Street_Skill
Well-Known Member
Apologies for yet another barefoot thread, but I've done some research online and on the more recent threads on here and can't seem to find the answer, so here goes!
Very brief bit of background as it may be relevant: horse is a 9 year old ex-racehorse. Ripped open both his hind hooves in an accident three years ago breaking both his pedal bones. Eventually the broken parts fell out through the holes in his feet-he lost approx. 25-30% one side and about 20%, maybe a little less, the other. He was shod behind with reverse shoes by my vet's farrier and then with egg bars by my own farrier when he was discharged. He has been shod like this for the last three years. When he came home from hospital his feet looked great and continued to improve while he was being shod by the farrier at the equine hospital. He actually had heel and they looked a good shape. He is now in full work and being ridden 5-6 times a week, jumping, schooling, hacking and competing. Gradually over the past three years his hind heels have started to become under run again and his toes are bull nosing. They really don't look great and I have been wondering whether to take him barefoot for a while (vet is concerned about the possibility of navicular in front and although he is not lame we have been working with my farrier to encourage him to grow some heel and shorten his toes) and finally decided to take his hinds off (one step at a time!) on Thursday.
Needless to say, my farrier thinks I'm mad but I have been surprised how well he is coping so far and I am convinced this is the right thing for him. I have been riding him in the school and he has not taken a lame step so far. I have also hacked him out for about 30 minutes (15 minutes on the road, 15 minutes on grass track) and although he took a couple of sore steps when he trod on a stone (understandable!) he seemed fine and was really striding out.
My question is what should I be looking for in his frogs? After only a few days, the heel portion of his frog seems wider and "plumper" for want of a better word compared to his fronts which still have shoes on. It's also quite smooth and soft in comparison to the front frogs which seem hard and calloused. Is this normal????? Is it a sign that things are moving in the right direction or is there something else I should be doing? Also, anything else I should be looking out for which means things are going well/wonky? Are there any topical applications I can put on to help him? He is currently fed Simple System Green Gold, Topnosh, Total Eclipse (their vit/min balancer) Grass Nuts, and a hoof supplement.
Sorry for the rambling but thanks for any tips and hints!
Very brief bit of background as it may be relevant: horse is a 9 year old ex-racehorse. Ripped open both his hind hooves in an accident three years ago breaking both his pedal bones. Eventually the broken parts fell out through the holes in his feet-he lost approx. 25-30% one side and about 20%, maybe a little less, the other. He was shod behind with reverse shoes by my vet's farrier and then with egg bars by my own farrier when he was discharged. He has been shod like this for the last three years. When he came home from hospital his feet looked great and continued to improve while he was being shod by the farrier at the equine hospital. He actually had heel and they looked a good shape. He is now in full work and being ridden 5-6 times a week, jumping, schooling, hacking and competing. Gradually over the past three years his hind heels have started to become under run again and his toes are bull nosing. They really don't look great and I have been wondering whether to take him barefoot for a while (vet is concerned about the possibility of navicular in front and although he is not lame we have been working with my farrier to encourage him to grow some heel and shorten his toes) and finally decided to take his hinds off (one step at a time!) on Thursday.
Needless to say, my farrier thinks I'm mad but I have been surprised how well he is coping so far and I am convinced this is the right thing for him. I have been riding him in the school and he has not taken a lame step so far. I have also hacked him out for about 30 minutes (15 minutes on the road, 15 minutes on grass track) and although he took a couple of sore steps when he trod on a stone (understandable!) he seemed fine and was really striding out.
My question is what should I be looking for in his frogs? After only a few days, the heel portion of his frog seems wider and "plumper" for want of a better word compared to his fronts which still have shoes on. It's also quite smooth and soft in comparison to the front frogs which seem hard and calloused. Is this normal????? Is it a sign that things are moving in the right direction or is there something else I should be doing? Also, anything else I should be looking out for which means things are going well/wonky? Are there any topical applications I can put on to help him? He is currently fed Simple System Green Gold, Topnosh, Total Eclipse (their vit/min balancer) Grass Nuts, and a hoof supplement.
Sorry for the rambling but thanks for any tips and hints!
