# Shoes,boots or barefoot



## Diegosmom (Jul 12, 2009)

Just curious what some of you do for your horses feet. I have shoes on my boy right now and he slips alot. I tried to go barefoot once and he got an infection in one of his frogs. I'm guessing because he has been shod his whole life and then I come along and take the shoes off and he may have sensitive soles to do no exposure. I don't know. I wOuld love to go bare foot seeing that there is no really rough terrain here. But I'm scared to Seth to take him across a creek bed for fear that he will slip.


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## mildot (Oct 18, 2011)

If your horse slips, ask your farrier about studded shoes. The studs are removable for when the terrain dries up.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

mildot said:


> If your horse slips, ask your farrier about studded shoes. The studs are removable for when the terrain dries up.


I don't recommend studs or caulks for walkers. They glide those back feet in and studs would bring them to an abrupt halt which could lead to injury.

Goeing barefoot is getting to be more and more popular and will save you a small fortune in shoeing. But, it isnt for everyone or ever horse. Before going barefoot there are some things to know.

-If your horse has a medical issue, like navicular, you should talk to your vet and farrier first. Odds are shoes will help their condition.

-It can take anywhere from a few months to a 2yrs for a horses feet to get conditioned for going barefoot. If you really decide to do it, be prepared for patience.

-Get boots for your horses front feet. They help with transitioning to going barefoot. Keep those boots around even when your horse is doing well. Most are just fine on regular rock you run across on a trail but still are not comfortable on gravel. Boots will help anytime you need to go any distance down a graveled road or trail. 

-Their feet will not look pretty with any amount of riding on rough terrain due to chipping. It's not hurting them any but if looks are important to you like it is some...lets just say you wouldn't be happy.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Darrin said:


> -Their feet will not look pretty with any amount of riding on rough terrain due to chipping. It's not hurting them any but if looks are important to you like it is some...lets just say you wouldn't be happy.


LOL....our mares are all barefoot and it drives me nuts when people comment that I need to have a farrier out NOW after seeing the chipping on their hooves.


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## AQHA13 (Apr 19, 2017)

Just roll the edges, "mustang roll" style. It keeps them looking nice and stops chipping.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## mildot (Oct 18, 2011)

Darrin said:


> I don't recommend studs or caulks for walkers. They glide those back feet in and studs would bring them to an abrupt halt which could lead to injury.


I defer to you on TWHs since I know nothing about them. But for horses that walk normally (WTC) studs are a time proven fix for slippery surfaces.


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## Almond Joy (Dec 4, 2011)

Dreamer goes barefoot, however she is only ridden maybe once a week on a smooth trail, and she gets turnout in a dirt pen and sometimes is grazed.
Challenger has his front shoes, but no back shoes. He is ridden maybe once a week on the same smooth trail, turnout in dirt pen, and sometimes grazes. However, for some reason, he goes lame when he grazes too much, so he cannot be ridden now. It is not founder.. Just some odd habit he has.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

If I only rode on smooth terrain, I might go barefoot.
I ride on rocks and I used to try to do the barefoot thing. The horses did not toughen up. They just stayed slightly lame half the time. I haven't even tried to ride the mare that I use now barefoot since she was old enough to ride out on trails. I don't plan to either. The rocks here are just too hard on them.


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

I keep my walker barefooted but ride her in easyboots. I've had to repair them a couple of times.


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## BoldComic (Feb 26, 2012)

Shoes in the summer, barefoot in the snow. I have "rims" put on my horse. It helps with the slipping but they aren't as aggressive as heel-toe or studs.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

The type of rock you ride on will make a huge difference in whether shoes are needed or slippery.

Steels shoes are very slippery on granite rock. I'd rather be barfoot when crossing large granite slabs than have steel shoes on. Borium or drilltec does wonders to help prevent those shoes from slipping on granite.

Aluminum shoes are soft and really grippy on granite. They are great if you ride a lot of granite slabs. But they wear fast.

The Polyurethane plastic shoes also have good grip on granite.

On sandstone, I find my barefoot horses slipping and sliding . Steel shoes bite into the soft sandstone and give better traction than being barefoot.

