A Little Bit Footsore!

[TheresaW]

At the beginning of June, Mac started living out full time. The rules of the yard are no back shoes, or rubber ones. Because he has fairly large hooves, I am struggling to get big enough rubber shoes. Farrier has been keeping an eye on him for me, and we were chatting last week about the possibility of him staying barefoot behind. Farrier suggested trying Kerratex Hoof Hardener. So far Mac has been coping brilliantly with no back shoes, but I am well aware that the ground has been so soft with all the rain we have had. I started using the hoof hardener last week and it does say it can take up to 2 weeks before you start to see a difference. Ground has dried up considerably this week, and last night when I rode, he was a bit short on one of his back legs. It was only happening on the tracks, he was fine on the grass, so am guessing he was feeling a bit sore.

I have never had a barefoot horse before so am unsure what happens now. Will the hoof hardener help, and will his hooves become naturally harder anyway? Obviously I don't want to cause him any unneccessary discomfort, so where do I go from here? Any advice gratefully received.

Also, since he has gone out, he has changed shape somewhat. He doesn't look thin overall, but his back end definitely looks thinner. I will take some photo's today and post them later. Is this normal?

 

[fairhill]

Keratex should help, and his feet should get stronger, but you might find that he's always going to be pottery on roads/stonier ground. Meg was barefoot for 8 months when I got her, and despite having very strong feet always struggled on the gravelly bits.
I also found that if I rode her for more than 20 mins a day on the roads then her feet were getting worn down too much, which also made her a bit sore.

Regarding his shape it could be that he is keeping himself fitter as he's moving round more... or could be that the cold damp weather has affected him a bit. Ours are just starting to lose their spring bellies but some of the less padded horses have had to be kept in as they were losing too much weight...

 

[Theresa_F]

Cairo manages fine without shoes most of the year, this year I still have to put shoes on as the ground has not been hard for long periods - and it is more for his fronts than the hinds that I use them.

I feed black sunflower seeds which really have made a difference to both my chaps' hooves. I also use hypona when the weather is dry.

I have used keratex with great results in the past - but my farrier advised not to use when it was dry as the keratex can make them hard and brittle. I used it in winter/spring but not summer.

It does take them time to adjust not having shoes, so you may have to be careful where you take him for a while.

Cairo happily plods along stoney paths etc now but I do try to keep to grass or even concrete where possible. Chancer never has had shoes and copes no problem.

Cairo too had lost weight - our grass went right down but is now on the winter paddock and looking like a space hopper! Told him to make the most of it, it is only for a week that he can stuff away.

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

Changing shape is natural, H grew 2 rug sizes when he moved to grass !!!!

I have tried H shoe less behind before and he did not get on with it. He recently lost a fore shoe, and he was even foot sore in the school !!! he is such a woose

I tried Keratex before and must admit it has the opposite affect on H's feet. It made them worse !!

sorry to be so negative. But on the plus side, yes his feet will harden, they have been proteced by the shoes for so long, he will adjst and his feet 'shoul' improve condition aswell as he will be using his frogs like they are supposed to !