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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 679
  
Location: KS | Do you pull their shoes off for winter or do you keep them on? I have heard that it's better to leave them off because ice packs more with shoes. I've also heard to leave them on as the ground gets hard. One of my mares has front shoes on and my younger one is barefoot. |
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 Tried and True
Posts: 21185
 
Location: Where I am happiest | All ours are barefoot in the winter. The ice gathering in their feet because of the shoes is FAR more dangerous then any harder ground.
Edited by ThreeCorners 2016-01-20 7:12 PM
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 Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | ThreeCorners - 2016-01-20 6:10 PM All ours are barefoot in the winter. The ice gathering in their feet because of the shoes is FAR more dangerous then any harder ground.
agree for winter, but ours are barefoot 99% of the time anyways. We had one that needed front shoes but lost him last summer to someone hitting him on the road-open range. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1131
| The mare has to stay shod year round due to her bad feet (she would be lamer than a dog if we took them off, not to mention the extra tendon damage that would occur). But we spray her feet with Pam cooking spray and no ice sticks to them. :) |
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 It's not my fault I'm perfect
Posts: 13739
Location: Where the long tails flow, ND | I typically pull shoes in the winter, however, this year I left shoes on a few. We didn't get snow forever and the ground was so hard and rutty from it being muddy before it froze, I didn't want cracks and chips to start. Got to love winter!
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 Expert
Posts: 2128
| Mine are barefoot for the winter. They get shoes back closer to spring when rodeo season really gets kicked off. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 595
Location: North Dakota | My mare will keep her shoes all year round as we are trying to correct an issue. My gelding is barefoot but doesn't compete anymore. I actually notice less ice build up in my mare than my gelding. Any ice that does build in her shoes is much easier to break free than on a barefoot horse from my experience. It also seems ice only begins to build up when they get grown out and are close to a trim/reset again. I can understand why most pull shoes. I would maybe pull my mares if she didn't need them to keep her feet going on the right track.
Edited by MidWest1452 2016-01-21 8:31 AM
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Expert
Posts: 2531
Location: WI | Usually I pull shoes for the winter. Nice break for the hooves and pocketbook! Last year, I pulled just before a horrible freeze/thaw/freeze pattern and he got too tender footed. So, I put shoes back on. Use snow pads and you'll never have a problem with snow balling up. This year he is good barefoot.
Edited by linds 2016-01-21 9:03 AM
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 Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | Barefoot year round for me. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 425
Location: California | Barefoot year round. Fortunatley my horses have been nice enough to self trim this winter... Since I am otherwise my own farrier. |
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 Life Saver
Posts: 10477
Location: MT | Barefoot year round for me too.
When we used to use shoes we always pulled them in the winter. Always felt it was important to give them a break from the shoes hanging on their laminae and it can get pretty slick on ice for them with shoes here. Plus less snowballs if they are trimmed well!
Edited by ruggedchica 2016-01-21 9:35 AM
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2937
Location: North Dakota | Red gets front shoes for lameness reasons, and hinds for traction for barrels. I always pull his shoes in the winter. He's not ridden hard so he doesn't HAVE to have them for lameness if he's not getting ridden hard. I like to give those feet a break and let the nail holes grow out. I think it is good for them to go without shoes part of the year.
Shotgun does not get shoed so he is barefoot year round.
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 Am I really the Weirdo?
Posts: 11181
Location: Kansas | I still have shoes on Clifford because I'm running him this winter and Chance is on vacation but still shod for two reasons (he can't handle being barefoot and he will come back to my place to be legged up at the end of February). My other two are barefoot right now, but I have been running them barefoot for a while anyway. Sometimes I put front shoes on Streak but he lost one and we pulled the other before their last reset so I just left him barefoot this time. |
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 The Bling Princess
Posts: 3411
Location: North Dakota | I have one with lameness issues, so he has to stay in his front shoes because he needs wedges. We add borium to the bottom to aide with traction. Because of the wedges I don't have issues with snow accumulation too bad.
The horse I'm seasoning has shoes during the season. He has great feet, however shoes have made a tremendous difference in how he turns. He likes that extra bit of traction it gives him and he is more confident to drag his butt in the turn. I pull them in the winter on him. I don't like to keep them on because it gets really slick and I don't want him short striding, while he mills around, to compensate. I think thats a great way to sore one up.
My husband's rope horse has hooves of steel and he stays barefoot year round.
The pasture ornament remains unshod year round.
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