"Keeping horses shod 365 days of the year is a big fault of modern hoofcare"

What an amazingly beautiful and healthy looking hoof. Copyright Aanhcp *

Kyra Kyrklund has said that when it comes to horses it is important to be multi-talented and know about all these things: shoeing, veterinary science, how to fit a saddle on a horse, horse physiotherapy and so forth.

I totally agree that it is very important to know basic facts when one deals with horses and the more I learn the more I want to know.

I have previously written about hoof care and shoeing and about my thoughts on having horses barefoot. Now I stumbled on some very interesting articles written by Master Farrier Andrew Bowe, B App.Sc., on the Australian site Horses and People and wanted to share some interesting points with you.

This is not written as a shoes / no shoes -debate but rather as a sharing of experts facts on the horse hooves.  Facts that we should all know about as horse hobbyists and horse owners.

"The effect of horse shoes can be summed up quite succinctly. When shoes are put on, hoof function is almost fully impeded. Whilst great lists have been made in recent years about all the myriad (supposed) manifestations of the effects of shoeing, the problem can be realistically distilled down to the creation of incorrect weight bearing, which directly affects how blood flows into and around the hoof and how concussion is dealt with."

The writer keeps most horses barefoot but he is not against shoeing. All he says is that we should be aware of the fact that when shoes are put on, hoof function is almost fully impeded and having this knowledge in mind it is important to do as correct a shoeing job as possible if one keeps horses shod.

The horse carries the entire body weight on the hoof walls 

An interesting thing that I had not really given much thought is how much of a shod horse's weight is actually carried on the horse's hoof walls. The picture below demonstrates it beautifully and shows that there is a "fundamental difference between the traditional model that requires the horse to carry all of its body weight on the laminar bond and the progressive model of bare hoof care that suggests that the body weight should be shared between some of the wall, some of the sole and all of the frog.

A valid question to ask would be: is there any other mammal on the planet that carries its entire body weight on its hoof walls (or claws)? No, their body weight is distributed across their whole foot, but predominantly on their pads. It should be no different for the equine species. Even though horses have a hard hoof, they have a large weight bearing pad which we all know as the frog. The frog is there for a reason."

"For a horse to be agile, it needs to be able to not only feel the surface it is moving over, but it must have spatial awareness of its limbs. This is called proprioception and there are a large number of proprioceptor nerve endings in the back half of the hoof (the caudal hoof) that are stimulated by frog contact."

There is plenty of daylight under the shod hoof, but the frog is
 fully grounded on the unshod hoof. Copyright barehoofcare

Impeded circulation and thermoregulated hooves

When we attach the shoe and the horse carries its full body weight through the walls to the laminar bond circulation is significantly impeded. "Circulation is vital, not only for local purposes of feeding the cells that grow the hoof, but there is a huge volume of blood that passes through the hoof with every heart beat. This blood is required for hoof function.

Horses have the unique ability to be able to thermoregulate their bodies and especially their hooves. They are adapted to coping with the enormous seasonal variation that is the reality of life in their natural environment of the high desert country of central Asia. They are able to stand in burning hot sand but also in freezing ice and snow. This can occur because the amount of blood flowing into the hooves changes according to external stimuli. A basic way to explain a very complicated subject, is that there are numerous little bypass valves (called shunts) that can divert blood from the arterial plexus to the venous plexus. In other words, shunts provide a shortcut, so that not all blood goes the full distance to the extremities of the body (missing the smaller capillary."

"Things change radically for the equine hoof  when a gate is shut in front of horses and they are confined for our convenience. Instead of existing in a natural regime of constant trimming,
whereby large amounts of movement over tough ground means that wear equals growth, hooves that grow long and out of balance lose their ability to function correctly, and the ‘plastic’ hoof is no longer supported to best effect and begins the insidious process towards deformity."

Long-term impact of shoeing

"The primary function of the equine hoof is to protect its internal structures. It is the armor plating that keeps trauma on the outside and allows a horse to pound the ground and quickly get out of harm’s way."

Another fact that is important to bear in mind is that the loss of hoof function is not necessarily a problem today.

"The loss of function does not create a problem today. Rather, it may manifest as chronic lameness years down the track (issues such as navicular, ringbone, chronic laminitis, sidebone etc.). It is easy to sell today at the expense of paying the price tomorrow and just live in the moment, but try selling tomorrow at the expense of today’s pleasure or convenience! Either way, the question is, can horses be shod to maintain long-term soundness?"

