barefoot advice

Goldenstar

Goldenstar

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I have just started having a go at barefoot with my 16.3 KWPN he does dressage and hacks and a little jumping in the school.
He has just had 12 weeks rest mainly without shoes due to a splint he has great feet and has and no problems while he has been with us.
I am having a go at barefoot as he was so good when we took his shoes off he does not seem to notice at all.
I have just started work with him again and hacked him out on the road yesterday he was quite happy walking out happily had a short trot, also fine.
May seem a silly question but is this ok I have been reading the other barefoot threads and most people seem to be using boots in front for hacking.I would hate to spoil his paces ( he is spectacular mover).

Any advice ?
 
If he is comfortable then brill.

Boots come into play when the horse is pasture sound but uncomfortable over certain surfaces.

Such as when they are sensitive to sugar and the owner can't find a way past that. Or if they are ridden on soft, school surfaces 364 days a year and then the owner suddenly wants to go on a full day's trekking on flint - the horse may manage fine, but boots would just take the question mark out of it.

There are plenty of endurance horses who manage totally bare just fine. I've never needed boots for my horses.

If you do have problems - look at diet first, then trim, then for infection - these are the usual suspects when a barefooter starts gimping.
 
Have you had a look at the following books:

Feet First, Nic Barker & Sarah Braithewaite

Horse Owners Guide to Natural Hoofcare, Jamie Jackson

Pete Rameys's book - forgot the name but do go on his website - it is very good. Oberon has just posted a link to an online free hoof course. It doesn't teach trimming, just the hoof structures and what they do. Could be a good start.

Diet - Safergrass.org has good links.

Stick to a high-fibre, low-starch/sugar diet where possible. Some horses tolerate alfalfa, some don't that is worth noting. Minerals play important role. I supplement with Magnesium lick & copper lick in the field.

I'm sure you will find it easy and rewarding :)
 
Way to go! If you can get him going over as many varied surfaces as possible it will help stimulate healthy growth, help thicken soles etc, should he need it. Here we have a track with bands of grass, sand, gravel, small rocks etc, to help 'educate' their feet. As long as you don't ride him on surfaces he hasn't met and isn't used to, he'll be fine. His tolerance will increase the more work you do.
 
I have been riding barefoot for five months, after my horse had had five months with no shoes and no work [no feet issues].
He is on a barefoot mix [80gm micronised linseed meal plus 40gms hoof related minerals], in addition to a normal fibre based diet.
Main problems:
Sharp loose gravel on tarmac roads, I nearly went over to front hoof boots, but do not have tender feet at the moment as I changed yards, now there is decent hacking and the roads are free of sharp gravel.
Farrier ..... my farrier likes to trim his front hooves in to a "perfect shape" but I think I prefer to have them shape themselves, the trim set me back for a month, even though it was not invasive. I hope to keep his feet self trimmed by making sure he gets plenty of road work.
ADVANTAGES
Saved £200 on iron shoes [ I used to have them done every six weeks and never waited for loose shoes, I was adamant that he should be done when required for long term health]
No lost shoes [muddy fields] which can cause damage to hoof walls and ligaments, losing time off work [his and mine] and a farrier callout.
The digital cushions front and hind are both stronger and therefore [one assumes] more effective.
The hoof walls are as good as ever [he chipped a bit at first, but I used a rasp to round off the edges],
Frogs are more developed though farrier trimmed fronts when I was not looking :eek:
He can get in a bit of a panic at the gates if he gets crowded, now I don't have to worry so much about him kicking others.
I am happier that the horse will last longer with fewer man made problems
DISADVANTAGES & COSTS
Paid £60 on extra minerals, including magnesium oxide, biotin, seaweed, Equimins balanced minerals, brewers yeast, limstone flour
Two farrier trims £25
Had to manage his roadwork on a day to day basis as he was marginally footsore, but this was mainly due to limitations at the original yard.
I now have him schooled on a sand arena and have access to moorland with stone tracks and grass verges.
CONCLUSION
I have a horse which looks well, and I enjoy hacking out in a "silent way", I am more educated and always listen to his footfalls, and observe his action at the walk from the ground.
I no longer have to source a good [world class farrier] and I am sorry I don't need him any more as I learnt quite a bit from him.
I think that my horse's feet and his legs will be stronger and last longer.
 
