Shod on the hinds only? And not with sliders.. anyone heard of it?

[sublimequine]

Has anyone ever heard of shoeing a horse ONLY on its hinds, and excluding reining horses with sliders on the back and barefoot in front? Is this ever done? How would it be any different than the large amount of horses shod only in front? :)

The reason I ask is that last summer, my mare wore her hinds down out in the pasture quicker than her fronts. :eek: I've never seen that before, it was very strange. She was barefoot on all 4, but by the end of the summer the farrier warned me that her feet were getting pretty worn, and I may have to shoe her. Luckily a change of environment (she moves back to school with me in the fall, college student) did her feet good, and I ended up only having to shoe the fronts because her feet went back to "normal". :lol:

Long story short, I hate to shoe her in front when she doesn't need it over the summer, but is only shoeing a horse's hinds even an option? Is it ever done? Would it effect her balance, raising her hind end up a bit (she's downhill anyways)?

Sorry if this is an asinine question, and I'm assuming I'm going to get a resounding "Nope, can't do that, shoe all 4", but I was curious either way. :D In theory, it just seems like if you can shoe fronts only, why not shoe hinds only? :)

Enlighten me, o great hoof folks! :lol:

[flyingchange]

Yes, I have done it. Several years ago - in the summer. Horse went barefoot up front because his fronts got so crumbled from fly stomping and other summer hoof fun, that he had nothing left to nail in to and I got sick of paying for glue-ons. His hinds were fine though, so we kept the hinds on and he went barefoot for a while - up front only. My farrier saw no problems with doing that other than that "people will laugh at us." I kept the horse in work using Old Mac's up front. Horse was fine. :)

[sublimequine]

Yes, I have done it. Several years ago - in the summer. Horse went barefoot up front because his fronts got so crumbled from fly stomping and other summer hoof fun, that he had nothing left to nail in to and I got sick of paying for glue-ons. His hinds were fine though, so we kept the hinds on and he went barefoot for a while - up front only. My farrier saw no problems with doing that other than that "people will laugh at us." I kept the horse in work using Old Mac's up front. Horse was fine. :)

Good to know! Did you use the Old Macs every ride? And were you using them for protection, or to keep the horse "balanced"? :)

I have Easyboots that I love and use whenever she's not shod and we're riding on gravel. They're great. :yes:

[middy]

I have a friend that shoes her WB gelding only behind. He was a windswept foal so he isn't exactly strait behind. He was wearing the outside of his right hind very bad last summer so we decided with the input from our farrier to do some corrective shoeing back there. I will have to say that hi feet look the best that I have ever seen for him and he is moving much better.

He goes all the time completely barefoot in the front and with his shoes behind. He only trailrides and he has wonderful front feet, he doesn't need anything else and he feels very balanced.

[sublimequine]

I have a friend that shoes her WB gelding only behind. He was a windswept foal so he isn't exactly strait behind. He was wearing the outside of his right hind very bad last summer so we decided with the input from our farrier to do some corrective shoeing back there. I will have to say that hi feet look the best that I have ever seen for him and he is moving much better.

Thanks so much, that's good to know! :)

I know my mare's pasturemate is shod in hinds only, but it's corrective as well. She's also not ridden anymore, she's retired. I guess my main concern is riding with hinds only. But it sounds like your friend's horse did okay.

[middy]

He is doing wonderfully and He moves better than he ever has. He is even jumping again (though nothing bigger than 2'6") He is happy and seems to be pain free.

[sublimequine]

He is doing wonderfully and He moves better than he ever has. He is even jumping again (though nothing bigger than 2'6") He is happy and seems to be pain free.

That's fantastic. Even jumping, wow! :D

[JHUshoer20]

As all things equid "it depends" as Rick Burten would say. Occasionally only hinds will be necessary so to do so is serving the horse's needs.

One thing I can say is I used to hear of rope horse trainers shoeing just the hinds while trimming fronts very close to the point of soreness. What this did was taught the horse to get back on his hinds and get his front feet up when roping a calf.

There are I think probably better ways to train that don't involve soring but nonetheless I have heard of this being done.
George

[sublimequine]

As all things equid "it depends" as Rick Burten would say. Occasionally only hinds will be necessary so to do so is serving the horse's needs.

One thing I can say is I used to hear of rope horse trainers shoeing just the hinds while trimming fronts very close to the point of soreness. What this did was taught the horse to get back on his hinds and get his front feet up when roping a calf.

There are I think probably better ways to train that don't involve soring but nonetheless I have heard of this being done.
George

That's definitely not what I was referring to. It's the very short hooves that I'd be trying to prevent.

