A post about shoes for SprinklerBandit.

Izzy and her momma over at SprinklerBandit are having some thoughts about feet. So, why dont I tell you guys about my horses and why/why not they are/are not shod? Here goes..


I have both shod horses and barefoot horses.

Missy is 24, and a barrel racer. She has shoes. This is because:

1. Every single barrel racer that I've ever known or heard of has been shod. That's just how it is.
2. Missy's feet are WAY less ouchy when she's wearing shoes. Because of the gravel driveway and parking area that we have to walk over to get to the outdoor arena, if Missy walked over it minus the shoes I swear to God she'd be dead lame by the time we got halfway across it. Shoes = help her not hurt her feets.
3. She runs barrels in a dirt arena and rarely works on pure grass. Pure grass + shoes = slippery, and dirt arena + shoes = more grip, so it's all cool.

Chief is 4, and being trained for western pleasure. He wears shoes. This is because:

1. He doesn't exactly know where to put his feet yet. When we're working in the dirt arena, he trips a lot when he's barefoot. So, shoes make sure Mr. Unsteady doesn't trip and kill himself. Because if any horse can, he can.
2. Just as Missy's mainly worked in a dirt arena, so is Chief. And right now one of the things we're working on is slowing down and speeding up his canter, and turning sharply. So it'd be nice if he didn't slip and fall down. Shoes help him grip things.
3. Though he has naturally fairly good feet, I'd like to preserve that good quality foot for now. Since the barn has TONS of random shit that they could step on, shoes are a good way to help reduce the possibility that he's going to step on something or knock his foot against something and split it open.

Grinder is 6, and being trained in general for riding still. Heh, a little late I know. He's barefoot, because:

1. He's not used as much as the others, so he's turned out way more. If he had shoes on he could slip easily.
2. When he's worked, he's worked in the round pen. He doesn't really need a lot more grip in there.
3. He has REALLY, MAJORLY good feet. Like, unbelievably good feet. Shoes aren't necessary.

Miss T is 5, and being trained as a pleasure/barrel racing horse. She's barefoot. Why? Because:

1. She has good feet, too. She's trimmed once every 7 weeks and has been shod once in her entire life, and that was when she was being taken out on rough trails a lot.
2. She's worked hard rarely, and NEVER in dirt. Usually on grass. Grass + shoes = not cool, as I said before.

My general take on shoes is that if a horse doesn't NEED them, don't USE them. I'm not a barefoot nut and I'm not addicted to shoes. SprinklerBandit, I think you should keep Izzy in shoes. If she's going to be working hard on various surfaces, shoes are the way to go. Just don't forget that if you're going to use shoes on her, you HAVE to check the shoes after every time you ride. If I didn't have that habit, I wouldn't have noticed at County Fair that Missy threw a shoe after one of her classes, and if I hadn't noticed that I would've kept walking her on gravel. And she would've been dead lame. Checking that your horse's shoes are still there after every ride and trailering is a good habit to have.

By the way, shout out to my twin for riding in the dark with  me last night. I rode Chief in just a halter and reins and she did the same with Missy. Chief acted like an absolute angel and I'm loving him more and more every day.

And, of course, Missy's still the best horse out there.