How long do you shoe or trim a horse? This question is commonly asked. Yet, you really have to look to find the answer or ask your farrier. Why is this not on every hoof care page out there I don’t know.  In general most farriers will trim a horse every 8 weeks and shoe a horse every 6 weeks.

     Shoes are a must when it comes to keeping on schedule. The shoe restricts the hoof but the hoof likes to move. If you have a tight shoe on, meaning a shoe with little too no support, the hoof over grows the shoes. Usually occurring in the heels of the hoof, you will see the hoof wall but the shoe will be almost indented into the hoof. If you have a shoe with support you will not have this over growing but few horses will keep a full supported shoe in pasture. The farrier should try to give the horse as much support as possible but most just tight shoe for fear of losing customers. 

    As for trimming as said before most farriers do an 8 week trim. If your horse has the right amount of nutrition the hoof should be growing in 8 weeks no problem. There is an herb or a “weed” out there that will grow hoof like mad. I have an area once in a while, not a horse or a barn but a area of horses, that I’ve seen grow 4 inches of hoof in a month.  I wish I had the time to really research what it may be. I do have a guess based off of what I know about certain herbs but, I’m not positive.

    Some horse can go longer than 8 weeks when it comes to trimming. These horses are either not getting the right nutrition or they are good at maintaining their selves. Mustangs are good at maintaining themselves some times. That comes from what they have learned from in the wild from years of predators taking out the weak horses and making a strong herd of horses that know how to survive. Domesticated horses are not as strong. Although people do try to breed certain qualities out it usually have to do with looks not natural strengths.    

    Routine maintenance will solve a lot of hoof deformities. Every 8 weeks will cover most problems. I have one customer with a Belgium horse and since we have been trimming him every 8 weeks he hasn’t been flaring nearly as bad as he use to. The customer is quite happy.  Not only flares but other problems to like underrun heels, toe in, toe out, etc. will hold up better with routine maintenance.

     I have done a 4 week schedule on miniature horses that foundered. They tend to grow real fast when foundering.  I’m not sure why.  Some other cases I have shortened the schedule to 4 weeks as well. These cases are usually horses with hooves that can go good or bad in a short time, due to the horse working harder on the opposite of what I’m trying to accomplish. Some horses are just no good on themselves. Hard keepers is what they are referred too.

    It’s not how much hoof you take off either. It is what you take off. So if you are one of those people who think you need a lot of hoof on the horse before you need a trim, you are wrong.  The important thing is to maintain proper balance. Just taking off a ¼ inch of toe can make a world of difference or two swipes of the rasp. I had one client who just bought a horse that tight roped when walking (one hoof right in front of the other). Sometimes there is nothing you can do about it, and I gave them that speech, but this horse only needed two swipes of the rasp on each foot and then walked normal. We were just lucky on that one I think.

    I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog. Please fill free to comment, tweet, facebook, etc. This information is for all. I only ask that you make sure that the author me Gene Fletcher is put on all the copies. Thank you and if you have suggestions on topics please fill free to contact me.