Horses with Ice Skates?

[potto]

Horses with Ice Skates?

With the snow on the ground living out or just walking out for exercise, how do you stop snow getting impacted into horses hooves, particularly if they are wearing shoes and then them slipping or looking like 70's rockstars with platforms on or iceskaters? Vaseline? Hoof oils? Any tips to help with protecting hoof and frog and why? Barefoot and shod?

[shan]

Pig oil on the soles?

[ladyndibs]

Mine are barefoot and so far the snow isn't deep enough to make a differance but then I don't remember it being a problem when we did have deep snow, I have read vaseline is good.

[Deleted]

Many years ago my grandad used to put goose grease on the horses feet to stop them getting snowballs in their hooves

[potto]

Thank you muchly for the replies. It is something that interests me especially for people who may have snow on the ground for any length of time and ride out. I have also been told lard, effol hoof oil. cooking spray on oil, wd40 and stockholm tar... but can't confirm that any of these are ok to use..

Also hoof boots or bare and possible bruising etc problems and how people manage with gritters or salt problems with barefoot or if there are any just out of interest??? is grit salt likely to cause a problem? We are lucky generally that snow isn't here for too long maybe scottish folk know who have snow for longer parts of the year?

[KoLaTo]

Lard is by far the best I have found when I had front shoes on one of mine for a while last winter, the cheaper the better, Vaseline freezes IME, Oil does nothing as it is too thin, Stockholm tar just makes a mess.

But shoeless, never have any problems with snow and never have done, we ride out as normal on main roads once gritted and trundle down un-gritted lanes just making sure we keep to the edges. Salt causes no problems, just like riding in a sand arena to be honest.

My mare is the only one who has problems with the ground being frozen, I just pop her Cavallos on in the field until she is more comfortable and bring her in during the day on a deep bed just to give her feet a rest, she suffers more with lack of circulation than anything else so if I can keep her feet a bit warmer then she is sounder.

Just going out for a big breakfast now actually before we go out riding, can't wait - yeehaa!

[kafee]

All but one of mine are unshod, and there doesn't seem to be any difference between shod and unshod. Some feet had snow clogs this morning, others didn't, and the clogs came off easily. I think the snow builds a bit and then falls out. I've tried using oil in the past and it didn't make any difference.

[mags]

Buy "Hufgrip" pads before the winter and have your farrier shoe your horse with them:
www.hoofnail.com/pads_huf.htm

They keep the snow from balling up in the hooves.

[hammie]

Took a barefoot pony and a shod pony in the snow today, shod one had a layer of vaseline on his feet. Despite this he got ice balls in his front feet after 5-10 min; barefoot pony was fine. Maybe I don't put enough vaseline on? Will experiment with more.

On the other hand, yesterday (frozen ground but no snow) a shod pony was able to ride in the frozen outdoor school, but I couldn't have taken my barefoot pony in there, he would have been too uncomfortable.

[BJMM]

Lard is definitely the best as it sticks well. Mine are barefoot, no real snow build up but they are tiptoeing a bit across the rutty ground. I think because it has been so wet their feet are softer than usual and a bit more sensitive.

[potto]

Hufgrips look interesting mags, wonder if they are available in the uk?

I think you need a fairly thick coating of vaseline. I used effol hoof oil the solid one as i have a big tub hanging about and i have to say it seemed to work quite well. x

Thank you for the replies so far.

[calekio]

Lard... what like.. normal lard from a supermarket?
I've never had this problem before.... but my chronic lammi now has little front aluminimum shoes on... and well.. can't walk with stiltoes on!!! lol Poor girly... tried vasaline this morning... no help! lol

[specialized]

Once shoes are in place they provide an excellent key to lock the snow/ice in and anything applied to the hoof will have limited effect as the pressure exerted in a small area is massive and will pack the snow to ice. Best and most reliable remedy is barefoot as the hoof can cope on its own and once the pressure builds there is nothing to lock against and the ice slides away.
No reason why salt on the roads should have any effect on barefoot.

[potto]

Thank you x

[marychick]

I asked about this before and someone suggested putting socks over their shod feet! hehe ;D

I think I may actually give this a try as so far my method of picking of feet every 2 mins is a little frustrating. I would love to have my horse barefoot but unfortunately this is not an option for her so we just have to work with what we have