Should I Have my Horse Trimmed or Shod

by Russell Bloodworth

The answer to this question is an emphatic YES! What? Well, which one should it be you ask. That depends on your horse.

Horses' hooves grow just like your nails (finger or toes) or your hair and they need some routine maintenance which translates to trimming. Trimming on a regular schedule is of major importance. Repeat major importance. It does not mean once a year either. During the warmer months of the year our horses' will generally eat more nutrients. Those nutrients cause our horses' hooves to grow more quickly, unlike during the winter months when there are fewer nutrients & therefore less hoof growth. That being said, a schedule of four to six weeks is often recommended during the warmer months and six to eight weeks for trimming during the cooler times of the year. A good maintenance routine is essential to our horses' health. As the old saying goes, "No foot, no horse". Saving money by not trimming (or shoeing) is not a luxury for many horses that need shoes when ridden. You can pay for routine maintenance now…or spend more money in an emergency when it is sore and in pain.

According to the staff at the Farriers' National Research Center (FNRC), out of 1,000 complaints on lame horses, 990 will become lame from improper trimming. Only a small portion of complaints are the result of shoeing that lames the bone. At the FNRC they have found that incorrect trimming in vey young horses does more damage than we farriers have ever imagined before. They have also found that in the majority of the horses that were observed one leg was longer than the other.

Also, studies have found that when using horses often, trimming is not enough, they should be shod. Your horses should be shod when they are used for various events (like dressage, barrel racing, roping, polo, etc.), pleasure or trail riding, packing or even in much of the corrective works.   Corrective work can be any number of things from founder to cracks, you name it. Mostly, shoeing the horse is a judgment call that the farrier should be able to help the owners decide on.

Most people think that you shoe a horse in order to protect its foot; however, the main reason for shoeing a horse is to keep the boney column of the leg in alignment wherein when the foot strikes the ground, the entire boney column of the horse including the spine equally absorbs the concussion.

This should help clarify the question of whether or not you should have your horses trimmed or shod, but, regardless you should have a professional to help with all things hoof related.

Russell Bloodworth is a graduate of  the Casey & Son Horseshoeing School in Villanow, GA and he completed the Nolan Hoof Plate Application School. His working areas include NE Florida, south and central Alabama.