Advice please, barefoot fans :)

Cliqmo

Cliqmo

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I wonder if you helpful peeps could help me please?

My 5yr old remains unshod and is now in full work (does that make him barefoot, I'm never really sure :p ) To be honest I quite like the idea of keeping him this way but I'm finding he occasionally gets a bit footsore :o

He goes really well across fields and in the sand/rubber mix arena but I find when I hack him-normally an hours walk in local Forestry Commission land- he is a bit sore the next day :confused:

All of the local pathways and bridleways are crushed hardcore / stone / gravel, which he seems quite happy on (he will occasionaly have an 'ouch' step when he steps on a stone -to be expected- but is never shy on the paths) however, could this be the cause??

He is currently fed D&H Safe and Sound which is supplemented with Codlivine Vit/Min supplement and NAF Biotin. He is out at night (not much grass at all as there is a shortage in Dorset :rolleyes: ) and stabled during the day with a few slices of hay (occasionally ryegrass haylage as there is also a hay shortage here :rolleyes: ) I also put Keratex hoof hardener and Cornucrescine on his feet each week.

The biotin was on the recommendation of the farrier who noted that his hoof wall was 'feathery' -farrier was very impressed in the change after I had introduced the supplement.
The Keratex was on the recommendation of a friend who uses it on her unshod retired gelding
The cornucrescine harks back to my PC days :p :D

The condition of his feet is probably "fair" if I can be objective about it?! There are a few splits around the bottom of the hoof wall (from wear on the gravel I assume) and the sole looks a little dry and rough (like craggy rock?) but there is a slight concavity to them.

So am I doing anything glaringly wrong?

Should I just shoe him / buy some hoof boots?

Do I need to be doing anything different?

Thanks :D :D
 
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Well, I'm not a qualified foot anything but just wanted to pick up on a couple of points:

Does your farrier trim his frog? I have found that taking away the dead skin on the surface of the frog can result in a more footy horse because the dead layer isn't protecting the live layer, if you see what I'm trying to say? So maybe you could ask your farrier to only trim away any frog glaringly in need, and leave more on. It exfoliates away naturally anyway, as with the sole, which I think sounds ok - its probably craggy because your farrier is leaving it to exfoliate away itself - a good thing, IMO.

I think hoof boots probably would be the next step for you, if the biotin-fed horn has had a chance to grow through fully. Don't go just for a style you like, I am told that the best thing to do is to measure your horse's hoof just after trimming, and find the brand/style which best fits those measurements, as that is the one most likely to fit and stay on! There is a website somewhere with the most wonderfully helpful lady who is somewhat of an expert in the different hoof boots, and I don't remember the name of it - hopefully someone on here will do and will post it for you :)
 
As the owner of shod and unshod horses over the years I think you have to be realistic and make some compromises if you are of a mind to be barefoot.

There are always going to be surfaces which the horse is happier to work on, always surfaces that will wear feet too quickly and always surfaces which will leave a horse footsore. If boots are your thing then you can plan when and where you use them, personally I think thay are a total pain and would only use one on medical type grounds - plus they do seem to be hellish expensive given they wear out so if its a cost thing I reckon traditional shoes are still the way to go.

Ive had ponies with feet hard as iron who would go on flint all day if you asked them so no problem there but had I a footsore one then it would be standard shoes for me.
 
spaniel said:
As the owner of shod and unshod horses over the years I think you have to be realistic and make some compromises if you are of a mind to be barefoot.

There are always going to be surfaces which the horse is happier to work on, always surfaces that will wear feet too quickly and always surfaces which will leave a horse footsore. If boots are your thing then you can plan when and where you use them, personally I think thay are a total pain and would only use one on medical type grounds - plus they do seem to be hellish expensive given they wear out so if its a cost thing I reckon traditional shoes are still the way to go.

Ive had ponies with feet hard as iron who would go on flint all day if you asked them so no problem there but had I a footsore one then it would be standard shoes for me.
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I sort of agree with this but I suppose you would have to balance the amount that you ride on surfaces with the whole getting into shoes thing! If you don't ride on the surfaces that make him sore very often then I would be tempted to go with boots rather than get him into 'needing' shoes (you did say he was occasionally sore), if you want to be able to ride on all surfaces without worrying then I would go with shoes. I have to say that I would think long and hard about putting shoes on though, once you do you will have time and hard work if you ever want to take them off again. As Spaniel said, you have to compromise a little to stay barefoot but you have to balance that against what you want to do when you ride. Sounds like your horse already has good feet to do so much barefoot!
 
