Thinking of removing back shoes :-s

Sol_Gemma

Sol_Gemma

spring break!
Aug 3, 2006
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Hi, i have a 26 year old TB gelding who seems very happy living out at the moment (crazy thing) and due to the fact he is not ridden more than once a month at the moment, and it will stay that way till at least April, plus the credit crunch :rolleyes:i was thinking of removing his back shoes next time the farrier comes and just keep front on. I thought his back hooves could harden up over winter and would be ok for light hacking in the spring/summer. He has good hard feet with no problems so can anyone confirm this would be ok? Currently he is shod every 8 weeks, so perhaps i could stick to that but have the farrier check him in between to make sure the back hooves are ok? (farrier comes every 2 weeks) Thanks :)
 
Go for it! I've had my 13yo boy's removed - on the advice of my farrier - and he is coping just fine. If your boy is only being ridden once a month, I am sure he will take it all in his stride (pardon the pun!! :p)
 
When I turned my lad away last winter, my farrier told me he had awful TB feet and would be "lame as a dog", but grudgingly booked me in to have his back shoes off, since he wouldn't be ridden for six months.
I turned up to find that his apprentice had actually taken off all his shoes, so I decided to see how he went, and have him shod in front again if he looked sore.

We had no bother, and almost a year later, he's barefoot for riding as well now (but needs hoofboots, as he's a bit footy on very rough or stony ground).
 
Do it. Although Winter is so wet that you may find his back hooves wont harden as much as you think. I took Captains off in the Winter and he was footy in the Summer on his fronts. But seems to be coping well at the moment with all this mud and rain.

You can easy just put them back on if it doesnt work out...:)
 
Having had a chat with Clava and Forestgump today I will probably go ahead with having Joy's backs removed and see how we go.

I have been toying with the idea for a while and am that close to making a decision :p
 
Give it a go, I had my cob's back shoes removed about 4 months ago after he had been shod on all 4 feet for at least 4 years and I havent looked back, his hind feet are in great nick, I just keep the fronts on as I do a teeny about of road work with him (this is increasing in the last 3 weeks) and he has road nails fitted to the fronts.
Cheaper too ! :)
 
M had back shoes removed on Thursday, he is not footsore at all i cant believe it! The path from his field to the yard is quite stoney anyway but has new gravel put on and there is no difference in him at all. My mare was not shod and really sore when i got her so im really amazed they are so different :p

Thanks for advice everyone :cool:
 
I took mine's back shoes off about a year ago. Amid much trepidation about what might happen. What happened? Nothing. He's been absolutely fine. As others have said, you can always put the shoes back on if it doesn't work.
 
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