Borium shoes or “road shoes” or “drill techs” (whatever extra grippy application is used in your area) are routinely considered a terrible thing for your horses to wear all the time.
If you are not familiar with them, they are shoes that have the extra metal welded on in lumps for more traction. If your horse travels on asphalt a lot, this can help prevent slipping accidents.
When my Saddlebred was in the Chicago Thanksgiving day parade 10 years ago or so, the parade required the participating horses to wear them.
We yanked those the day after he got home.
The thing you need to know is that these do what they should. They grip the ground/footing extra well.
But, a horse’s foot is designed to hit the ground and sort of carry through the glide. And keep going.
A borium shoe provides a momentary stop and catch to that process. This stop and catch can be very hard on the joints, ligaments and bones. It may create a lot of torque and unnecessary wear and tear. Not only does this happen when your horse is working, but also when she is at play in her field.
If you have long toe, no heel going on, the pain and damage will be multiplied by drill techs.
In short, if you use these a lot, there is a good chance your horse won’t stay sound in it’s getting up there years.
One thing you must not do is turn a horse with the hinds drill teched out with another horse. You would not believe the extensive damage a kick from these will cause.
Consider whether you really need them. Perhaps you can ride on the gravel berm or on a different trail.