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My girl has never had shoes on and she is fine on the roads and stoney tracks. My farrier keeps her feet trimmed and he says her feet are in excellent shape and she has white feet and many people say they are not as strong as black ones. I feed her Alphalpha pellets as it is good for hoof growth.
 
Jingle Ell`s Bells said:
My girl has never had shoes on and she is fine on the roads and stoney tracks. My farrier keeps her feet trimmed and he says her feet are in excellent shape and she has white feet and many people say they are not as strong as black ones. I feed her Alphalpha pellets as it is good for hoof growth.
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That business about white feet was disproved by a scientific survey some years ago, I think people are confused because due cracked heel [scratches] and photosensitivity, there are more problems with white legged horses.
Also you can see any bruising clearly, which is not so in black hooves.
 
thanks everyone will order those books pronto.
when I started thinking about this I started leading him around when I had a moment as we have lots of different surfaces about the yard so he has been going on stones and gravel for a while. When you look at his soles he is forming a quite board thicker pieces of sole at the front of his foot it is slightly larger to the inside of both feet,( the farrier has just been trimming his toes and tidying up the sides as the nail holes grew out ) I assumed that this thicker sole was growing as it bore a bit more weight and assumed it was good but the vet said the other day you need to get the farrier to trim his soles to get the weight off them, this thicker band looks to be exactly where a natural balance shoe sits so I had assumed it was a good thing ,not sure what to ask the farrier to do.HELP
 
Goldenstar said:
thanks everyone will order those books pronto.
when I started thinking about this I started leading him around when I had a moment as we have lots of different surfaces about the yard so he has been going on stones and gravel for a while. When you look at his soles he is forming a quite board thicker pieces of sole at the front of his foot it is slightly larger to the inside of both feet,( the farrier has just been trimming his toes and tidying up the sides as the nail holes grew out ) I assumed that this thicker sole was growing as it bore a bit more weight and assumed it was good but the vet said the other day you need to get the farrier to trim his soles to get the weight off them, this thicker band looks to be exactly where a natural balance shoe sits so I had assumed it was a good thing ,not sure what to ask the farrier to do.HELP
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Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!!!!!


Your vet knows NOTHING about barefoot horses. The callous is there for him to walk on. It's what barefoot horses DO!

Don't touch it!!!!


While I'm here, now I have stopped screaming, only a tiny proportion of people with barefoot horses use hoof boots. I have three in work and none of them do. My friend has four and none of those do either. I hunt with up to five other barefooters and you can't hunt in boots.

It sounds like you are doing just great.
 
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Goldenstar said:
thanks everyone will order those books pronto.
when I started thinking about this I started leading him around when I had a moment as we have lots of different surfaces about the yard so he has been going on stones and gravel for a while. When you look at his soles he is forming a quite board thicker pieces of sole at the front of his foot it is slightly larger to the inside of both feet,( the farrier has just been trimming his toes and tidying up the sides as the nail holes grew out ) I assumed that this thicker sole was growing as it bore a bit more weight and assumed it was good but the vet said the other day you need to get the farrier to trim his soles to get the weight off them, this thicker band looks to be exactly where a natural balance shoe sits so I had assumed it was a good thing ,not sure what to ask the farrier to do.HELP
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OMG a VET said that?
banghead.gif


Yes, if you want the horse to go lame, by all means trim the sole...and then the vet would suggest shoes as the horse isn't managing barefoot.
rant2.gif


You are 100% right to question that advice.:)

The weight bearing surfaces of the shod hoof are the walls (and sometimes the heel buttress). This is how we traditionally thought horses should be and it may make sense when the horse is stood still. But horses weren't designed to stand still, they're designed to move.

Studies on wild horse hooves (yes, I know our horses aren't wild but their A&P is the same) shows us that the correct weight bearing surfaces of the hoof are supposed to be the heels, frog, toe callous and wall with variances in load during movement.

The toe callous is padding under the coffin bone - so you can imagine how unwise it is to thin this area. It is extremely rare to need to trim sole in a bare hoof - and those times when it's required is only a one-off due to previous hoof pathology. In fact - the walls are usually the only part of the hoof that need trimming regularly, everything else self maintains.

Natural balance shoes were designed by a farrier who studied wild horse hooves and their weight bearing surfaces attempts to mimic them.

