SNOW SHOES FOR GAITED HORSES

Unless you live in a part of the world where there it never snows, or what snow falls arrives in small doses and quickly melts away, enjoying your gaited horse during the winter can present some interesting challenges. If your winters bring snows that are so deep a horse can’t plow through them, but must instead walk on top, the equine version of human snowshoes like those from Norway might indeed come in handy! More likely, however, you will be faced with a combination of moderately deep snow, ice and some open ground for your rides. On the open ground, your horse’s hooves may need protection from wear, on slick surfaces they will need traction to provide safety for both you and your horse, and in the deeper snow, they will need some system to prevent “snow balls” from forming. Fortunately, there are several solutions available to meet these needs.
Drawing of snow shoes for deep snow, on a

horse and a man, from a Norwegian map drawn

in the 1500's. Note that the horse is doing

a lateral gait!

Close up of Norwegian deep snow shoes for horses.

They strap on the hooves and keep the horse from

sinking into the drifts.

TRACTION:
A horse’s hoof, when bare, provides fairly good traction in snow or slush, and sheds snow as it expands and contracts at the frog. It also has a little traction on ice (very little). If you rarely ride on ice, but often ride in snow or slush, you can easily make it through the winter with your horse barefoot if the quality of his hoof is up to barefoot riding.
If your horse needs just a little protection for his hooves on occasional bare ground between patches of snow, slip-on plastic horse boots (Easy boots or Old Macs among others) can provide protection and some traction. They can be a good part-time solution for light winter riding, although they tend to fill with snow, and unless fitted with some sort of “grabs” will slip on icey surfaces.
Protecting the hoof for any length of time, however, requires a shoe of some kind. As anyone who has tried winter riding in them knows, ordinary keg shoes can be dangerous on ice, working like ice skates for the hooves. There are many traction methods designed for winter riding available as add-ons or replacements for ordinary keg shoes, some more effective than others. Unfortunately, the most effective traction devices also put extra strain on the legs of the horse, since they dig firmly into the ground and do not move the way a natural hoof does. If you must use them for safety, approach them with caution and be aware that for a gaited horse, while they keep the horse from slipping, they may alter his gait in some ways. He may take shorter, choppier steps when shod for extra traction. He may be less able to extend his stride or move at the fastest speed of his gait. Don’t expect him to move the same way he does on open ground barefoot or in his normal shoes when he is fitted with his winter footgear!

SOME TRACTION OPTIONS:
Ordinary caulks: Farriers sometimes add “turn backs” or caulks to shoes, and some types of keg shoes come ready-made with heel caulks. These small bumps of metal at the rear of each branch of the shoe are designed to provide some extra traction in soft ground, but on hard surfaces and ice, shoes made with ordinary steel or aluminum caulks can slip more than those without caulks. They are not very useful for winter riding in ice, but can be of some use in mud or slush.

Rim shoes: In conditions of light snow, with no ice and unfrozen ground, a “rim” shoe may provide some additional traction to help the horse keep his footing. The groove in the center of the shoe fills with dirt and marginally improves the traction of the shoe. Once the ground freezes solid, and the horse must work over ice, however, these shoes are no better than ordinary keg shoes for traction.
Removable studs: For horses that spend most of their time in stalls, but are taken out to be ridden over snowy, icey, ground, a part-time traction device that can be attached to the shoe when the horse is working, and removed when he is “at home” may be a good idea. Shoes made with holes in them for screw-in studs can be left on the horse in the stall, cleaned out and fitted with studs tipped with some hardened metal such as borium for outside work, then the studs removed when the horse returns to the stall. The studs shouldn’t be left on in the stall because the horse can injure himself if he lies down with them on. Obviously, the horse can’t be turned out in the shoes with the studs removed because they provide no traction. And, of course, it is never a good idea to turn a horse out with studs on, especially in a herd of other horses. A kick delivered from a studded hoof is much more destructive than one from an ordinary shod hoof, and horses running and playing in a group with studded shoes are very susceptible to strains and sprains. This method provides good traction, but it takes time to insert and remove the studs for every ride.

