Attitude of Kindness If you drop a plumb line down the center of the side of the horse's leg, the bottom of the plumb line should fall just behind the heel of the shoe. A bar shoe limits that expansion even more than a regular, open-heeled shoe. I take off my nikes and show my sweaty smelly feet. If you look straight down the back of your horse's leg, you should see a tiny, shiny rim of shoe showing where it curves around at the heels. Pete Ramey came up with a trim strategy for getting horses out of shoes and back to work (see Flares page). He can never take them off and get comfortable after a long day. He is now is able to do the "first trim" in a way that nearly every horse he pulls the shoes off of can go to work within a few days. A horse's feet keep growing till age 5, when he reaches his full adult weight. With this in mind, consider hiring a farrier to trim and put shoes on a horse that is having soreness issues in its hooves. Obviously, there’s a limit to this, but I think it’s a good idea that the shoe be the largest size as is practicable, to give as big a base as possible. In addition, I think that the branches of the shoe should be placed as far back as possible, without being so far back that the horse steps on them and pulls the shoe off. First off, this clip-on thing doesn't look like a good option because it's too likely to fall off. ... O’Grady mentions several different pads and shoes you might consider for these horses. Eliminating transition soreness. I wouldn't want to lose a $100 shoe after one gallop. Even though I always try to use high nails that will minimize damage if the shoe comes off, every hole still weakens the hoof wall to some extent. Whether your horses wear shoes or are barefoot is a decision … There are a wide variety of pads that are made for horses … These horses almost always are stall-bound. Square up the horse on a level surface. When shoes are put on a young horse, the coffin (pedal) bone cannot grow to its full width, therefore the foot will be too small to carry the horse's weight, and is often contracted. A horse that is having shoes put on will have their hooves trimmed differently than a horse that is going without shoes. Back light silhouette of a woman resting with feet taking off shoes on a couch at home with a window in the background Tired woman taking off shoes at office. Horses that are mostly just pets hanging around on the farm might be less likely to wear a shoe, but other variables would have to be examined to decide if the horse is better off with a shoe. love taking my shoes off! The less obvious form of abuse (yes, I’m going to call it that), is the Plantation Shoe. Closeup view The bar portion at the back of the hoof is easy for the horse to catch with a hind hoof and makes it more likely to come off. 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