These pics are interesting to show the differences in weight bearing surface.

A shod hoof
hoofshodsnow.jpg


And bare
baresnow.jpg
 
Glad I added the bit about his soles, just shows if it's fails the common sense test question it.
I had a couple goes at barefoot a few years ago that sort of petered out with other horses, my dressage trainer is a big fan and has encouraged me to have a go with him but she never hacks out whereas I do a lot .
Just don't want to do any thing that harms him as he's always been really sound.
 
Unless you have a specialist equine vet, and then one with a well researched interest in having a WORKING barefoot horse, take their advice with a hefty dose of salt!

First off, dont 'have a go' at barefoot, DO IT :D Your mindset is the biggest hurdle to get round (owners in general) and then to learn to ignore the over opinionated *****e from typical liveries.

Horses are sposed to be barefoot, quite why humans decided to interfere I will never forgive (though I do understand it was so on the battlefield they became lethal weapons) you need to educate and arm yourself as much as poss - then revel in the fact your horse functions as one should :D
 
Your vet doesn't want you to go to the "dark side" as he can see his callout fees reducing as you will need him less - less lameness, less hoof problem, less vets fees.

I wish I had never listened to a vet who made me shoe my horse last year - a vet at a top UK vet school. My horse (a TB mare) was perfectly sound without shoes, but when I took her to have a bone chip removed from her fetlock I was told she needed shoes. Not knowing enough to question them and thinking they knew best, I got shoes put on. My mare has since been diagnosed with navicular in both front feet, an "irregular" suspensory ligament in one hind limb and bilateral spavin (although I dont' think the spavin is anything to do with the shoes!) I had her shoes taken off a couple of weeks ago and she will not be having them put on again. I feel extremely bitter that the actions a vet told me to take have potentially made my horse unrideable again....
 
Holly Hocks said:
Your vet doesn't want you to go to the "dark side" as he can see his callout fees reducing as you will need him less - less lameness, less hoof problem, less vets fees.
....
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I know a riding school who made the decision to take the shoes off all their horses. The reduction is farriery costs were nothing compared to the reduction in vets bills!

OP,I too have a KWPN. He has never had shoes(and he hacks:eek:)
I think you will notice an improvement in movement.It may become more expressive(sometimes they just HAVE to make themselves heard-bare feet are quiet so more spring and knee action is used to announce themselves!) and the confidence of having non slip feet may also improve stride length and elevation.

I did try boot once...ministry of silly walks...so still have an unused pair of old macs if you're interested.;)
 
Goldenstar said:
ought to have added vet said don't go over to the dark side so perhaps barefoot is not their thing.
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so the vet used "the dark side" expression, I think there must be an undercurrent of panic in the conventional hoofcare professions at all the "born again" barefoot movement, I think this strengthens my resolve! I like to keep my vets bills as low as possible.
Do NOT let the farrier trim the soles, what is that about!!!!! :eek:
Have a look in the Cavallo website, there is excellent [not extreme] advice and good pictures of feet.
And WOW, I can't believe how many responses you got to those comments!
 
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Holly Hocks said:
Your vet doesn't want you to go to the "dark side" as he can see his callout fees reducing as you will need him less - less lameness, less hoof problem, less vets fees.
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Funny that... since going bf, only seen vet once this year for flu/tet... I miss him!!! :D:D:D
 
tallyhohoho said:
Funny that... since going bf, only seen vet once this year for flu/tet... I miss him!!! :D:D:D
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I only have the vet to diagnose laminitis in my prone pony but have never had the vet for any hoof related problem for any of the others over the last six/seven years. ;) The only leg problem was for a puncture injury, never had tendon etc. problems in any either. Perhaps they don't work hard enough. :D
Mind you I have spent a lot with my vet for a very sick pony with PLE.
 
Snipe said:
Oh no! My vet's hot - maybe I should put shoes back on :p;)
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My vet is pretty hot too lol!! Luckily he is a bf advocate in these parts so he is actually coming back next month to take a photo as he was the one who helped me with his navicular and suggested bf... need more of these vets!!!
 
tallyhohoho said:
My vet is pretty hot too lol!! Luckily he is a bf advocate in these parts so he is actually coming back next month to take a photo as he was the one who helped me with his navicular and suggested bf... need more of these vets!!!
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Ooh, where abouts are you, I want to move there!
 
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