now for me to do anything but a little of dressage with her and a few crossrails), where I board her the roads are all sealcoated and that is murder ona horse's feet. I'd love to leave her barefoot, but the sealcoat wears her feet down to nothing in no time, even if I avoid riding on the sealcoat!

 

[Jenn]

I've only ever owned one big horse that HAD to be shod when he was in use - but I rode him a lot, nearly every day, on hard surfaces. His feet were crappy (QH/TB, got bad foot genes from both sides), so he needed the shoes.

I try to buy horses with good, strong feet. QH tend to be the worst; Morgans, Canadians and anything with a little bit of draft tend to be better. I still have one QH and he hardly ever needs trimming, his feet chip off nicely with just running around in the pasture. But he's a pet; if we were riding him, he'd need shoes.

 

[Candleliteranch]

We have nine "big" horses. We only shoe the ones we ride. We mostly trail ride and some of the areas we go to are really rocky. The rest just get trimmed.

 

[Fred]

We live in New England and even horses with really good feet up here can need

shoes. We grow rocks. I don't shoe our gelding though unless I'm going to be

riding him in the woods. Most horses get along fine without shoes but like I said

this is New England and it does depend on the terrain EVEN IF the horse has good

feet. Most people at least opt for front shoes. Linda B

 

[Marty]

Any horse I ride gets shod.

I don't believe in riding horses barefoot.

 

[chandab]

All of my full-size horses are barefoot (I have 5 currently, sold one two years ago).

22 year old half-arabian gelding - barefoot since he was 5 years old, mostly trail rides and moving cattle from pasture to pasture, including going down the country gravel roads. Has hardly ever taken a bad step. He was difficult to keep shoes on, he forged and so needed special shaped shoes; it's been so easy to just keep him barefoot.

16 year old AQHA mare (sold two years ago) - needed shoes on front for her first two years under saddle then barefoot til I sold her, hardly ever took a bad step (sometimes ouchy on the gravel, but never cross-country moving cows).

9 year old bs APHA mare - green-broke used to move cattle and trail ride - never worn shoes

3 year old AQHA gelding - never shod

2 year old AQHA gelding - never shod

2 year old bs APHA filly - never shod

The three young ones may or may not need shoes once they start up with serious training.

 

[tshack]

All of our ranch horses if they are going to be rode, are shod with the exception to a few onery colts that are jsut ebing started. If they are pains they get to make a circle or two outside barefoot then they are shod. My old kid horse doens't get rode too often but he keeps his shoes on as he's majorly tenderfooted and it's really rocky out here. So he gets shoes reguardless.

I wish they'd make mini sized shoes as some of mine defintly need htem out here especially when they are pulling a cart.

 

[Jill]

My two biggies have really good, hard feet and go barefoot. They are an arabian x quarter horse older gelding, and a mostly morgan gelding. They are toughies!

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

Like most have said, it depends upon what you are using them for and the surface onwhich you will be riding. Most of your draft horses also need a shoeing stock when they are being done. I also have a mini that needs to waer shoes on occasion. Corinne

 

[Kendra]

We'll occasionally shoe some of our big guys, but since they're mostly just ridden moving cattle in the pasture it's not very necessary. The one that spends most of his time cutting at a trainers is shod ... until he comes home for his break, of course!

Anyone want to buy a finished cutting horse?

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I had Amira shod, every eight weeks, even when she was in foal, for the first ten years of her life. Then, due to a number of other factors, she did not get shod for two years and I trimmed her and the Minis. She never was shod again, she had hooves of steel!!! In fact I never shod any of my horses after that, except one little pony that had foundered- she, of course, needed shoes as she was in work. As with everything, each horse has to be taken individually and assessed for it's needs, and then you need to look at your terrain,carefully. I can see no reason why not, so long as, for the first month or two, constant reassessment was done.