What when we shoe the horse

According to the author horses can be shod, but there are certain factors that need to be considered when shoes are put on horses.

"Shoeing with an eye to long-term soundness starts with trimming a hoof to optimum balance before a shoe is put on it. If a hoof is not in optimum balance when a shoe first gets nailed on, the mechanics will start badly and get worse. Optimum balance (a.k.a. the ‘true hoof’) is the hoof that would
arise if all the fences were removed from a horse’s life and it could be the prairie animal it is meant to be, with the greatly increased movement resulting in hoof wear being equal to hoof growth. The hoof capsule is very simply a hard outer shell that tightly covers the pedal bone, and when ‘true’, closely reflects its shape and its spatial arrangement with the ground surface. If a shoe is being applied to a previously bare hoof on a horse that has already been working to the extent of its hooves being worn down, the set-up is fairly easy. Such a hoof is likely to already be existing in a state of optimum, working balance. In such a case, setting the hoof up is simply a matter of trimming the hoof wall to a consistent height above the sole plane and then putting the shoe on it.

The sole plane (the outer rim of waxy, functional sole which is in reality the skin on the bottom of the hoof) is a very reliable indicator to the outline and position of the pedal bone and is, therefore, a clear and objective guide to follow. Unfortunately this easy-to-follow guide is lost soon after a hoof begins to wear a shoe. Exfoliation of the growing hoof is totally stopped by the shoe and the true-hoof quickly gets lost (hidden) in the mass of extra hoof wall and unexfoliated sole material. There is also the added dimension of hoof distortion that appears soon after hooves are asked to carry the weight of the whole horse above on the hoof walls alone. The hoof is not like a piece of rigid dead timber, rather, it is like a piece of firm but malleable plastic that changes shape when exposed to such incorrect pressure. When the guiding light of true sole plane is lost, how do we
then find the underlying true-hoof?"

Regularity meaning four to five weeks

"A poor shoeing job re-done regularly is better than the best shoeing job that is not re-done regularly enough."

As we have come to realise with my horse this summer this is a more than valid point. You can have one of the best ferrier's but if he/she is not shoeing the horse regularly many more problems appear and you would have been better off with a poorer job done regularly in the first place.

Having a great ferrier is just the best thing for you and your horse but having a ferrier that comes within a cycle suitable for your horse is even more important.

"Ideally, a horse should go no longer than five weeks between shoeings.The moment a shoe is nailed on, a hoof is protected from wearing so it begins growing longer. After four to five weeks, it reaches a mechanical limit after which time it grows too long for correct bio-mechanical functioning.


You may have noticed how shod hooves often appear to get progressively taller the more times they are shod. You are not imagining it, the hoof walls are actually pushing upwards as the unsupported boney column reaches for the ground. In effect, a shod hoof capsule rides upwards like a bell boot.
Even if you stretch the shoeing out by just a couple of weeks to save money, you are doing your horse a great disservice. If economic limitation means that you can’t get the farrier that often, a good solution is for you to pull the shoes and trim the hooves yourself after five weeks and let your horse go barefoot for a couple of weeks until the farrier comes to reshoe it. Able bodied horse owners should, at the very least, know how to remove shoes."



Giving the hooves a break from shoes

"Keeping horses shod 365 days of the year is a big fault of modern hoofcare."

Even if it sounds a bit absurd and something that we try to avoid in most cases keeping a horse without shoes every once in a while would actually benefit the horse's hooves immensely.

"Horses that never get a break out of wearing shoes get so unhealthy and reliant upon shoes, that the shoes ultimately become a crutch."

The author is not talking about having the horse barefoot but is referring to how he started his career in an industry where horse shoes were always pulled in the southern winter and horses could get a seasonal break so their hooves could recuperate from shoeing. "Well-known equine scientist Dr Deb Bennett, who understands long-term management of the skeletal structure of horses better than most and is aware of the omnipresent distortion that arises from all shoeing (no matter how good the farrier is), has distilled best management when using shoes down to this same principle of ensuring a hoof is returned to optimum balance before a shoe is nailed on."

"She recommends to pull the shoes off and dress the hooves, but then to leave the horse barefoot for a couple of days before re-shoeing, not just to reveal the functional sole plane as any unexfoliated sole plane gets abraded off, but to allow the hoof wall to ‘let down’ from where it will be jammed upwards through the coronet, thus revealing the true-hoof in its entirety.

