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Veteran
Posts: 100
| I'm trying to decide what shoes to put on my mare in the rear. She runs on top of the ground, leaves hard and has bad hocks. I am unfortunately shoe ignorant and want to be sure she's got the proper shoes on to ensure I'm doing all I can for her. Thank you! |
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 Expert
Posts: 1526
  
Location: Texas | You will be more confused than you started asking that question here. I run rims on the rear on a horse that leaves hard bc if not then cant get a hold of the ground. Jmo. Everyone else will say not to bc it will make their hocks sore but we are trying to win and regardless they will get sore, I just choose for my horse to get hock sore than hurt themselves from falling. |
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 A Barrel Of Monkeys
Posts: 12972
 
Location: Texas | A race trainer friend of mine did a little experiment many years ago. They took the shoes off of winners and ran them barefoot and instead of winning by a length, they came in dead last. They put the shoes on again and they won again.
I guess what this proves to me is, I think when you start really asking your horse for all they've got, it's a good thing to shoe them (all the way around).
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Fun2Run - 2015-07-21 11:14 PM
A race trainer friend of mine did a little experiment many years ago. They took the shoes off of winners and ran them barefoot and instead of winning by a length, they came in dead last. They put the shoes on again and they won again.
I guess what this proves to me is, I think when you start really asking your horse for all they've got, it's a good thing to shoe them (all the way around).
There is one big problem with this research
You cannot pull shoes off of a horse who has been shod his entire life and expect him to be sound.
If you pull shoes off you need a transition period which can be as long as a year.
Also ground conditions change daily,
Top or bottom of ground
Jordan pederson made it to the NFR running barefoot, so it is possible |
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A Barrel Of Monkeys
Posts: 12972
Location: Texas | cheryl makofka - 2015-07-21 11:23 PM Fun2Run - 2015-07-21 11:14 PM A race trainer friend of mine did a little experiment many years ago. They took the shoes off of winners and ran them barefoot and instead of winning by a length, they came in dead last. They put the shoes on again and they won again.
I guess what this proves to me is, I think when you start really asking your horse for all they've got, it's a good thing to shoe them (all the way around).
There is one big problem with this research You cannot pull shoes off of a horse who has been shod his entire life and expect him to be sound. If you pull shoes off you need a transition period which can be as long as a year. Also ground conditions change daily, Top or bottom of ground Jordan pederson made it to the NFR running barefoot, so it is possible
Oh I agree, it is possible, and I've had a few horses who did fine without shoes. Out of the 8 at our house now, one can run barefoot.
I didn't ask how long the horses had been barefoot. I assumed a month or more, but I will ask. |
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 Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | Have you ever tried NO shoes on the back? If you are already dealing with bad hocks you don't want any extra grab. |
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Sock Snob
Posts: 3021
| Something else to,think of thr kinda ground you run in sand, hard, and how the horse turns if he gets in the ground. My mare had to put reg shoes so,she could have give. She would turn so hard that she would move her shoes if i had a big weekend show. |
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Expert
Posts: 1280
Location: Texas | I started shoeing only the front on my 17 yr old that requires maintenance on his hocks. He's doing great. The fronts are 2 degree aluminum wedges prescribed by vet & farrier for a very slight foot pain problem ("slight navicular changes"). Works very well for him. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 669
Location: Central Texas | Of course all horses are different and the process of trying to find out what works can be tedious. I have run horses both ways, back shoes and barefoot. My one and only experience with rims shoes on the back ended with the retirement of my horse. She had some minor hocks issues that were pretty much maintained until I started running in rims. She came up sore all the time and it really wasn't worth repeated hock injections to keep her running. I am sure she would have gotten sore enough in the hocks without the rims but I absolutely feel in her case that it was a major factor in it happening a lot sooner. If I put shoes on the back, I do not use rims. This is just my personal preference based on the experience I have with one horse. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 628
Location: Missouri | My mare is a digger and leaves the barrels super hard and I have actually had instances where she will get "stuck" running out of a barrel. Now she is 14 and requires yearly hock injections, I have only been doing them since last year, and I decided to put "spikes" on her hind shoes. As someone stated before, I am going out to win. I don't run her at every tiny little show in God's green acre, she only goes to big shows. The "spikes" really help her grab the ground running out of her barrels.
My only suggestion is that you do your homework and talk to a farrier who really knows his stuff. I had an excellent farrier who sat down and watched videos of how my horse worked and we talked and did our research before we made such a drastic change.
Good luck!!!  |
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 Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | After reading this now I am confused. I had a mare that was a little hock sore and my vet told me to put back shoes on her, because bare feet had more grab then shoes... and more traction would strain the hocks....   |
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 I Want a "MAN"
Posts: 3610
Location: MD | My vet prefers shoes on hinds especially for a horse with sore hocks. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 639
Location: God's country...aka TEXAS | My husband is a farrier specializing in barrel horses. Yes, as above mentioned rims will make a horse hock sore so he will not put those on back. He uses either an EZ made by St Croix or an SX7 by Kerkhart. Both are for top of the ground runners and will not make one sore. The SX7 has a little wider web to help support more of the hoof wall. Both work great. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 629
| We put 2 degree wedged aluminums on the back for my mare with hock sore tendencies. She's been doing great with them! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 883
Location: Southern Indiana | Just a plain lite steel shoe works best |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | I shoe fronts, no hinds right now. My gelding is having "behavior" issues and won't pick up the hinds....but if he did, I would shoe all the way around. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| hoofs_in_motion - 2015-07-22 8:05 AM
I shoe fronts, no hinds right now. My gelding is having "behavior" issues and won't pick up the hinds....but if he did, I would shoe all the way around.
