Gun Dog Forum

Ok, about 2months ago, I bought a green (barely) broke gaited mare. Since we have had her she has a split in her hoof. It seems to be mostly a surface crack that stops before the corronet band, I have been treating it with hoof conditioner and it is growing out slowly but surely.

We have several appaloosas and a couple quarter horses, and other than a few odds and ends we have very few hoof problems.

Due to the way they move is it common for gaited horses to have hoof issues?

Jim

We had Quarter horses when the kids were in 4H, and I have had many gaited horses for the last 40 years. I have not noticed any difference.

If you can still find this stuff its the best http://stablemade.com/hproducts/products/reducine.htm other than homemade remidies. Find a farrier that shoes gaited horses also

TN Red:

What is the difference in shoeing a gaited horse than others? How common are problems? I do know the type of shoe on a 3 gaited American Saddle bred shoe is weird. (Step Daughter rides them in show)

Do TWH and MFT have an odd way of moving that puts more stress on the foot?

Thanks,
Rick

My walkers are not trimmed or shod any differently than any other horse in the barn. Regular keg shoes (with clips). My horse is more comfortable with front shoes, but can be ridden without shoes, and spends the winters barefoot. My husband's horse spends the winters with just front shoes, but requires all 4 shoes during the summer & riding season as his feet are softer and tend to crack.

Same pasture, same diet...different genetics.

Rick i like a gaited farrier but thats just me.Some one who knows the gaits & how to make little changes here & there like the angle of the hoof,break over point,if a horse travels wide behind,a little pacey or square they can help & save stress on the limbs.As Karen said every horse is different ,some a diet or supplement change will solve the problem others need to be shod a different way to solve the problem.As far as hoof & leg problems i think walkers have far less stress on the joints & tendons as we have horses well into their 20s still showing & winning on a national level.
If your daughter shows ASB they are some of the best horsemen on problem solving ive ever been around they are true horsemen & women with a wealth of insight on gaits because the train in 5 differnt gaits.

Thanks Red and Karen:

Do color of hooves have and affect on strength or flexiblity of the hoof/

I go watch my step daughter ride but we do not own the horse. Just lease it.

I hope to in the next couple years have a trail and trial horse.

Thanks for the info.
Rick

I've heard black hooves are stronger, but that's not been my experience. My horse has 3 white, 1 black foot and all seem the same strength. My husband's horse has 4 black feet and they don't compare to my horse's. Again, I think it really is genetics.

Thanks Karen.
Rick

We've never had gated horses but we had Quarter horses. One of the things we did to keep their hoves pliable was to made them walk thru a mud puddle to get to water. We had one that was thin walled and if we didn't keep them pliable, they wouls crack.

Black feet are tougher(the majority of the time). If your horse is having problems with cracked feet, be sure to put some type of hoof heal or turpentine type product of them regularly. IMO, gaited horses feet have different needs than a QH because of the way they move. If you watch the way they move, there is a big difference b/t a gaited and non gaited horse. I don't believe that they are more prone to feet problems though.

You don't need shoes. Sorry to pee on everyone else's parade. My two have been ridden just about everywhere the last couple fo years and no ill-effects. My mare is just naturally smooth and my gelding is a run-walking machine. Their feet are better for it.

Do your homework.

Buckeye_V wrote:You don't need shoes. Sorry to pee on everyone else's parade. My two have been ridden just about everywhere the last couple fo years and no ill-effects. My mare is just naturally smooth and my gelding is a run-walking machine. Their feet are better for it.

Do your homework.

Some horses don't need shoes but if you ride 3 days a week in Nevada it might be a good idea to put some on

Buckeye_V wrote:You don't need shoes. Sorry to pee on everyone else's parade. My two have been ridden just about everywhere the last couple fo years and no ill-effects. My mare is just naturally smooth and my gelding is a run-walking machine. Their feet are better for it.

Do your homework.

Takes more than 2 years to do homework.You've just been lucky

Maybe so, but I've ridden all over the place and shoes just haven't been helpful or needed. Their feet are solid and well cared for.

Like I said, do your homework. If I do need shoes it will only ever be temporary - to fix an issue.

Even my farrier does not believe in shodding horses un-necessarily.

But hey, thats just me and thats just you - so do what is right for your horses.

Justin

Report this postReply with quoteRe: gaited horses more likely to have foot/hoof problems?
by Buckeye_V » Tue Oct 04, 2011 2:51 pm

You don't need shoes. Sorry to pee on everyone else's parade
Like I said, do your homework.

So tell me about this homework.

Why do all horses need shoes on all day every day?