Boots work, But they are expensive, You will loose the occasional boot if you bushwack thru rough tangles of trees/shrubs. In very abrasive materials like sandstone, I find the boots wear out pretty fast. If you are riding down a clear trail or gravel road, they work great.

Barefoot horses need to be trimmed on a much more frequent basis. Probably every 2-3 weeks during the riding season. If you let the hoof wall get long, it will pry back and cause pain as dirt packs into the dirt groove and white line


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## Jolly Badger (Oct 26, 2009)

Our walkers have shoes with borium, and they gait just fine. The farrier puts the borium on on-site when he puts a new set of shoes on, and he is. . .generous with it.:lol: It's nice to have for those trails that get a little more goat-y and the horses end up scrambling over boulders, up banks and sliding down greasy hills.

As I said in another thread, boots work better for some terrain types than others. If you're in an area like me be prepared to lose your boots or do a lot of dismounting and remounting to retrieve them. 

The ground is muddy almost year-round in some areas and it will just suck the boot right off the foot. But, on the very same trail, you may find yourself on good dirt footing, or gravel, or flat solid stone. 

The only people I know (locally) who do the barefoot/boot method successfully are people who only go out for an hour or two, once a week, at a dog-walk, and only if the weather is nice and the trails are all dry and clear. 

I don't doubt that some people in other regions and climates have a lot of success with the barefoot/boot methods, and I'm happy for them that it works for them in their situation.


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## Spirit Lifter (Apr 23, 2012)

Borium on the shoes keeps them from slipping on asphalt when I need to ride on the road. I prefer barefoot for 3 day trail rides I like to keep my horse protected since I don't know the trail until I get there.


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## chandra1313 (Jul 12, 2011)

My horses are barefoot all the time, I ride in creeks and I would trust their hooves over metal in some of the creeks I've been in. JMO We got a gelding whose hooves looked terrible and we noticed he was tenderfooted so we got him boots for his front hooves, which he did really well in. After about a year we stopped using the boots, and we never had to use them again. Our farrier told us it takes at least a year to get a horses hooves in shape barring any deepeer issues.


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## Spotted Image (Aug 10, 2011)

I shoe my horses, never have tired boots. But the trails I ride in vary so much, from 3 foot deeps creeks, to gravel, to rocks, to knee deep mud, all this while going up and down mountains. often times, you see other riders always back tracking looking for boots they lost. We rarely lose shoes, if put on right. We also use boruim. Have been thinking of boots while my horse heals n crack.


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## mildot (Oct 18, 2011)

chandra1313 said:


> My horses are barefoot all the time, I ride in creeks and I would trust their hooves over metal in some of the creeks I've been in.


That's what Borium is for.


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## Blaze (Apr 21, 2012)

My horse goes barefoot year round (and always have), but I don't really ride on any rough terrain and am not planning too, so shoeing isn't really a problem.


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## BellaBowes (Apr 22, 2012)

*Monty my Haflinger...*

is going through the same thing..I am determined to leave him barefoot. The poor guy had really contracted heels when I got him home in Dec 2011. so,I'm looking at Eastboot..they have new trail type boots. Hope this helps...Bella.


Diegosmom said:


> Just curious what some of you do for your horses feet. I have shoes on my boy right now and he slips alot. I tried to go barefoot once and he got an infection in one of his frogs. I'm guessing because he has been shod his whole life and then I come along and take the shoes off and he may have sensitive soles to do no exposure. I don't know. I wOuld love to go bare foot seeing that there is no really rough terrain here. But I'm scared to Seth to take him across a creek bed for fear that he will slip.


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## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

I'm keeping my girl barefoot. I'm just a backyard rider - the once in a great while trail rider. I've ridden her down our gravel road with nary a problem, but the gravel is pretty small. I do make sure I clean her feet out good when the ride is over. The trails at Prague Lake, where I ride, are pretty sandy, with a few areas of broken up sandstone. Haven't had any issues, but I'm also not ready for anything more challenging, either.


