Anyone else just started horse barefoot?

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avthechav

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I have decided to try barefoot with ginge in response to his recent diagnosis of navicular bone inflammation. I have never tried this before and so I am obsessively reading and have had advice from some very helpful people.

As I haven't tried this before I would be greatful if anyone could tell me what's 'normal' or not. So shoes came off last Monday. I have been gently exercising on the smooth road. On Tuesday he felt okish but footy on any sort of unevenness, stones etc. I didn't try trotting but would imagine he would have been very footy in trot.

He is completely sound on a surface, as I used the school yesterday to experiment. Today he was great on road and when I jogged to catch up I would say ok in gentle trot too. However he really struggled when I tried a slightly rutty track so I gave up on that after a few metres.

It's hard as I have essentially taken a sound horse and made him sore to ride over some terrain.... Is this progressing in the way that you would expect?

Any shared stories or help greatfully received :-)
 
Howdy and welcome to the world of bare. TBH I think you are doing too much too soon. Whilst some horses step out of shoes and don't seem to notice, when a horse is going barefoot because of pathology this is less likely.

Have you put your horse on a barefoot friendly diet and have you considered fitting him with boots for the transition? Good boots will make any transition period so much easier and allow you to continue working your horse with much less risk of making them sore.

Most hooves I deshoe have quite considerable impairment from the effects of shoeing, some of it accrued over years. It takes time to put this right and correct diet and keeping the horse comfortable are important parts of this process.

Post photos for more personalised advice.

But good luck with your journey - there are lots of navic' horses out there enjoying a new lease of life (literally in many cases) as barefooters.
 
*waves hands* me :) I have been incredibly lucky and have my boy down at Rockley at the moment - cant wait for him to come home and am getting regular updates from Nic.
 
Hi, iv recently gone bare with my last horse, 100% sound in shoes but her feet don't look great so giving her until spring next yr to grow better feet. Yes they will go footy for a while but if you think about how the shoe holds the foot of the ground the takes the frog out of working so it weakens it is expected as u have to build up the internal structure again. Short term it may seem a pain but long term it's far far better. Hoof boots could be the way for u to go and make sure he's loading his feet correctly not toe first!! And a decent trim is useful dont let the farrier touch his sole or frogs
 
toomanyhorses26 said:
*waves hands* me :) I have been incredibly lucky and have my boy down at Rockley at the moment - cant wait for him to come home and am getting regular updates from Nic.
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Hi TMH26, I have been following your horses progress (in an entirely non stalkerish way hehehe). You must be thrilled with his progress even at this early stage!! I did contact Nic for advice last week and she was extremely supportive :-). I cant wait to see your boy continue to improve.


LucyPriory said:
Howdy and welcome to the world of bare. TBH I think you are doing too much too soon. Whilst some horses step out of shoes and don't seem to notice, when a horse is going barefoot because of pathology this is less likely.

Have you put your horse on a barefoot friendly diet and have you considered fitting him with boots for the transition? Good boots will make any transition period so much easier and allow you to continue working your horse with much less risk of making them sore.

Most hooves I deshoe have quite considerable impairment from the effects of shoeing, some of it accrued over years. It takes time to put this right and correct diet and keeping the horse comfortable are important parts of this process.

Post photos for more personalised advice.

But good luck with your journey - there are lots of navic' horses out there enjoying a new lease of life (literally in many cases) as barefooters.
Click to expand...

Hi Lucy, thanks for your reply. Luckily for me and Ginge I have always fed him a low carb, high fibre diet and I have been soaking hay for about 6 weeks for various reasons. About a month ago I put him on a lovely barefoot supplement suggested by Oberon on here as I thought that barefoot might be the way to go. He is now fed fast fibre, linseed, and supplement. He looks good on it and farrier says that he is growing lots of hoof. Re doing too much too soon, how much exercise would you suggest? I have been taking him out for a stroll down the road 2 out of 3 days as our road is very smooth and I have heard that exercise and keeping them moving is the way forwards? Each stroll takes minumum of 20 mins, max 35 mins. He ran up sound for the vet 2 weeks ago and vet said work hard upto MRI so if something was to come up it would. He remained sound and feeling very good until shoes off. But I see your point that his feet/ eel obvioulsy isnt strong enough if he was lame in the first place (albeit slightly and very intermittently). I am also a computer pleb and am not sure how to post photos to thread?