They dont never said all horses did,if im only going to use one a few hours a week i see no need in shoes most of the time.I have saw problems from being rode too much bare foot.Im wondering what your insight is that makes you say i need to look into the benifits of not using shoes?

My point is why where them all of the time? No need.

90% of people really don't need shoes. If you feed a good feed, keep them trimmed correctly and check to make sure the feet are good - then go barefoot. My horses have been ridden in the sands of GA, the rocky hills of NE/SD/WY, the rolling hills of West TN, Michigan, rocky PA, hilly and rocky OH, VA, MD, flint hills of MO all with no problems. The very rarely chip, they have never cracked and they have never had sore feet.

I could keep going if you like. Like, how the anatomy of a foot and hoof actually work and a metal plate nailed or hot sealed to it works against that purpose - you know the purpose mother nature intended it for.

My horses have been trimmed and shoed by 5 different ferriers until I settled on one who actually cares about my horses feet and not his shoeing business.

I asked lots and lots and lots of questions and I read lots of material and I TRIED different things until i found what worked for me and my horses. I am just telling Jimbo to do the same. You don't need the shoes.

Justin

Back to Jimbo's question, we have a TWH gelding with cracks in his front hooves which sound similar to your mare.

Our farrier said that it's from standing in a wet pasture and having his feet expand and contract from the moisture and then the drying process. He has also said that we MUST keep shoes on Quinn's front feet until the cracks grow out or they will be more serious than just surface cracks.

Quinn has been trimmed every 6-8 weeks for the nearly 2 1/2 years we've had him. We've kept shoes on all 4 feet during riding season, and on the fronts in the winter. Because his pasture didn't change until recently, the cracks haven't grown out.

Since moving to a new barn 2 months ago we've received 20 inches of rain (yes, 20 inches in 2 months), so the pasture quality hasn't been a whole lot better than the previous barn, although we hope it improves once we go a few days without rain.

When we purchased Quinn we were warned that he fly stomps so much that, without shoes, his feet crumble. His previous owner was told the same thing, did not heed the warning, and was without a horse for 6 months while his front feet grew back. We can't afford to be without a horse so we keep him shod.

Maybe my horse is part of the 10% that requires shoes.

yup.

Why do you shoe him during riding season? For the horse or for you? Just curious.

I undertsnad some horses need recuperative shoe-ing. However, a normal riding horse does not need shod all of the time and most horse horses can get away without any shoes IF their diet and environment are correct.

That is what I am saying. Just do your thing.

Justin

Buckeye_V wrote:My point is why where them all of the time? No need.

90% of people really don't need shoes. If you feed a good feed, keep them trimmed correctly and check to make sure the feet are good - then go barefoot. My horses have been ridden in the sands of GA, the rocky hills of NE/SD/WY, the rolling hills of West TN, Michigan, rocky PA, hilly and rocky OH, VA, MD, flint hills of MO all with no problems. The very rarely chip, they have never cracked and they have never had sore feet.

I could keep going if you like. Like, how the anatomy of a foot and hoof actually work and a metal plate nailed or hot sealed to it works against that purpose - you know the purpose mother nature intended it for.

My horses have been trimmed and shoed by 5 different ferriers until I settled on one who actually cares about my horses feet and not his shoeing business.

I asked lots and lots and lots of questions and I read lots of material and I TRIED different things until i found what worked for me and my horses. I am just telling Jimbo to do the same. You don't need the shoes.

Justin

Your right on with the anatomy of the foot thats why i try to protect the coffin bone anyway i can.Mother nature only made the horse we domesticated & changed it over time.All i can tell you is if it works for you do it dont mean it'll work on everyones animal.Id say i've saw alot of differnt ways of doing things but any farrier that tells me 90% of my horses dont need shoes had better not say"well ive never seen that happen before when one abcesses or gravels" .If you think your horses are fine barefoot great many are but it dang sure isnt the only way.

Never said it was. I told the guy to do his homework and make the right decision for he and his horses. I did and am completely happy with it. Those that I know who have gone the barefoot route have never looked back and we all put LOTS of miles on our horses.

Cheers!

Justin

Jimbo good luck with your horse if you want to try it this stuff works ok http://www.lifedatalabs.com/index.php?a ... th&lang=us back in the day when folks depended on a horse everyday they fed plain unflavored gelatin & just used pine tar on their hoofs which in all honesty is as good i think.Good luck getting it fixed before winter gets here

Ok so this is an ancient post but think about it ....if your feet are in bad shape maybe it's the diet? If you don't give the right mineral they can't grow healthy feet no matter what they stand in, or how you shoe them.