For gaited horses, it may be a good idea to use these studs on the front shoes only, leaving the hind hooves bare, or using another traction method behind, unless the majority of your riding will be on solid ice. Studs grip well on ice, but they can also dig in and prevent a hind hoof from sliding into place as it should in the running walk or fox trot, putting excess stress on the hind legs.

Borium tube, ordinary horseshoe nail, and borium headed nail. Borium- headed nails: A more permanent method of providing traction for ordinary shoes is to attach them with borium headed nails. These provide less of a grip on the ice than the studs, but do work to keep the shoe from sliding. A benefit of these nails is that they protrude less from the shoe than studs, and can be left on all the time. Since they do not grip as strongly as studs or cleats, they can be used on the hind shoes of gaited horses with fewer problems than other traction devices. They do wear down faster than studs or cleats, but they are not very expensive and can be replaced at the next shoeing.

Cleats made of borium or “drill tec” welded or brazed to the shoe: Shoes fitted with permanently attached cleats or beads of abrasive metal provide excellent traction on ice. Again, they can interfere with hind leg movement in gait, and may present a problem for horses that kick and are turned out in groups. For these reasons, many people prefer to use them on the front hooves alone. Shoes made with these cleat additions wear for a long time; it is not unusual for a set to last two or three winters.
Applying borium cleats to shoes. They Borium Cleated shoe

must be cooled after this process before

the pad can be glued on.

SNOW BALL PREVENTION
Once you have decided on a form of traction that will work best for you and your horse, the next part of the snow shoe challenge is to choose a method for preventing balling up of snow and ice inside the shoe.
Grease: Some people have success with placing large amounts of grease or lanolin on the sole of the hoof, to prevent the show from sticking. I have heard of people using spray on cooking oil or even liquid chlorine bleach for this purpose as well. This stuff lasts a while, depending on the temperature and the consistency of the snow, and then wears off, letting the snow ball up again. Unless you carry a supply with you, and dismount to reapply it from time to time, this method is not very effective for keeping snow out of shod hooves.

Flat Pads : It is possible to apply ordinary flat, plastic pads under traction shoes to keep the snow from balling up. I have never had much success with these, but in places where the snow is of a drier type, they may work. A problem with pads is that they trap moisture next to the sole and frog, even when filled with silicon or oakum, and this can lead to thrush. These flat pads do allow some snow balling because they do not flex very much to expel built-up snow.

Bubble snow pads and tube pads. “Bubble” pads: These are plastic pads with an outward bulging bubble in the center which expands and contracts as the hoof sets down. They work well to expel snow build-up and last for several resets. They must be packed with oakum, not silicon, since to work they must not be filled under the bubble. Again, they can trap moisture next to the sole and contribute to thrush.
Rim “tube” pads: The idea for these came from Switzerland about 20 years ago, where they were developed for the ice jumping that is a national pastime. There are several brands available now, and if applied correctly, I have found them an excellent solution to the snow ball problem. The hollow tube at the outside of the “pad” expands and contracts as the hoof hits the ground, expelling snow, while leaving the frog open to the air and allowing the sole of the hoof to breathe. These pads seem to wear well, even on abrasive surfaces like gravel, and I have had several sets last for three winters. But, they must be applied correctly, or they can come loose, tear, and wear out quickly. The trick is to use rubber cement to attach them to the shoe, after any abrasive cleats have been applied, and before they are nailed to the hoof. Warm rubber cement, applied to the pad and the shoe, once tacky, will keep the tube pad in place as it is nailed.

ALL SET FOR WINTER
For most winter riding on a gaited horse, a complete set of keg shoes attached with borium-headed nails and fitted over tube pads will work well to keep the horse from slipping or building snow balls under his hooves. For riding in mixed ice and snow conditions, with a horse that fox trots or running walks, a set of cleated shoes and pads in the front and barefoot hooves behind will give traction while allowing the sliding action of the hind hooves common in those gaits. Cleats all around along with pads are definitely indicated for safety if you are riding on solid ice, or snow over ice, no matter what gait your horse does. Moderate your speed in gait with these “studded snows” and enjoy your winter rides free from the worry that the horse will lose his footing or fall with you!

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