amandap
Well-Known Member
In my experience especially with my TB mare, front feet are much more likely to 'go flat' due to diet and hind feet remain relatively normal in overall shape.
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A question for barefooters...
- Thread starter Snipe
- Start date
Nocturnal
Well-Known Member
Would they resume a less flat shape if the diet improved (but stayed shod), or would they remain flat, then? I'm 99% sure that there are no dietary issues, so if diet did cause my horse's flat feet it must have been before I knew him (I understand that at one point before I had him he was in very poor condition).
Snipe
Well-Known Member
Update: ze shoes have come orf! He's footy on stoney ground, but sound & pelting around in the field. 
kittykatcat
Well-Known Member
Yeay well done Snipe! You took the plunge! He will be footy on stoney ground - imagine it like someone asked you to take your shoes off and walk across some nice flints...HOWEVER with the correct diet and stimulation, he will get there (again, likening to humans...think about the people who never wear shoes, go hooning it across thorney ground all day everyday!) the UKNHCP forum is a great place to get advice and encouragement...good luck! x
Snipe
Well-Known Member
Thanks, kittykatcat
WoodfordFox
Well-Known Member
Well done Snipe! But don't be put off if it takes a while for him to transition, it's all a part of him growing his 'new feet'! (And stepping on a bit of gravel and going 'ouch' is not the same as him being lame... a lesson it took me a while to learn).
I noticed your post about trying to keep weight on your horse - I was in shovelling in Alfa Oil & D&H Staypower muesli till we went barefoot (suddenly, due to shoeing disaster!). Yet he looks every bit as good, if not better, on a simple diet of haylage, restricted grazing, a handfull of oats & bran and two mugs of Thunderbrook base mix (a linseed-based balancer basically). I think there's a lot of truth that excess sugar and starch disrupt the hind gut. Once the gut recovers the horse does very well on far less.
Also my boy had very flat feet with underrun heels and contracted frogs. His heels and frogs improved very quickly, and now just over a year barefoot he's developing concavity - in two of his feet at least.
I noticed your post about trying to keep weight on your horse - I was in shovelling in Alfa Oil & D&H Staypower muesli till we went barefoot (suddenly, due to shoeing disaster!). Yet he looks every bit as good, if not better, on a simple diet of haylage, restricted grazing, a handfull of oats & bran and two mugs of Thunderbrook base mix (a linseed-based balancer basically). I think there's a lot of truth that excess sugar and starch disrupt the hind gut. Once the gut recovers the horse does very well on far less.
Also my boy had very flat feet with underrun heels and contracted frogs. His heels and frogs improved very quickly, and now just over a year barefoot he's developing concavity - in two of his feet at least.
Snipe
Well-Known Member
Thanks WoodfordFox!
His diet is mainly forage (haylage) based, he just gets half a scoop of Power & Performance twice a day to keep him looking good. I've experimented quite a bit with his feed over the years, and found that this is what he does best on
.
He's had his hinds off for about 5 - 6 weeks now, and they're already developing concavity. His soles are nice and tough too, even in front despite being shod. So on the whole I'm feeling quite positive about the whole thing!
His diet is mainly forage (haylage) based, he just gets half a scoop of Power & Performance twice a day to keep him looking good. I've experimented quite a bit with his feed over the years, and found that this is what he does best on
.He's had his hinds off for about 5 - 6 weeks now, and they're already developing concavity
. His soles are nice and tough too, even in front despite being shod. So on the whole I'm feeling quite positive about the whole thing!
Miss L Toe
Well-Known Member
My experience of TB's [1000!] is mostly with NH ie jump racing horses with a traditional upbringing, not shod till four years old, so when I read Feet First and they mentioned TB feet are ruined because they are shod at 18 months, I experienced a " light-bulb moment "
I think that front feet will always be more of an issue, the horse is carrying more weight in front, and they tend to be less "oval", less concave.
I am struggling with my farrier who will not rasp until the toes are long, which is like me waiting till my toe-nails are hitting my shoes before I cut them.
I had a vet out yesterday, she had a student with her, so I asked if she would rasp off his front feet which are chipping , she was quite short with me, "it is the farriers job to do that, not mine", so we know where we are, I told her "not to worry, I will do it myself", personally I prefer a holistic approach to horse health, but then I am a only a horse owner, what do I know.
PS I could have said "it is the farriers job to prepare the foot for shoe-ing", but I did not
I think that front feet will always be more of an issue, the horse is carrying more weight in front, and they tend to be less "oval", less concave.
I am struggling with my farrier who will not rasp until the toes are long, which is like me waiting till my toe-nails are hitting my shoes before I cut them.
I had a vet out yesterday, she had a student with her, so I asked if she would rasp off his front feet which are chipping , she was quite short with me, "it is the farriers job to do that, not mine", so we know where we are, I told her "not to worry, I will do it myself", personally I prefer a holistic approach to horse health, but then I am a only a horse owner, what do I know.
PS I could have said "it is the farriers job to prepare the foot for shoe-ing", but I did not
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Zimzim
Well-Known Member
Hi my mare is barefoot for the autumn and winter and only needs trimming every 10 weeks and has shoes on in the spring/ summer months and has these done every 6-7 weeks. She has really good feet with a really good sized frog however when doing more road work/ working on hard ground i.e. competeing in spring and summer she was getting touchy, so put shoes on and it really helped her. She has all white feet and there very hard and I've never had any problems with them. You've just got to go with what's best for your horse.
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