thanks to everyone who responded to my last post,you were really helpfull. my little filly"buttercup" is looking much better already,i have been feeding her a mix of horse bloom and crimped oats and keeping hay out for her. i am curious about teeth floating, at what age should this first be done?how often there after? also what about shoes her hooves look awfully small to me, is there a certain age at which to shoe?

I had Jackson checked at about 18 months to see if his wolfteeth needed to be pulled, and to have him floated if needed. It depends on the horse on how often they need done, some need it twice a year and some are fine every other year. I had his feet trimmed from the time he was about 2 months old, but I didn't have him shod until 2 1/2.

I have a great Dentist, who only does as much as needed and does it by hand [no electric tools-to easy to make a mistake, and it would be like going from a running shoe to a 8" silletto heel-a drastic change is never good] He comes every six months [spring/fall] My older guys get done 2x year as do some of the youngesters, but on average yearly.

For feet- start handling feet as soon as born, trimming to maintain level/balance around 4 months. Horses should only have shoes for a reason. Traction,very hard/rocky conditions,heel elevation,dropped soles,change leg flight,etc...
An average riding horse, in average work on fairly good footing most likely won't need shoes. Go with the old saying " If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

On the horses I can handle, I do the floating (no teeth pulling!), anything more complicated and the Vet gets a call from me.

I only shoe if I need to and I never have had a need to shoe a horse that was not a regular riding horse. We currently have 15 and all are barefoot except for one and that is simply because we haven't pulled his shoes yet. On average they are ridden 2-3 miles a day over gravel/dirt/fields/woods/hills/roads barefoot.

If her feet are in need of some attention, (looking long-toed, mis-shaped, cracks in the hooves etc.) I would give her a simple barefoot trim.

Horses in smaller areas tend to need their hooves cared for more often than others. Most of mine roam pastures ranging 1/2 mile long and 1/4 mile wide with all kinds of terrain inside, their hooves self-maintain very well and rarely need anything more than a bit of re-shaping or so.