Moderately clubbed foot-to shoe or not to shoe?

[redsoxluvr]

The rookie has a clubby-ish foot. He was barefoot when I got him, and is shod now. He is having a hard time keeping shoes on the other (non club) foot. Experiences? He's too old for check ligament surgery.

[kande50]

The rookie has a clubby-ish foot. He was barefoot when I got him, and is shod now. He is having a hard time keeping shoes on the other (non club) foot. Experiences? He's too old for check ligament surgery.

That's the #1 reason my club footed horse isn't shod, because I doubt very much that I could keep shoes on his fronts unless I kept him stalled, and even then I'm not sure I could. His shoes would have to be fitted very tight, which would compromise the support at the back of the hoof, and then I wouldn't be able to keep the heels down on the club once he was shod.

[lorilu]

Is he pulling them off, or jsut losing them die to hoof quality?

[redsoxluvr]

He's just flinging them off. His hoof quality is pretty decent, all things considered.

Of course, as luck would have it my attempts to remove his remaining shoe today were completely futile.
Why is it that shoes come off willy nilly when you want them to stay on, but when you want to remove them you
can't get them off whatsoever?

[Rhianon]

Why is it that shoes come off willy nilly when you want them to stay on, but when you want to remove them you
can't get them off whatsoever?

Find the answer to this and you can then solve all the world's problems.

[Perilous]

If he is comfortable without shoes, I would go that way. Obviously, he wants to be half-barefoot anyways.

[kande50]

Why is it that shoes come off willy nilly when you want them to stay on, but when you want to remove them you
can't get them off whatsoever?

I don't think they can fling a shoe off, nor can mud suck them off, but they do step on them, pull them, and then send the shoe flying sometimes. But unless they get the toe of the hind between the branches and pull the shoe off evenly, it'll be bent where they stepped on one heel.

Because the bend in the clinch is inside the wall, and if they pull one side of a shoe it puts tension on the other clinches so they're hard to get to to either rasp off or straighten.

[angela9823]

Why is it that shoes come off willy nilly when you want them to stay on, but when you want to remove them you
can't get them off whatsoever?

I don't think they can fling a shoe off, nor can mud suck them off,

Sure they can! My mare pulled hers off in the mud all the time. I blame it on the person putting it on. That same farrier had a horse walk through the barn at a place I was trimming and literally you could hear the loose shoes. They were just falling off because of his application of the nails. Made it nice for me pulling them completely off. If the hoof quality is also poor, there isn't enough grip to hold the nail on and they very easily come off without being stepped on. Why do you think clips are so popular on those kind of feet?

[kande50]

Sure they can! My mare pulled hers off in the mud all the time.

I think what happens though, is that another hoof slips and ends up on the shoe and pulls it off.

Why do you think clips are so popular on those kind of feet?

Because they stabilize the shoe so it doesn't move as much and loosen the nails. I've nailed a lot of shoes on, often with just 5 nails, and then rasped the clinches flush, and never had a horse just fling one off. It's the reason clips are such a risk, because even when a horse steps on a heel and pulls the nails out the shoe will often still stay on with just a couple nails on one side, but cockeyed, which can set up the horse to step on the clip.

[angela9823]

Sure they can! My mare pulled hers off in the mud all the time.

I think what happens though, is that another hoof slips and ends up on the shoe and pulls it off.

I've stepped in same mud that can take a tight fitting boot off a person though. It wouldn't be hard to believe a shoe could be ripped off in the same exact mud. If it were just stepping on a shoe, how do you explain a hind shoe being lost? That is the shoe my mare would lose. It happened to be the same hoof that had a quarter crack.

I've taken off many a shoe - some just come off with one slight tug. Others you fight the entire way. The horse I was discussing that already had loose shoes was done by the same farrier that shod my mare. It is nothing to take his shoes off. It is his technique.

[Chisamba]

I prefer to not shoe if the horse can be barefoot, because one can take a little off the hoof with a rasp weekly, so that the high low syndrome is not as exaggerated over the six week period it takes before the horse is redone in shoes. i am not a farrier but if your farrier does a good trim, you can just keep it up by rasping a little each week.

it worked well for me

[kande50]

If it were just stepping on a shoe, how do you explain a hind shoe being lost?

Haven't you ever had a horse step sideways and catch the edge of the opposite shoe and loosen or pull it?

I've taken off many a shoe - some just come off with one slight tug. Others you fight the entire way. The horse I was discussing that already had loose shoes was done by the same farrier that shod my mare. It is nothing to take his shoes off. It is his technique.

Most consider it a good thing for the clinches to be weak enough so that if the shoe gets pulled the clinches will pull out without taking the hoof wall with it. In fact, it's considered a bad thing for the horse to be shod tight with 8 nails with thick clinches. The shoe may stay on better, but not only is there inadequate support for the hoof, but if the shoe does get yanked it pulls out more hoof with it.

The farrier who had trouble with loose shoes may have had trouble leveling the hoof, and then the shoe rocked slightly and loosened the nails?

[angela9823]

Haven't you ever had a horse step sideways and catch the edge of the opposite shoe and loosen or pull it?

Actually, no. I never have. That was my only horse that ever lost shoes. I rarely shod my horses though and never have since pulling her shoes. She's never stepped on herself either, never forged. And she had some long toes when I started trimming her.

Most consider it a good thing for the clinches to be weak enough so that if the shoe gets pulled the clinches will pull out without taking the hoof wall with it. In fact, it's considered a bad thing for the horse to be shod tight with 8 nails with thick clinches. The shoe may stay on better, but not only is there inadequate support for the hoof, but if the shoe does get yanked it pulls out more hoof with it.

The farrier who had trouble with loose shoes may have had trouble leveling the hoof, and then the shoe rocked slightly and loosened the nails?

None of the farriers around me shoe with eight nails that I know about. Most with six and some with clips. But I'd have a problem with a shoe that easily came off too. Since I recently had to put a horse down because of a nail, I would not want to chance a loose one in the pasture. But then this is really a moot point for me since I don't shoe horses anymore.

[redsoxluvr]

Thanks guys for your insight. I ended up changing farriers for this horse as I think the guy doing him did not have his feet properly balanced.
The horse is a biggun, nearly 18H so it complicates keeping him barefoot. Our ground is hard, desert ground and it's not forgiving at all. Long story short, the horse is now shod and is hopefully on the right track.

[jm2]

The Swedish Meatball and her daughter both are high/low and both are shod and both rarely lose shoes. Hopefully your new farrier is da bomb! FWIW - I keep mine on a 4 week schedule during the rapid hoof growing months (March through November), and then go to 5 weeks for a few months.

I do highly recommend at least yearly x-rays of the fronts to see what the coffin bone is doing and shoe/trim according to what the x-rays say. Mingo can go negative PA on her low foot, so she is in a 2 degree wedge on the low foot and a pad on the high foot that de-weights the toe. She is also rolled on the higher foot. This has worked really well for her for several years now.