What do you run your barrel horses in?

Please specify why or why not OR you do or dont do.  Just intrested to see.  I keep 2 front shoes on my mare year around.  She can be tenderfooted on the front but not the back.  We have lots of rocks and gravel around here so I keep the 2 front on her.

I run my main horse with rims on the front and then wide web shoes on the back.  Seems to help him maintain his footing well.

I only have shoes on when during the season.  When I'm not running him, the shoes are off. 

Good Topic

Smoothie has never had shoes on, and her feet are amazingly strong. I told him that I wanted to put shoes on her this summer since I am planning on starting to haul a lot, and he said that we shouldn't unless her feet start to get sore, however, I would hate to drive far to a show, only to have to make a decision to run or not because the ground wasn't in very good shape.

So, what do ya'll think? To shoe or not to shoe??

mostly because they weren't doing anything more strenuous than trail riding. Now that I'm actually going to do something with them, I may shoe the two I use.

Very expensive here, or maybe they charge this everywhere?  60-80 for shoes? Kansas was $40

That is what I thought as well. He seems to be a "do not mess with something that is not broke" kinda guy and while my pocketbook LOVES the idea of not shoeing, I would hate the find out that she needs shoes after she is already sore! I was definately blessed with her in the feet department though!

Iv had a couple of farriers tell me that my mare's hooves were as hard as telephone poles. Very healthy strong feet. She is still tender on rock and gravel though.  So be careful. 

I have always worn shoes on my horses, just regular rims, but last summer I pulled them off my main horse, Alamo. He hasn't missed a beat, and has improved on his times (not saying it's due to not having shoes on, but hasn't hurt him.) He does have good hard black hooves though that stay in pretty good shape with an occasional trim. I'm not against shoeing by any means, but for him it seems to work. I just need to take extra caution when I am warming up and getting into the arena.

I have St Croix Eventers on all my competition horses. I do like the barefoot idea but tryed it on a mare I brought out of retirement. She had been barefoot for years so I assumed her feet would be tough enough to handle it. Wrong, first place I took her she was sore.

In my area too many places have gravel parking and rocks in the area.

Now my filly that I'm not hauling much yet is still barefoot. I will keep her this way until I start hauling her on a regular basis.

One has rims on all 4, the other 2 have rims on front and barefoot in the back.  It costs me $50 for a full set and $25 for each with fronts only.

When I've tried barefoot all the way around, they do great in the pasture or in the wetter times of the year, but riding in the summer they get sore without shoes.

My husband is a farrier here in Texas (along the gulf coast) and he charges $70-150 for set of 4 shoes... depending on the shoe.

I'm not sure how many of you realize that shoeing actually breaks down the hoof wall and decreases the life of the hoof by up to 50%. (my husband brought that home from a clinic a few months ago on corrective shoeing).

A horse that has nice, hard hooves and hasn't been shod, and is running nice.... has no reason to be shod. My barrel horses are kept barefoot and I run in all types of arena conditions without problems. I never have to worry about loosing a shoe, and my horses almost never have any hoof problems.

My husband rasps my horses about every 14 days... and trims them about every 16 weeks (and then he is trimming VERY little). That's a little out of reach for many people that don't sleep with the farrier ( that's just an added bonus of being married to him)... but I can say that I get comments at almost EVERY competition, horse show, and even at the vets about how good my horses feet look.

My horses are also MORE surefooted barefoot than with shoes on their feet. We do have 2 horses (out of 13 riding horses and 14 mini's) kept shod. Both have rotation of the coffin bone and have to wear corrective shoes on the front only with rim pads.

I also work mounted patrol (and am required to have non skids on my horse while on the parking lots) and I use Mc Donalds horse boots. They are a heavy duty, extended wear, eazy boot type product, that is non skid, and is very easy on the hoof. They are expensive but they are cheaper in the long run than having your horse set, and reset with shoes every 6 weeks... and you can take them off when you aren't on your horse to keep the hoof strong.