Ideas for preventing slipping on ice?

Does anyone have any good ideas for preventing your horse from slipping on the ice - or from balling up with snow on winter hacks?
I know that studs and snow rings help, but I'm wondering if there is something even better?
Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by ali on December 16, 2008 at 4:18pm

Bare feet work the best, both for the horse being able to feel if it is slippery, and in preventing balling up - the balls fall out after a step or two if they form in the first place. If you really have to put shoes on for winter hacking for some reason, PAM cooking spray on the frog, or Vaseline, inside the shoe, to help prevent balling up (but nothing is totally foolproof in my experience!).
To prevent slipping be sensible about asking for any speed on a suspect surface - if the horse is an experienced trail horse it will probaly be quite good at letting you know that the surface is not suitable for more than a walk and should not be pushed on if it says no. If it is inexperienced, stay slow until it has developed a good feel for it (can be a year or two!). Consider mounting after you reach the trail if you have to cross sheer ice, a road or parking lot, for example, to get there, as they can balance more easily without that weight on their back! And if the trails are very icy, stay home!

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Permalink Reply by Natasha Sukorokoff on December 18, 2008 at 5:47pm

Take off the shoes.

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Permalink Reply by Hank on January 21, 2009 at 8:21pm

If you can't take the shoes off, you can try getting stud holes tapped into your horse's shoes and put a set of road studs in. They can be left in but you can risk other horses being seriously hurt if kicked. They can also cut your horse if it interferes with itself at all. Some ferriers will agree to weld borium onto the bottom of the shoes and that gives great traction. If you leave shoes on in the snow you should also have snow pads put on underneath the shoes. When in place they just look like a rubber tube that rims the insides of the shoes. The foot is not completely covered with the pad. These work great at preventing snow balling up in the feet. I've had all of the above many many times and my horse has been out with others all winter and no one ever got injured.