thatsmygirl said:
Hi, iv recently gone bare with my last horse, 100% sound in shoes but her feet don't look great so giving her until spring next yr to grow better feet. Yes they will go footy for a while but if you think about how the shoe holds the foot of the ground the takes the frog out of working so it weakens it is expected as u have to build up the internal structure again. Short term it may seem a pain but long term it's far far better. Hoof boots could be the way for u to go and make sure he's loading his feet correctly not toe first!! And a decent trim is useful dont let the farrier touch his sole or frogs
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Thanks TMG, and I agree re short term vs long term. Vets basically said that he should stay competing sound as he is with nav meds for 6 months to 2 years, but to be honest that isnt good enought for me. I have no interest in competing him until he goes lame. I would rather try to put in interventions now to make him more comfy for longer...i know that this may not work but like I say, I have no interest in competing until he breaks so I am prepared to take the risk! Re heel first landing, I would say that he is toe first at the moment....I understand that heel first comes when caudal pain in eliminated but its a bit chicken and egg isnt it? So is it a case of not working until he lands heel first, or working so digital cushion is stimulated and he is able to land heel first pain free? Interestingly he is very happy down hill, where I thought he would find it hard if truly toe first landing?

Thanks all, and I apologise for the essay replies :-)
 
I'm doing exactly the same, my boy damaged his collateral ligament in June and as part of diagnosing this bilateral navicular changes were found on the MRI. Back shoes came off in July while on box rest & fronts off mid August just as I started the walking in hand exercise. We are up to 30 mins walking on tarmac now, he is landing heel first but can be a bit "ouch" for a step if he catches a small stone but seems to tolerate larger stones ie hardcore. He is fine in the field and while not supposed to be hoolying about has been witnessed cantering & trotting with ease!
Good to know a few of us are transitioning together as feeling a bit on a limb with it all so be great to support each other.
 
BFN said:
I'm doing exactly the same, my boy damaged his collateral ligament in June and as part of diagnosing this bilateral navicular changes were found on the MRI. Back shoes came off in July while on box rest & fronts off mid August just as I started the walking in hand exercise. We are up to 30 mins walking on tarmac now, he is landing heel first but can be a bit "ouch" for a step if he catches a small stone but seems to tolerate larger stones ie hardcore. He is fine in the field and while not supposed to be hoolying about has been witnessed cantering & trotting with ease!
Good to know a few of us are transitioning together as feeling a bit on a limb with it all so be great to support each other.
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Thats great BFN!! I am finding the whole process facinating tbf and it is changing the way that I think about horsecare etc....which is very odd after 25 years of following one set of 'rules!'. Keep me updated on your progress, are you taking pictures regularly?
 
Brilliant re diet - that will have set you on the right path :-)

Exercise depending on the quality of the foot - so this comment must be taken in context.

If soles thin and/or thrushy or soft frogs I encourage the first few weeks to be in walk on smooth hard surfaces or non lumpy soft surfaces (some rubber schools can be quite hard).

Daily exercise for short periods is more effective than longer sessions less frequently.

Let the horse be the guide, if they are coping/improving you can up the workload, if not take it back a bit. Comfy footsteps are important, use boots if required.

You want frogs that are completely free of infection and that are very firm.

Hope that helps
 
This thread makes my heart sing :)

We are finally on our way to seeing shoe removal accepted as the treatment of first choice for foot lame horses, not only giving owners a low cost solution but giving horses a massively improved chance of returning to full work.

Well done guys!!
 
cptrayes said:
This thread makes my heart sing :)

We are finally on our way to seeing shoe removal accepted as the treatment of first choice for foot lame horses, not only giving owners a low cost solution but giving horses a massively improved chance of returning to full work.

Well done guys!!
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Ditto and good luck op.
 
LucyPriory said:
Brilliant re diet - that will have set you on the right path :-)

Exercise depending on the quality of the foot - so this comment must be taken in context.

If soles thin and/or thrushy or soft frogs I encourage the first few weeks to be in walk on smooth hard surfaces or non lumpy soft surfaces (some rubber schools can be quite hard).

