Caroline’s face gives it away... Caroline was a little apprehensive about her horse going without shoes. We knew she had researched the concept in great depth (this is the best way anyone can make a decision - based on all the information). We are very pleased to say that Caroline and her mum Ruth followed all the advice we could offer to the letter. The supplements, management and initial exercise guidelines were followed religiously and guess what - it worked !
Caroline’s riding instructor and other well meaning people felt putting the shoes back on was best when he wasn’t 100% after 3 weeks. We had already explained to Caroline that his hooves had adapted to being shod and the main issue we were facing was too much frog pressure straight out of the shoes. Read on and find out how a few little tricks can make any ‘transition’ comfortable and keep a horse pain free AND in work.
Caroline - our hats are off to you both !

BEFORE PICTURES

AFTER PICTURES

Silver had developed frogs to suit being shod. They had prolapsed to gain ground contact to help his foot take the load as it is intended to. Hooves are highly adaptive. What this meant for Silver was he took an excess amount of frog pressure as he went from one extreme to the other. In rare cases hooves can be hyper sensitive when the shoes are removed because the foot starts to function again and use the sensory receptors to their full potential - they know how to protect themselves and will not go charging off down a gravel road only to find themselves really sore at the end of it.
We set Silver up in hoof boots on his front hooves with a pad designed to compensate for a sensitive and prolapsed frog. He used them to get to and from the field over the long rocky track as well as for hacking. This prevented unecessary soreness and ensured he didn’t have any set backs. When we returned for the second visit -six weeks later - he had already stopped using them. He then went into a 12mm pad to work the bottom of his foot, promote a good heal first landing and accelerate the ‘healing’

Pad used to compensate for sensitive frog

12mm medium density foam pad for ridden work

Easy boot epic used by Silver

< The frogs were in a unnatural position. They were also contracted. The measurement from heal to heal was as much as 1.6 cm wider on the front hooves by the time we returned six weeks later !