susan in greece
Olympic Poster
"you can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf" Joseph Goldstein
Posts: 556
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Post by susan in greece on Dec 21, 2005 10:26:12 GMT 1
we had such trouble with the snow gathering under gina's feet yesterday. it would ball up to like 10cm and then drop off. she's getting to the time for re-shoeing and i'm thinking the larger cavity space is contributing to the problem. the other horse, recently shod was not suffering. anyone else have this problem with snow? i'm a bit nervous about riding out today, even at just an amble. ( it does look nice though)
susan
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Post by Kim with Rio on Dec 21, 2005 10:49:19 GMT 1
Hi Susan
Snow in Greece eh?
I've never ridden in snow, but know people that have and they had to keep getting off to pick neddy's feet out as the snow balled up. In the old days, they used to put old sacks on the horse's feet to stop them from slipping, but don't know how practical this would be ?
Only other thing I can think of is putting some sort of non-toxic/non-abrasive grease on the feet to stop the snow balling, but of course you don't want your neddy skating on slippery feet either......
Sorry, not much use my post really. Some others may have better ideas for you.
Good luck.
K
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Post by LisaM on Dec 21, 2005 10:49:41 GMT 1
last yr when it snowed here, I lead H out in hand through it and his feet clogged up. Personally I wouldn't ride in it, it must be horrible for them to walk in especially if one foot is clogged and the other isn't! Must feel a bit wonky!!
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Post by LisaM on Dec 21, 2005 10:51:02 GMT 1
how about old mac boots or similar?? bit costly tho
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Post by becsfugs on Dec 21, 2005 11:03:45 GMT 1
I was told to smear vasaline in horses feet before i turned him out to try and prevent the snow from balling up in the feet, it seemed to work reasonably less.
Failing that perhaps a slave on foot with you to pick out there feet as and when needed, oh i can dream!
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Post by becsfugs on Dec 21, 2005 11:04:28 GMT 1
Should have been reasonably well think my fingers are still a little worse for wear this morning!
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Post by MirandaSophie on Dec 21, 2005 11:07:57 GMT 1
Vasceline or talc powder is supposed to be good.
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anon
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 1,014
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Post by anon on Dec 21, 2005 11:33:17 GMT 1
Thicker grease than vaseline is needed to be effective
Personally I no longer ride if there is slippy ground - too much danger of an accident (horses can get permanently injured from doing the splits even if they dont actually fall)
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Post by julz on Dec 21, 2005 12:19:29 GMT 1
If you have to ride in snow, oil the soles of feet with either Vaseline (difficult to get on) of normal hoof oil, neatsfoot kind. Also it's better to ride (where possible), with feet out of stirrups, just incase horse slips, and you have to get off quickly (also deepens your seat), try not to do roads, coz of ice, and riding in fields/grass is better as there is more traction. Don't forget the hoofpick just incase! Happy riding, and Happy crimbo!
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Post by KoLaTo on Dec 21, 2005 13:42:27 GMT 1
Pack the feet with Stockholm Tar, fantastic stuff, the snow dosen't ball at all plus it gives really good grip on slippery surfaces.
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Post by Val (Toons&co) on Dec 21, 2005 14:52:19 GMT 1
I don't ride in the snow. Like yours, Toons gets those huge snow balls that turn into hard ice and become like skates - really dangerous. I even need to pick his feet when bringing him in on hardcore for fear he'll slip. I've tried the vaseline but it only works for a few minutes. The others are unshod and don't get this.
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susan in greece
Olympic Poster
"you can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf" Joseph Goldstein
Posts: 556
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Post by susan in greece on Dec 21, 2005 15:50:21 GMT 1
hi all,
well we had a lovely WALK in the snow. i think its also the type of snow it is ...being rather wet and heavy. this time i didn't get off at all when the snow built up and me and my riding buddy noticed that after a certain amount had gathered it just fell off.
so you agree with me that its a problem only for shod horses Val? Am getting Gina shod in the next week and i think we'll have snow for the foreseeable so it'll be interesting to see if the problem is reduced with there being less cavity for it to stick in.
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Post by mellymoo on Dec 21, 2005 20:24:35 GMT 1
My boy isn't shod, and I've had no snow at all in his feet. The shod horse in the field looked like she had high heels on cos of the ice balls!
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BuckSkinBabe
Elementary Poster
Resident Tack Store Employee, ask me anything, I just might have the answer.
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Post by BuckSkinBabe on Dec 22, 2005 5:12:47 GMT 1
Susan you keep your horse shod in the winter?
Here it snows all winter long and I have asked several people who keep their horses shod most of the year if they are still shod in winter and they all told me no. I think you might want to pull the shoes for winter, because if it gets really cold like it does here I think the metal might expand and contract (I think) and it could cause some big problems. Anyway even if it doesn't, iron has to be mighty cold on a horses hooves.
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susan in greece
Olympic Poster
"you can't stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf" Joseph Goldstein
Posts: 556
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Post by susan in greece on Dec 22, 2005 9:32:40 GMT 1
hi buckskinbabe, what you say makes sense and i couldn't agree more. having had my mare unshod and sound all summer this is only her second pair of shoes but the snow is unpredictable. it may or may not hang around. if the farrier were more accessible i'd consider pulling them off while the weather lasts. so its def another disadvantage of shoeing horses.
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