Beginner Shoeing

My horse gets new shoes considerably more often than I do. Why? Because she wears them out. But horses in the wild don't have shoes, why does yours need them? Well, there's a couple reasons for that. Horses hooves continually grow -- much like your finger nails; in the wild, they wear out at about the same rate as they grow while the horse wanders around grazing. In a domestic environment though, a horse who's ridden is required to carry more than their natural weight (tack and rider!), and work on non-hoof-friendly surfaces than they would in the wild and so their hooves get worn faster. The other issue is that in the wild evolution kicks in and over time, horses with stronger feet are going to survive. People, however, have focused breeding on other traits (such as speed) leaving some breeds with less than ideal hooves. We put shoes on to counteract this issue. Shoes also allow us to add studs for traction when necessary. Note that shoes are *not* necessary for all horses. Some, particularly sturdy ponies, can go barefoot their whole lives.

Ok short version. Why shoe?

• Protection: work on hard surfaces will wear the hoof faster than it can grow.
  
• Traction: shoes with corks can help prevent slipping, esp on slippery surfaces.
  
• Improving Movement: changing the weight, shape, balance of the shoe can significantly alter the horse's movement.
  Soundness: horses with issues such as laminitis or navicular can be helped by special shoes.
  

If your horse needs shoes, you need to know about them! They'll need to be reset or replaced every 5-8 weeks. Resetting is when they take the shoes off, trim the hooves, and put the same shoes back on. You can usually do this once, sometimes twice, before new shoes are needed.

So how do you know when your horse needs the farrier?

• Regular appointment time - your horse should be on a regular schedule, usually once somewhere between 5 and 8 weeks.
  
• Missing, thin, bent or twisted shoe - particularly in the case of a bent or twisted shoe call the farrier right away as that can cause problems with their legs (by stressing tendons, ligaments, etc) and their feet (bruised sole).
  
• Shoe is loose - you'll hear a noticeable clicking sound when the horse walks and can wiggle or move the shoe.
  
• Toes are long - you can see this by looking; the toe seems to grow past the shoe. If they're really long the horse will start to trip as he travels.
  
• If the shoe rests on the soul of the foot.

And because I know how much you really want something to memorize... The parts of the shoe:



Not noted here but worth being aware of are clips. Clips stick up either one at the toe, or two - one on either side (think 10 and 2 position). These are called, not surprisingly, toe or quarter clips, and are used particularly for horses involved in high-impact sports, to stop the shoe from twisting or shifting.