Obviously caution and ‘uncommon’ sense would be required here. Don’t ride 100 miles straight after pulling shoes, and avoid too much riding in deep abrasive arena footing which will produce an incorrect wear pattern."

Having the farrier come in and take the shoes off the horse and trim the horse, then come back in a few days to re-adjust the hooves and put the shoes back on seems like a pretty impossible task.

"Plenty of extra work for farriers, and it is hard enough to get a farrier once every six weeks, let alone the extra cost of having two farrier visits instead of one. This idea is just not going to happen. Unless the horse owner pulls the shoes and trims the hooves a few days before the farrier arrives. Now there’s a thought", says Andrew Bowe.

Don't start shoeing a too young horse. 

I guess this is a bit like with most things with horses. We should give the horse time to develop and not start shoeing the horses too young.

"The development of the structures in the caudal hoof(frog, digital cushion, lateral cartilages and venous plexus) continues until about five years of age, but can only proceed when a hoof is weightbearing through the frog. Putting a shoe on an immature hoof effectively shuts down further development.

If you have a young horse that ‘needs’ shoes to be worked only put them on for short periods."

New materials and solutions

"Nowadays plastic shoes are used extensively for endurance riding where concussion and fatigue have long been serious issues."

Copyright Barehoofcare.com

Did you know that even plastic shoes are used nowadays especially for endurance horses. As Finnish ferrier Riina Villanen says, "new materials and solutions are invented all the time but so far every one of them have had more disadvantages than the traditional steel shoe".

This also seems to be the conclusion by Andrew Bowe. He is happy to try different materials and as the article states there are limitations to every type of hoof protection - nothing works every time for every horse, but the main problem with plastic shoes arises from their softness.

"Nothing stays as firmly attached to a horse’s hoof than a rigid metal shoe. If it wasn’t for the existence of chronic lameness, this discussion wouldn’t be taking place. Like all forms of hoofcare that stray more than a stirrup from the narrow bridle track of tradition, there are sure to be critics aplenty riding in the grandstand. Like most things, time will be the ultimate judge. It is easy to get a horse going today, but the real challenge is keeping a horse sound for years to come. Sometimes, the only way to find out the real value of something new is to try it for yourself. When the ground is hard, your horse might notice the difference. You might just notice it in the saddle as well."

There are so many articles as there are thoughts on horse hooves and how they function. There are almost as many differentiating opinions as there are parents educating their children in what they perceive to be the exact correct manner. Therefore I really liked Andrew Bowe's articles since he describes in detail how the hoof functions but does not judge anyone. And isn't it just interesting. Imagine how much there is that we still don't know about the equine feet and how much we can affect the health of the equine species by being more aware of how the hoof functions.

And how I would like to pull off those shoes a few days before the farrier comes the next time. Almost itches my fingers.....

Finnish farrier Riina Villanen however states that "not every domestic horse need shoes and it is normal that horses without work or very light work go barefoot, but very rare are the horses that can fully perform without shoes. At least in Finland where the ground is usually very wearing for the hoofs and we have the icy season when horses need studs and protection on the slippery, rough and hard surface."

Sometimes it is also just about common sense and I really appreciate that good farriers like Villanen take the time to write about shoeing and her thoughts about keeping horses barefoot. You can find more information written by Riina via this article Wild Horses Hoofs and here is a very interesting report  on a research committed on Australian brumbies, written by C.C. Pollit and B.A. Hampson, published in 2011.

More interesting reads: 

Most of the text was borrowed from the article series Horses have hooves in Horses and People, written by Andrew Bowe, B App.Sc., Master Farrier, Bare Hoofcare
An Inconvenient Hoof
Horses have hooves

Also have a look at the following links:

Farrier Riina Villanen: Wild Horses Hoofs
Team suokkipojat: Heppamaailma mullistuu
3D images of horse hooves, The Hoof Explorer
Kian hevosblogi:
Huoleton on hyvän kengittäjän omaava hevosenomistaja
Jättäisitkö sinä kengät pois?

*Beautiful, healthy hoof of a 3-year-old Andalucian gelding who lives in a small herd in a sierra of Montanchez - a biome similar to the U.S. Great Basin - in the province of Caceres in southwestern Spain where AANHCP Student Practitioner Daniela Sinecka was trimming. ("Farruco" obviously did not need to be trimmed.)  (Photo by Daniela Sinecka.)