Have you had his hocks checked.
I had one with behaviour issues on his hinds, finally xrayed, his hocks were shot. |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | I have two horses that actually did better once I pulled back shoes, and my mare clocks the same even if she's completely barefoot. She had already been running without hinds for over a year when she pulled a front shoe and ripped hoof with it. I kept her barefoot until it grew out and she was never lame and went back to running barrels as soon as enough had grown out that I didn't think she would chip more. This was back in like March and I still haven't put shoes on her. Her hooves are much healthier.
I know not everyone can just pull shoes and go barefoot, I have a gelding that I WISH I could do that with but I think he'd be just about crippled if I did. |
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Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | cheryl makofka - 2015-07-22 8:47 AM hoofs_in_motion - 2015-07-22 8:05 AM I shoe fronts, no hinds right now. My gelding is having "behavior" issues and won't pick up the hinds....but if he did, I would shoe all the way around. Have you had his hocks checked. I had one with behaviour issues on his hinds, finally xrayed, his hocks were shot.
Vet said it's because he is still a colt and was never really messed with until they broke him out in the feed lot....he's only ever had front shoes on. She didn't think it was hocks. |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | Both of mine run in fronts only right now. Lucy ran barefoot all year and I was so heartbroken to put shoes back on her front feet, but we have had so much rain in May and June that she needed them back on.
Bunny ran on fronts only all last year and did really well. She gets her hocks injected frequently. We put back shoes on her early this year to see if it would help with anything and I didn't notice any change, if anything she hasn't had the year I anticipated. and it didnt reduce any amount of injections she's needed either. I had them pulled a week ago and will run her on the 25th back in fronts only. She doesn't like grab on the back and doesn't like deep ground, so I can see in theory if the shoes are hanging her up in her turns that she would bail out of them. I am not sure. Lots of people swear to shoe all the way around.
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 Sorry I don't have any advice
Posts: 1975
Location: Sunnyland Florida |
This hasn't been mentioned yet, so I'll throw this food for thought out there:
For quite a few years I've heard horse chiropractors and a few great vets say that if you're going to shoe at all, shoe all 4. The reason is that when you only shoe the front, you elevate the front and the spine is out of whack. Long & Short-term, this supposedly can cause all kinds of problems. Well, it made perfect sense to me and I've only shod all-around for many years.
I leave the young ones I'm patterning barefoot as long as I can, then shoe them all around when they start competing.
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 Veteran
Posts: 251
Location: Oregon | I might be the only crazy one here! And my horse runs differently, she rates and drags her inside her inside hip when she turns. I will ride her in the winter with just front shoes but during the spring/summer I put a “mini” slider on her hind. My farrier takes a regular plate and then makes trailers off the back end. It gives her enough grip to run but not so much that she is ripping up her hocks. She is one that gets hock injected so I’m careful to not add to much friction to them. |
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Veteran
Posts: 100
| Thank you for everyone's input, I definitely have a lot to think about now! Lol. I am meeting with my vet and farrier next week and now have good questions to ask. Thanks again! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 617
Location: London Ontario | Also remember if they are slightly built down hill back shoes will make it worse... |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 494
| IF I shoes one it's only the front shoes. I do believe that hind shoes can have too much grip for some horses. I sent my mare off with an NFR girl to use for a month. I told her-Keep her barefoot on back (before I got her she had shoes on all 4 but I transitioned to 2). Horse placed at rodeos, but did not have her normal caliber going on. Well long story short, horse comes home with all 4 feet shod of course. Ripped those suckers off the hind end and took her to the next large barrel race about 2 wks later. Won by .3 and set an arena record with well known people running. On my other mare that has had shoes on her whole life and is an extremely LOW, get down and turn. The type that you absolutely cannot run on any hard ground. Pulled all her shoes and she is still a butt draggin machine. |
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Expert
Posts: 4121
Location: SE Louisiana | Runaway - 2015-07-22 9:22 AM
This hasn't been mentioned yet, so I'll throw this food for thought out there:
For quite a few years I've heard horse chiropractors and a few great vets say that if you're going to shoe at all, shoe all 4. The reason is that when you only shoe the front, you elevate the front and the spine is out of whack. Long & Short-term, this supposedly can cause all kinds of problems. Well, it made perfect sense to me and I've only shod all-around for many years.
I leave the young ones I'm patterning barefoot as long as I can, then shoe them all around when they start competing.
If you're not shoing the back feet, you should not be cutting them as short as you would if you Were putting on shoes. That should compensate. |
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Rear shoes -explain please!