Daily exercise for short periods is more effective than longer sessions less frequently.

Let the horse be the guide, if they are coping/improving you can up the workload, if not take it back a bit. Comfy footsteps are important, use boots if required.

You want frogs that are completely free of infection and that are very firm.

Hope that helps
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..this is lovely thank you. I think that I am on the right lines...who would have thought that not nailing things onto horses feet could be such a worry ;-)? I have been picking out and brushing out feet each evening and using hoof disinfectant or antiseptic powder on frogs and in clefts to try to stop frog infection from starting. I am quite excited about this (wierd I know), but its hard to put your faith in something that you have never tried before and that some people are very negative about. It is very interesting though and like CPtrayers says I can see changes already.
 
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Stick to comfortable surfaces to begin with. Personally mine will all feel their way on very stoney ground and frankly, why would you want them slamming their foot down on that anyway, so don't panic. The more you do the better he will be but you've had good advice here already, and as mentioned, don't over do it.

My friend is getting her horse deshod next time the farrier is due. I have never tried to sway her on it, but she has seen mine herself (and she has a pony with no shoes too) and now she is going to go for it :)
 
My new horse arrived on Thursday shoes came off today.

My last horse was a ex Rockley horse however after getting over his foot problems he had to be retired due to a shoulder injury.

It's almost more scary taking shoes off a sound horse as if it doesn't go smoothly i will feel like i broke him.
 
criso said:
My new horse arrived on Thursday shoes came off today.

My last horse was a ex Rockley horse however after getting over his foot problems he had to be retired due to a shoulder injury.

It's almost more scary taking shoes off a sound horse as if it doesn't go smoothly i will feel like i broke him.
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^^^ this^^^

I feel more scared of breaking my horse than anything else!

He's sound in his shoes but he's been shod since he was two (ex racer) he's now seven and I'm planning to do barefoot in stages. The back shoes are coming off next shoeing then the fronts the shoeing after that. He has classic long term shoe feet with long toes and thin soles.

Thanks to some super advice from Oberon I'm changing his diet at the moment in preparation for barefoot then we will see how it goes!

Excited and terrified all at once! :D
 
criso said:
It's almost more scary taking shoes off a sound horse as if it doesn't go smoothly i will feel like i broke him.
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Yes it must feel like that. Just ask yourself if he isn't sound without shoes was he actually sound? :)

Good luck all of you brave people.
 
Pictures 2 and 6 show the right fore which is the one that has periodically shown 1-2 10ths lameness on the right circle over the last year...'sound' before last Monday when shoes came off. MRI showed up Nav bone inflammation and signs of wear to front of DDFT. Pictures 3 and 4 show the left fore which showed inflammation of nav bone but less so that the right and no damage to ddft. I am going to photo on a weekly basis and I think that there are already changes to the sole view. Will be interesting to compare the side view as I am finding no change on a day to day basis but this presumably is a long term change.
 
avthechav said:
Pictures 2 and 6 show the right fore which is the one that has periodically shown 1-2 10ths lameness on the right circle over the last year...'sound' before last Monday when shoes came off. MRI showed up Nav bone inflammation and signs of wear to front of DDFT. Pictures 3 and 4 show the left fore which showed inflammation of nav bone but less so that the right and no damage to ddft. I am going to photo on a weekly basis and I think that there are already changes to the sole view. Will be interesting to compare the side view as I am finding no change on a day to day basis but this presumably is a long term change.
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OK the big bars show the weak foot. They are scaffolding for a weak foot which will either wear off or peel off as the foot strengthens. Don't allow anyone to remove them unless you are certain that they are pressing on the floor causing bruising.
 
amandap said:
Yes it must feel like that. Just ask yourself if he isn't sound without shoes was he actually sound? :)

Good luck all of you brave people.
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He walked heel first over the yard and even stomped a stoney track though so he is at the moment.

Kez1001 Mine's an ex racer but 5 and actually has rather nice feet.
 
Mine doesn't have awful feet either but we have a lot of mud and it sucks the shoes off. So thinking it would be kinder to my boy to work towards this.

Amandap I think that's why it is scary. It's a bit like blissful ignorance if he has shoes on - covers up things you don't see.
 
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