It's sad what some folks will do in the name of "training". :(

Based on what I said in my first post, if my mare was a client of yours, would you be open to the idea of shoeing the hinds only? Have you ever done it before on your horses?

[flyingchange]

Good to know! Did you use the Old Macs every ride? And were you using them for protection, or to keep the horse "balanced"? :)

I have Easyboots that I love and use whenever she's not shod and we're riding on gravel. They're great. :yes:

Yes, at first I did use them every ride - both working in a sand arena and trails - this was just because he had such poor quality up front at first and was sore without some protection, but totally fine with boots. I went to dressage lessons with them and it was fine. I did pad them up a good bit - wrapped his hooves with vetwrap and then some shims to make sure they didn't slip and rub him.

After he got some good hoof wall in front and was comfortable, I stopped using them for working. I jumped him barefoot up front and it was totally fine.

I put shoes back on after a year had passed - his fronts were 110% improved. I hated putting the shoes back on but I needed to be able to screw studs in for eventing.

[sublimequine]

Yes, at first I did use them every ride - both working in a sand arena and trails - this was just because he had such poor quality up front at first and was sore without some protection, but totally fine with boots. I went to dressage lessons with them and it was fine. I did pad them up a good bit - wrapped his hooves with vetwrap and then some shims to make sure they didn't slip and rub him.

After he got some good hoof wall in front and was comfortable, I stopped using them for working. I jumped him barefoot up front and it was totally fine.

I put shoes back on after a year had passed - his fronts were 110% improved. I hated putting the shoes back on but I needed to be able to screw studs in for eventing.

Good to know! Thanks again for the info.

I'm really surprised that this seems to be a bit more common than I thought!

[BumbleBee]

I have seen my mentor shoe just the hind when it was required. One case in particular was a horse with horrendous stiffles. Horse was shod raising his angles behind, he didn't need shoes up front so he just shod behind.

[sublimequine]

I have seen my mentor shoe just the hind when it was required. One case in particular was a horse with horrendous stiffles. Horse was shod raising his angles behind, he didn't need shoes up front so he just shod behind.

Thanks for the info! :)

[sublimequine]

Anyone else? :)

I'd love to hear from some more farriers if possible! :yes:

[ddashaq]

My horse was in just hinds last winter while my farrier corrected some major issues he had. He had always been barefoot with very tough little feet, so I did not put anything on him up front when I rode him.

ETA: I did not notice any difference in his balance, but then I was not actually riding him at all the first shoeing cycle due to lameness. After that, he felt the same as always. (Well, except sounder!)

[dani0303]

I dealt with an old gelding who had mild DSLD that was shod only behind. His feet were in great shape but the shoes gave him a little extra support. He was lightly ridden and sound.

[TheOrangeOne]

I see it mostly on ponies and other horses with really good feet who just need a little extra grip for lead changes.

[sublimequine]

I see it mostly on ponies and other horses with really good feet who just need a little extra grip for lead changes.

That's interesting, never heard that before! :)

[BuddyRoo]

May I ask a question that I promise has no underlying meaning or pokiness? (feel the need to say that as posts about shoes/no shoes seem to get weird)

When you say that the horse was getting "too short" on the hinds...what do you mean?

I have a mare who, if ridden enough or on the right terrain doesn't require much trimming all the way around. I used to get kind of worried even because it seemed like maybe she was wearing down "too much"....

She had major toe callous and the hoof wall was rather significantly short in comparison.

She was never sore...never off....and finally after doing some research and having a couple different farriers take a look, I was assured that this was in fact just fine...and that no shoeing was needed.

My question then is how are you determining that the horse is "too short"? Is she getting sore?

Because it seems to me that if a horse is working off the hind appropriately, you WOULD wear down better on the hinds. I almost always am taking more off the front than the hind when I trim.

[sublimequine]

May I ask a question that I promise has no underlying meaning or pokiness? (feel the need to say that as posts about shoes/no shoes seem to get weird)

When you say that the horse was getting "too short" on the hinds...what do you mean?

I have a mare who, if ridden enough or on the right terrain doesn't require much trimming all the way around. I used to get kind of worried even because it seemed like maybe she was wearing down "too much"....

She had major toe callous and the hoof wall was rather significantly short in comparison.

She was never sore...never off....and finally after doing some research and having a couple different farriers take a look, I was assured that this was in fact just fine...and that no shoeing was needed.

My question then is how are you determining that the horse is "too short"? Is she getting sore?

Because it seems to me that if a horse is working off the hind appropriately, you WOULD wear down better on the hinds. I almost always am taking more off the front than the hind when I trim.

Her feet wore down to little "stumps", I guess I'd call it. The foot itself just LOOKED smaller than it was supposed to. And while she never went sore, the farrier said if she wore any more off, she'd be at risk for it.

