When do YOU remove shoes on your pregnant mare?

[Castlegate]

My preg. mare (due April 26th) is still in shoes as she has spent her WHOLE life in shoes and has crappy feet...we are getting ready to pull them...and I am dreading it....I can only imagine the poor girl carrying all that weight on crummy feet...

When do you all pull them if they are still in work or just still wearing them?

[okggo]

My suggestion? Help her build those hooves up, pull the shoes, find a good barefoot trimmer & nutritionist, and to help with the soreness invest in some easyboot type boots.

My mare in '05 had front shoes on and I had them pulled and she was literally crippled, I couldn't stomach it so I put them back on and luckily baby never got stepped on. Since then I've done quite a lot of barefoot training, research, and outreach and if I had it to do over, I would have pulled the shoes, done a nice mustang roll trim and kept her in boots until she develeped some natural concavity in her pancake flat soles.

[Hillside H Ranch]

Whenever my farrier is coming anyways, LOL!
I have a mare who also has been in front shoes pretty much her whole life, probably. She is sensitive when they are off, but not crippled. I had them pulled about 8 days ago, and she foaled last night. I will put them on again when the farrier comes again, in about 6 weeks I think. For mares that aren't as sore I've pulled them around day 300 when I've taken the caslicks out, but most of my broodies are barefoot anyway.

[clint]

The first time I bred my riding mare, I think she had been in shoes for years, even though she has excellent feet. I took the shoes off in the fall, and she became very sore. I put the shoes back on and waited for the ground to get soft from winter rain, and pulled them again. She was fine the second time and now can go without shoes year round, and is even good undersaddle barefoot. I have an excellent farrier who worked with her, and we were very careful about her trim.

[Jaegermonster]

I had the hind shoes pulled when I sent her out to be bred. I left the front shoes on, she has crappy feet too and gets very lame very fast without them. She was a good mom, no problems with the shoes on.

[Daydream Believer]

Definitely find a good trimmer or a farrier who understands how to trim for barefoot...not just trimming for shoes. Sounds simple but it isn't necessarily and there is a difference. Get her measured for a pair of boots. For only turnout I like the Boas as they are very easy to put on and seem to stay on well. There is no reason this mare needs to be sore at all nor any reason why she needs to stay in shoes for raising a foal on pasture. You might even be shocked that she will transition to full barefoot with judicious use of the boots and a good trim. Most horses can.

[3Ponies]

As soon as the summer was over and the last fly died I had the shoes pulled.

[inquisitive]

I went ahead and had the back shoes pulled when she lost one of them in the mud a couple months ago :lol:

I know it sounds like a stupid reason, but I was planning on doing it anyway and to me it didn't really matter when. She's always had shoes and was a bit sore for a few days but has been fine, especially with good hoof care.

That probably doesn't help you make your decision, but do you know your mare will be sore with the shoes off?

[FLIPPED HER HALO]

We only have front shoes on and they will be staying on. :D I know several of the mares I've been on foal watch for at another facility have front shoes as well. I think it really depends on the horse, or the owners preference.

[Daventry]

My best broodmare had the typical TB under run heels. She just could NOT go without her bar shoes. She had four foals while with us and I never once pulled them. Like Flipped Her Halo said, it may depend on the particular mare. Our mare was a great mom and very careful of the foals....as nearly ever mare on the planet is. Maidens can sometimes be a different story but most broodmares, shoes or no shoes, try extremely hard NOT to step on their foals.

[Fairview Horse Center]

I always pull shoes in late fall when the ground is soft. They can hobble a bit for a month and not break up too much then. By the time the ground freezes, their feet are doing ok. At that time, they are not carrying a lot of weight, so easier to deal with the ouchy stage.

[Faiths CremelloWB]

I have one mare that I leave shoes on all year even when she foals. She is a great mom and never had a problem with doing this. Some of the other broodmares wear shoes in the summer/fall months because we are on clay and the ground gets very hard. Not that they *really* need them but I feel that they carry the future of my business so they get nothing but the best. Anything that makes them more comfortable; they are treated just like show horses. Spoiled rotten... :cool:

[Whitfield Farm Hanoverians]

I think I'm going to try the new vettec product that is a pour-in pad for barefoot horses. I saw it used on tv & am wondering if it'll help my mare not be "ouchy" when barefooted. Says you have to replace it about every 3 weeks.