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Discussion on Shoes in the winter?
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Member:
unity
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Posted on Wednesday, Oct 31, 2007 - 10:08 pm:
Where I live we get a fair amount of snow, and bitter cold. Ice storms in the spring are not uncommon. My farrier recommends removing shoes in the winter as he feels they can be quite dangerous - like skates on a horse.
Is it better for the horse to have shoes, or not? Can I still ride on our gravel road, or am I limited to riding in the pasture.
I would be interested to hear what others do who live in similar climates to mine.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Wednesday, Oct 31, 2007 - 10:37 pm:
Hi Mary, We have the same type winter weather as you. I prefer my horses bare foot in the winter but I don't ride much in the winter either. When I do ride I try to stay on flat non-slip ground...which is almost impossible here. If I were into winter riding I would have shoes with borium and snow pads if shoes were needed for the comfort of the horse.
I have shod horses like this in the winter and they get around very well and no snow balls with the pads.
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 1, 2007 - 12:40 am:
We USED to live in a climate like yours in the Sierra Mtns. I kept all our horses barefoot except for one or two I rode, and those were shod with snowpads and borium like Diane mentions. It worked really good. (We also used borium with no pads on horses we rode in the mtns. to keep from slipping on the granite.) The horses with out shoes did fine; I never had problems with snow balling up in their feet or with their slipping, except for once when a young colt slipped on sheer ice.(He and I both fell down!)
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Member:
canter
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 1, 2007 - 7:32 am:
My mare keeps her shoes on all year round, despite the snowy Michigan winters. As others have said, snow pads (I use the partial ring type pads, can't remember the technical term, but it allows me to clean off the soles of her feet) and borium are the way to go. She's never slipped / been injured (knock on wood) no matter how deep the snow has been or how icy it got. Fortunately, pastures here are quite flat so I would think that helps and I think most horses instinctively become more careful how they put their feet when things get slippery.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 1, 2007 - 8:06 am:
You will find my views on this subject at, Horse Care » Routine Horse Care » Winter Care for your Horse. But be sure to check out the discussions and archived discussions in that topic as you will find other discussions on caring for horses in the cold including shoeing.
DrO
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