I want to say the reason for her wearing the hinds faster is that she lives in a VERY hilly pasture in the summer. She has to climb up a big ol hill to get from the shelter to the water trough, and the herd loves to go full-tilt up and down all the hills in the pasture when they're playing.

This compared to the rest of the year, where she lives in totally flat terrain, and her shelter and water sources are literally right next to each other. Less motivation for lazy butt maresie to get out and MOVE. :winkgrin:

[sublimequine]

Thanks for all the input folks, keep it comin! :)

[EqTrainer]

Personally... I would wait and see if she actually really does get sore. IME, they don't. They just have nice, short feet :)

Now, to answer your question, yes, I have had horses shod ONLY behind. One had a negative coffin bone plane and I wanted him wedged a certain way. Worked great, did it 3 times, slowly lowered the wedge, took it off and he remains fine as long as his SI stays in shape. The other horse was also temporary, had a sore stifle and we wedged him, same scenario as above, stays fine barefoot again as long as his stifle stays strong.

[deltawave]

Is she possibly dragging her toes or otherwise "not going right" behind, causing excessive wear on the hind feet when compared with the front? Hocks OK?

[Peggy]

I had one who'd broken the extensor process off the coffin bone and had a pyramid foot as a result. This tended to make his heels contract and my shoer suggesting pulling the front shoes during the winter when it was muddier and softer so as to let things expand. But, he had some issue going on with the hinds (can't remember) so he wanted to keep the hind shoes on.

I put easy boots on for trail rides, but hacked and jumped with no front shoes. Even showed in the jumpers one. It was kind of funny as I'd ride on the trail to lessons with the easy boots on, take them off to jump, and then put them back on for the ride home.

[sublimequine]

Is she possibly dragging her toes or otherwise "not going right" behind, causing excessive wear on the hind feet when compared with the front? Hocks OK?

Hocks are good, hind end's good, but front end was compromised over the summer (and still is, but we're recouping slowly), so that may have been part of it. Might've been overcompensating, getting her weight off her front end and putting it all towards the back.

(She had a muscle injury to the shoulder.. 7-8 months later, we're still rehabbing. :dead: But she's getting better, that's for sure. :) )

[Montanas_Girl]

My guy has been shod behind and barefoot up front for over three years now - close to four. He has excellent hooves and, when he was barefoot all around (off and on for five years) was never sore on any footing. He has some arthritic changes behind and has had some mild stifle and suspensory soreness in the past - never enough to make him actually lame, but I can always feel the difference when I ride him. For whatever reason, he goes better with shoes behind, so that's what we do. We just started showing in the 3' hunters.

[sublimequine]

My guy has been shod behind and barefoot up front for over three years now - close to four. He has excellent hooves and, when he was barefoot all around (off and on for five years) was never sore on any footing. He has some arthritic changes behind and has had some mild stifle and suspensory soreness in the past - never enough to make him actually lame, but I can always feel the difference when I ride him. For whatever reason, he goes better with shoes behind, so that's what we do. We just started showing in the 3' hunters.

Thanks for the input! Do you do clips or anything, or just standard keg shoes? :)

Also, do you feel it messes with your guy's balance at all, being "higher" in back than in front?

[merrygoround]

Yup I knew of an event horse shod that way. He twiste in his one hock and wore the foot really unevenly. His farrier was sure it was being done to keep the horse running away with the rider. Likely! More likely the rider was running away with the horse. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[BornToRide]

I am with Buddy Roo on that - would be interesting to see actual photos. Many are used to seeing higher heeled horses when that's actually not correct. Her hinds may actually be more normal in shape and size than the fronts.

If they do indeed wear more than they should, I would suspect something in the diet making them softer so they'd wear more, but then I would expect to see a similar trend in the fronts unless gait deviations in the hinds that come from above are responsible for the excessive wear! :yes:

[sublimequine]

I am with Buddy Roo on that - would be interesting to see actual photos. Many are used to seeing higher heeled horses when that's actually not correct. Her hinds may actually be more normal in shape and size than the fronts.

If they do indeed wear more than they should, I would suspect something in the diet making them softer so they'd wear more, but then I would expect to see a similar trend in the fronts unless gait deviations in the hinds that come from above are responsible for the excessive wear! :yes:

See my post on her shoulder injury (compromised front end), and how that may have caused some overcompensation on the back end.

I won't be shoeing her until I see how she does come Spring anyways. I shoe on an "as needed" basis. When she's tender, or wearing too fast, or cracking because of fly stomp-age, then we shoe. But I never shoe just for the heck of it, or just because it's Spring time. :)