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## mildot (Oct 18, 2011)

BellaBowes said:


> is going through the same thing..I am determined to leave him barefoot. The poor guy had really contracted heels when I got him home in Dec 2011. so,I'm looking at Eastboot..they have new trail type boots. Hope this helps...Bella.


Why not just do what is best for the horse regardless of one's personal biases?

If he goes better shod, shoe him! If he goes better barefoot (which doesn't sound like it) then do that.


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## imagaitin (Apr 27, 2012)

I have a gaited Mountain Horse.

Because I live where there is much snow in the Winter, I was pulling my horse's shoes in November, and putting them back on in April. 2 years ago in April, I thought, _"Why not just leave them off?"_ So I did, and have never looked back!

My farrier said _"Even 1 nail compromises the integrity of the hoof wall, so if your horse can go shoeless, DO IT."_ I trail ride. Initially, there was quite a bit of chipping. But after the hoof that had had nail holes in it grew out, the chipping stopped. It is nice not to have to worry about him throwing a shoe! Now, after 2 years, my horse rarely needs trail boots. His feet just keep getting stronger and stronger. The boots that I used were Easy Boot Trail. They fit well, and have never come off, even when gaiting.


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## calicokatt (Mar 5, 2012)

I do all three....
3 horses have shoes, one MUST have them or be lame, two are going through equine search and rescue training and they highly encourage shoes. One of those two was barefoot for 6 years, and still needed boots for even a mildly rocky trail. 

The other 5 are happily barefoot, though there is an occasional ride that I will shoe any horse I plan to ride for. There is lots of large crushed gravel type rock that just plain LOOKS painful, and it can pop up even in the middle of a meadow, so I prefer to have that extra clearance. If I had to ride any of my horses consistently in boots, I would probably just shoe that horse, rather than keep trying to force the barefoot issue (assuming I had given the horse adequate adjustment time).


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## its lbs not miles (Sep 1, 2011)

I've always kept my unshod. I'll admit I've spent a year getting feet right before with a new horse that had always been shod (improved blood flow can be uncomfortable and hurt at times, as can the hoof suddenly being allowed to expand when it bears the weight without shoes, pulling heels back, etc....), but doesn't always take that long. I've never regretted taking the time though. End result has always been worth it.
I do a touch up about 4-6 weeks if needed, but I ride on pavement for at least part, if not most of every ride and that gives me enough wear to provide some self trim. The drawback is after a while the hoof tends to get very hard. I can start out trimming with the hoof knife as with my filly. Eventually I can only use a rasp to trim the hoof, which is the point my mare is about at now (not worth the effort to try the knife anymore). End up just using the knife to remove bar and trim frog. Of course nippers will remove hoof wall, but mine get enough wear that I never use the nippers.

I've never had a problem with slipping or a lack of traction. I guess if the day comes that I want to make demands on the feet of a new horse that hasn't yet been conditioned I'll look into boots, but conditioning has worked with my horses for over 40 years, so I'll stick with it until then.


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## MangoRoX87 (Oct 19, 2009)

I'm not ever on any super challenging trails, and I normally ride barefoot..Shoes are not an option, as alot of the have solid Red Rock, which can be a bit slippery with shoes.
Boots would definitely be something I'd like to look into...


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

Both of my horses are barefoot and have never been shod to my knowledge. Sarge has great feet and they are hard as rocks and he can pretty much go across anything with no problem. 

Biscuit's feet weren't kept up like Sarge's have always been. I have owned Sarge almost 3 years and Biscuit 18 months. Biscuit had crappy hooves when I got him - as in old abscesses and feet that had been lopped off too short, deep thrush and contracted heels. He was tender footed as all get out. He still can but his heels are near as contracted, abscesses are nearly totally gone as they were in the middle of his soles. They took forever to grow out.

I mostly rasp his feet. He actually has nice hard walls and as soon as those soles start cupping up more he won't be as tenderfooted. 

I do use Easy Boot Gloves if we are going to be in a rocky area or when I was growing out cracks. I have a pair for both horses as we have taken them to very rocky areas. I use them if needed...if not, they stay in his cantle bag.


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