# driving with or without shoes



## timinogue (Nov 3, 2009)

hi
more questions,sorry
l drive my shettland without shoes,she's never had shoes on.
but there are a few of us that want to do further pleasure driving in the summer.there horses have shoes on.
Been looking on the internet what are these glue shoes,or is there any thing else that l could put on her.as l really didnt want to go down the line of having her shod.(or am l doing wrong)
sorry if l sound or mixed not used to posting very often 

thanks for listening

paula


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## jemmamalone (Feb 4, 2009)

Does your shetland need shoes on?
you mentioned she never had shoes on.. so if she doesnt need them then dont put them on her. 
Every horse is different so even if all the other horses have shoes on.. if your horses doesnt need them dont waste your money. Plus it will be hard for her to adjust


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## 3neighs (Jul 15, 2008)

What type of terrain do you drive on? When we had a shetland we did all of our driving on the roads and I felt he should have shoes on because of how quickly his hooves would wear down. Same with my arab that doesn't drive, but I do a lot of road riding. I shod both of them with plastic shoes.


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## CheyAut (Nov 26, 2008)

Neither my riding nor driving horses have shoes, except fronts on my TB because he wears his hooves down too quickly even not being ridden. I wouldn't worry about it!


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## lillie (Oct 26, 2009)

i wouldnt worry about it either; i would ask the farrier when he comes to trim, or just keep check on the wear, if you do it yourself.


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## AlmagroN (Jul 19, 2009)

i think it depends on the horse. i would just keep an eye on any soreness or change in the hooves.

as for the glue shoes, we have used them on horses who just cant handle wearing regular shoes because of their feet. some horses just sore footed with shoes, or some have really bad walls and cant keep a shoe on, and all it does is wreck up the hooves more with them coming off all the time. 

glue shoes are really nice, but theyre very expencive to have put on. and not all farriers do it. its a long process to get them on.


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## barefoothooves (Sep 6, 2007)

You could also try hoof boots for the times you want to drive longer than usual, on contrete, etc, and take them off when not driving. The added bonus is no holes in the hoof wall for fungus to creep in, less concussion than metal shoes, and the durability of the boots over time, compatred to plastic shoes, plus the advantage of the pony being bare the rest of the time (which is better for hooves than shoes OR boots for down time).

If your pony is not already showing signs of needing any protection, I don't know that I'd even bother with the boots, however, they are handy as back ups, and you don't need your farrier out to apply them if you finally DO need them.


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## timinogue (Nov 3, 2009)

*many thanks*

*many thanks for your replies,l dont think l'll bother for a while.*
*as her feet seem fine,*
*they dont seem to bother when we're on the road,and copes really well l dont want to soil that*
*love *
*paula and buttercup:lol:*


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