[Huntseat]

The day I put calling my farrier for a reset on my to-do list, I got to the barn to find that Mel had thrown a shoe I think that was three days ago. She has been barefoot for the past two years and is totally sound and has only had shoes for about five weeks now. She is not off at all and seems totally fine on the foot that she threw the shoe on.

I have been trying to get in touch with my farrier but he lives south of me where there was quite a bit of flooding and storm damage from the storms we've had over the past week. His phone hasn't worked since the major storms, and another friend of mine who uses him hasn't been able to get in touch either. I don't have any other numbers for him and until his phone is working again I don't know how to get in touch with him. There is one other farrier in the area that I would be okay with doing a reset, and he is already scheduled to come to my barn on the 17th, but he is wicked expensive If it comes down to that I will use him, but I would like to get this fixed sooner than that.

My question is whether or not it would be okay for me to ride Mel lightly until I can get her shoes fixed? She isn't sore or tender at all, and I can't find anything "off" in her movement. I just REALLY don't want to lose two weeks of training if I can't get a farrier out sooner. Of course, if it isn't a good idea, I won't do it, but I want your take on it

[JumpsxGlory]

I personally would not until the farrier can come out and fix it up for you Ollie has thrown a shoe once, the day after he got his feet done too I called the farrier ASAP and he came out the next day to do it so he wasn't even off, but I didn't ride him until it was put back on. I didn't want it to make him feel off or hinder anything, or make him feel restricted, because of the uneven ness from having 3 shoes and one missing. Kinda like you walking without a shoe, not a fun feeling.

[imjustjoking22]

Yes, if she is not off on the foot, it should not be a problem to ride lightly

Just don't ride hard and you should be good- I have done it before with absolutely no problems.

Although of course you should stop if she seems off.

(oh and edit I have done this with ok of vet and farrier, so it is not a general "no" ) If you know your horse well and are sensitive to how she moves you should be golden.

[HorseGurly143]

Im not sure, my question would be about balance, the shoes aren't that big, but wouldn't it feel weird for you to run in one flip-flop? (that is about as thick as a shoe right?) I think it should be ok I guess, just make sure you are really paying attention to her and checking for anything being off.

[TrailBlazer]

If it were my horse I would defintly not be riding her. Do you possibly have someone that could pull the other shoe to balancer her out (if she is not sore or in danger of injuring herself with no shoes) or maybe borrow or purchase a set of boots for her (EZ boots or Boa boots) or something.
For this situation I have a set of Boa boots just in case my horse looses a shoe. I use them when I can if I really need to ride her. If I am not going to ride her I pull the other shoe and wait for my farrier.

[Chester]

It depends on the ground. Nice soft stuff is good.

[lilrider]

Is there another farrier who you wouldn't trust resetting it but you could trust to pull her other shoe? Thats what I would do if its going to be a while before you can get your farrier out. I have had that done on Stormy when he had on his running plates and yanked one off on the fence. My farrier was going to be gone for 2 or 3 weeks so I hauled him over to my trainers place as her farrier was coming out in 2 days and just had him pull the other shoe off.

I would be also worried about the balance especially if these are heavier shoes, so the big question is what kind of shoes are these?

[prairienights]

My trainer's horse threw a horse last night while we were riding. She got back on and kept going, haha. Only w/t stuff though. It didn't bother him a bit.

[Buckshot]

Which shoe, and what kind of shoe was it?

My usual mount threw a front shoe with a pad on it yesterday, and I didn't ride him because it was quite obvious that he was off because the shoe added quite a bit to his height and he was crooked. (But I got to drive the roadster pony, fun fun!)

I'd say if it was just a normal shoe (no pads/weights), light riding would be okay.

[Acme Acres]

Sorry, I had to say it... if he threw a shoe, throw it back at him! LOL It's the first thing that came to mind when I saw the thread title! What can I say.. it's Monday!