One of my ponieshasn;t got shoes on - he isn't 'barefoot', he just isn't shod, if you see what I mean. His feet are fine as long as I am not working him too much (more than 3 times a week) and not hacking along the stony track.

Riding three times a week is enough for him and me so he doesn;t have shoes on. Avoiding the stony track is no hardship, so thats it for us. If I wanted to ride more I would have shoes put on. I have a real dislike of boots - a friend uses them and not only are they very expensive, but they really don;t seem to stand up to regular use - she had to have hers repaired after 6 weeks.....they were £180 per pair!! Thats three full sets of shoes....
 
Brandy - your friends hoof boots don't fit, end of. A correctly fitted pair of hoof boots will last upwards of 6 months. The only repairs they should need is if the horse over reaches (in the same way they'd rip a shoe of they'd likely rip the boots off) My mare does 5 -6 hacks a week, usually out for well over an hour on various types of terrain and her easyboots are no over a year old without any repairs needed (well other than a replacement tongue after she pulled them into her bed and danced on it!)

To OP - I would try hoofboots to see if it helps on the stoney track. I don't think it's fair to keep him completely without shoes if he is getting sore after work :( other option would be shoes on the front only. Since they carry 60 -70% of their weight over the front legs most horses are happy to go bare behind.

As for whether he is barefoot is a matter of opinion ;) personally if you never itend to put shoes on they are barefoot, if you are keeping them without shoes for an interim period then they are unshod.
 
Oh dear, friends boot were 'fitted' by the EP. I am quite open minded about all things horse related and would happily be convinced re barefoot, but things just keep working against it for me!
 
Same as Silverspring :) Boots are only a pain if you haven't got the right size, after a couple of weeks using them I could get them on in less than five minutes

They shouldn't twist or come off even at a gallop; I've had my Old Mac's for 8 months now and even though they do around 40 miles a week on all sorts of terrain, only the breakover has worn; they should last at least another year;

They were £180 for two pairs on ebay, much cheaper than getting him shod!
 
Why an earth are easiboots called that??? They are difficult to put on, the wire 'stretches' over time, and have a tendency to fly off during fast work, their expensive and especially the ones with gaiters get sand, dirt and water trapped near the sensitive part of the heel and rub. I have had horses I haven't shod as they are in light work with good feet, but please don't get me started on 'trimmers'.
One of my horses has only front shoes and she struggled on different surfaces unshod but has no problem on any surface with front shoes, even gravel tracks/hardcore etc.
 
I am a big fan of barefoot - i had a recent pelvis/lameness recently his pelvis was put back in by chiropracter but he was improving every day before he came out i was hacking on roads, stoney paths etc, i found the ground too hard were i am and wanting to do faster work i got him fully shod the vet and blacksmith said he has exceptional hard feet , but he needed shod and i think hes better but i will go back to being barefoot gradually over winter but maybe have a few months over the hard hot summer may june july aug and sept fully shod but i will make sure he has a few months barefoot to give his feet a break im not experianced enough about boots,sizes etc at the moment
 
Brandy - I'm wonder if your friend bought renegade based on the price and the problems keeping them on. Renegades are really good but they are very much shapes for natural feet which most of our british horses don't have. If I bought them for my girl (who has quite natural shaped feet) I'd have to get them cut away at the back or she'd step on the back and rip the boot off.

Domino - Your comment made me laugh, I haven't seen easyboots with wires for many years. My easyboots have a padded tongue, full gaiter, worm clamp and key. They take about 1 minute each foot to put on which is about the same time it takes my friend to put brushing boots and knee boots on. On her hinds she wears easy boots gloves which are just rubber and gaiter and literally slip on (when you have the knack) and slip off in seconds. As other people have said they'll stay on as well as a shoes, I regularly go for a full tilt gallop on my Arab and have never lost a boot.
 
Just adding a suggestion for something to try before going down the hoof boot road, I used to use Vettec Sole Guard which stopped my TB being so footy when we made the transition from being shod to unshod. It would last a good 6 weeks at least and the majority of the work was road work. However my farrier usually applied it for free.
 
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