another barefoot thread, transition advise

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w1bbler

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Well, I did it, farrier pulled the shoes 2 weeks ago. Intention was to turn away for winter & start exercise in spring. Horse has been mildly lame, possible navicular \ arthritis vet thinks.
Well, she has become almost instantly sound & is fine on eveything except very stony groun, so decided to start riding her again.
So, how quickly can I build up exercise. Started with 15 min walks \ trots & last couple of days have been having a few cheeky canters.
Do I just let her be my guide, or do I need to keep taking things easy.
How important is road work, I'm very spoilt & actually have to go looking for roads to ride on, as yard backs onto Dartmoor.
 
Let her be your guide and steadily increase the work. Roads are great, but tracks will do as long as you can get wear on her feet so that she starts to shape them the way she wants to. If she's too sore for stones then it would be best to find some roads.

Don't be surprised if she gets more footie in the next few weeks, it often happens and then it settles again.

If your farrier is going to trim her for you, try not to let him trim sole, or any frog except really tatty bits. And try to let her show you the shape she needs her feet to be, which may not be perfect, especially if she was lame in shoes.

Have you done your diet research?

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the reply. Yes diet research done, she has been on a b\ foot friendly diet for last 18 months.
She's not horrendous on stones, just an odd ouch moment
My farrier is not a believer & though
 
w1bbler said:
She would be v sore initially. He has been to a rockley talk though & is happy to follow what he learnt there.
Click to expand...

Sounds good, he'll be a convert soon.

Take photos, for a start you'll be amazed at how quick they change, for a second we all love a bit of hoof porn :D
 
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