Why does a horse need shoes?

[Goldenstar]

Originally Posted by tallyho!

Seems ideal Goldenstar. I agree, that it would be difficult to give some horses a break given various issues like weight gain, not enough roaming space etc.

What does everyone think about the paddock paradise track system thing? I wish I could do it here... Not possible so we use muzzles to control calorie intake.

That's why I am trying to crack this on off system so I can tick fat boy over without shoes then shoe for his proper job ( I think it's too risky to expect OH to embrace this) .
Tracking systems sound great and I could build a great one here but my chances of selling this to OH are slim .
So I stable during the day and work tbh I have always stables the hunters during the day when resting as we have terrible flys.

[Miss L Toe]

Originally Posted by Goldenstar

I totally aggree the farrier regulation acts mainly to protect the farriers buisness not the horses welfare or else something would be done by the truly terrible shoes I see at every show I go to.

It's not always the farrier to blame, I have seen people who only call the farrier when the shoes are falling of, in fact when most have fallen off, I don't know why they shoe, but presumably they can't afford a new set of shoes every six weeks.

[Goldenstar]

Originally Posted by Miss L Toe

It's not always the farrier to blame, I have seen people who only call the farrier when the shoes are falling of, in fact when most have fallen off, I don't know why they shoe, but presumably they can't afford a new set of shoes every six weeks.

Very true it is not always the farrier.

[tallyho!]

Originally Posted by amandap

I have had a grass one and loved it. Sadly it's too wet here until I can afford to put a road up the nearside of the fields.

Here's a seriously high tech system in Austria. How are those feeding arrangements for calorie control?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uu7f...ature=youtu.be

Are those British horses? They seem to have the art of queuing for the bar well well rehearsed!!

[Goldenstar]

amandap I am saving that to show my OH at the weekend he will choke on his G and T.

[scribble]

my farrier is great and trims properly, however my mare has fronts on now. I have had horses in the past and most have been barefoot and been fine. My mare is a 16.3 wb whose workload has increased now she is 5 and also was very footy on the roads/hacking and slipped on grass to the extent that she fell over 3 times with me on her. she looses her confidence when this happens so she had fornts put on. Her feet are great in terms of condition etc and she has all the normal stuff in her diet. Just that without shoes she is footsore and slippery and wears her feet down due to workload. She didnt have them on last year and went round Gt Witchenham up to a good 3ft high, dressage, hunter trialed etc.