Barefoot Advice

forestfantasy

forestfantasy

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:) Hi guys,

My mare is having her front shoes off on Wednesday for good (hopefully!)

She's never had back shoes on and has great feet, the only reason she had fronts on is as a 2 year old she took the front of her toe off on the hard ground messing about with the other babies. This sent the foot boxy to compensate, farrier suggested remidial shoeing to correct.

This helped to an extent, but the foot is still smaller than the 'normal' foot & boxy. So i have decided to whip them off hoping it will improve the boxyness.

So basically what do i say to the farrier?! Am i right in saying i want them trimmed/shaped but not to trim the sole or frog?

Some background: 5yr old AA x WB 16.1hh.
Out 7-5.30 on good grazing/flat paddock. In at night.
Fed ad-lib haylage.
Happy Hoof & A&P Sugar & cereal intolerance diet.
Summer ridden 6 days/winter 2 days. Manily hacking.

Thanks in advanced!
 
forestfantasy said:
:) Hi guys,

My mare is having her front shoes off on Wednesday for good (hopefully!)

She's never had back shoes on and has great feet, the only reason she had fronts on is as a 2 year old she took the front of her toe off on the hard ground messing about with the other babies. This sent the foot boxy to compensate, farrier suggested remidial shoeing to correct.

This helped to an extent, but the foot is still smaller than the 'normal' foot & boxy. So i have decided to whip them off hoping it will improve the boxyness.

So basically what do i say to the farrier?! Am i right in saying i want them trimmed/shaped but not to trim the sole or frog?

Some background: 5yr old AA x WB 16.1hh.
Out 7-5.30 on good grazing/flat paddock. In at night.
Fed ad-lib haylage.
Happy Hoof & A&P Sugar & cereal intolerance diet.
Summer ridden 6 days/winter 2 days. Manily hacking.

Thanks in advanced!
Click to expand...
You will be lucky if the farrier does not pare frogs, it seems to be in their genes, just ask for the lightest possible [pasture] trim, you obviously want to leave the sole alone if possible, explain you are hoping the hoof will come good, and listen for his [slight] intake of breath.
I don't know is the answer, but it is worth a try, I am going to stop my farrier trimming my boy back to "perfection" as I feel it has set me back a month, but then his problems are pretty minor compared to yours.
Some farriers trim all feet far too much, I never see the point in removing sole [except to give a better fit to a metal shoe], what harm does it do?
The sole will evolve in the first few weeks, do not worry if it appears chalky, this is normal.
I used a rasp to round off edges at first as they were chipping, again this is normal.
Have a look at Rockley and see if you can find any answers, I think there is a forum which you can ask. I think it will help if you take photos today and after the trim and weekly there after.
I would feed micronised linseed and other stuff for hooves, not sure that Happy Hoof has anything like enough Biotin in it [20gms per day is recommended] see Equimins site for some info, I might try the Biotin and see how you go, as he is getting a good diet for barefoot [ie low sugars, high fibre and minerals], but the guy at Equimins will advise you.
Happy Hoof:
Digestible Energy (MJ/kg) 8.8
Oil (%) 4.0
Protein (%) 8.0
Fibre (%) 25.0
Starch (%) 4.0
Vitamin A (iu/kg) 10,000
Vitamin D (iu/kg) 1,500
Vitamin E (iu/kg) 200
Selenium (mg/kg) 0.1
Copper (mg/kg) 15.0
Zinc (mg/kg) 100

Equimins Biotin
Oil 6.5%
Protein 11%
Fibre 15%
Ash 10%
Moisture 4%
Biotin 600 mg/kg
Methionine 2000 mg/kg
Zinc 3000 mg/kg
Calcium 8.5%
Copper 150 mg/kg
MSM 10,040 mg/kg
Amino Acids ---

Equimins advanced Biotin
Biotin 1000 mg/kg
Zinc Methionate 53,000 mg/kg
Zinc Oxide 21,000 mg/kg
Organic Zinc 5,300 mg/kg
MSM 53,000 mg/kg
 
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Thanks,

Yes i'm awaiting his disappointed sigh when i say i want them off! (the shoes that is ;) )

Definitely going to take some pics later, i'm confident she'll be fine as she's never footsore if she pulls a shoe & was fine when i used to lead her out on the roads as a baby.

The only reason she has HH is because my sec a has it & she gets silly on sugar (hence the A&P feed) but i will certainly look into the enhanced Biotin :)
 
Yes I don't think you want them "shaped", the idea is that the horse conformation will determine the shape, but the nail holes will have weakened the wall, so the wall needs rounding off, [try saying Mustang Roll and watch him shudder].
He will balance them and then you are on your own, for six weeks anyway!
You should look at the videos on Rockley farm site, what you need to develop is an "eye" for the footfall, he needs to place the caudal part of the foot on the ground first and NOT the toe, so if you can video your own boy every week you should see a pattern developing.
If possible I try to walk and trot [more recently] at least twenty minutes every day on tarmac to trim the hooves and increase blood flow within the hoof.
Feet First [book] is great , but swerve the seaweed in the diet.
 
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Bless him - he already calls me cheap for having a half set (we have a piss-taking relationship!) so he'll hate me when i tell him this!
My sec a has no shoes - trimmed by him & never had a problem so i'm confident :)
 
You could tell your farrier that you are taking the shoes off for the winter. All the farrier texts he will have ever read will all advise allowing a horse a break from shoes;)

If your horse has been shod for a while, he may have excess material in his sole that may need exfoliating THIS ONCE. If your farrier feels this is the case, please request he only does this at the bars area and near the frog, and only as far as just above the live sole plane - not into the live sole plane. AND NOT THE TOE SOLE AT ALL.

Any further excess will come off naturally in the next few weeks, when the horse moves.

Frogs - any big, overhanging flaps that are harbouring infection need to go - but only to open them up...gently. Please, no paring or beautifying - it will hurt the horse. Any roughness or lumpiness will exfoliate naturally over the next couple of weeks.

Be prepared to fork out for some boots if the horse is sore at first. There's no special prizes for being totally barefoot....but you'll get there much quicker if you keep him comfy in the beginning and he is happy enough to keep moving and therefore growing more hoof.

He may be just fine, but if he remains uncomfortable after a couple of weeks and/or you struggle to grow a good wall connection then you'll need to review his diet.

Good luck.:)
 
Ha mrsD123 your spot on!!!! My farrier takes off far to much sole and frog and argues that the sole needs taking off!!! Iv got to the point where I feel if I really want to stay bare foot and keep in mind one off mine is a tb who's just had his shoes taken off I'm not going to be able to acheive this with my current farrier. He took all my tb sole and frogs off as a trim when he removed his shoes.
 
The ideal is 'self trimming' and if you can keep your horse moving over a variety of surfaces there should be very little for the farrier to do.
I have put stones in gateways(they roam 3 fields,so frequently pass through and loose stones are ideal for self trimming)
I am also developing a small stone paddock(a sheltered area where I put hay) and I ride on tarmac,cobbley tracks and flinty tracks.
My farrier specialises in barefoot horses. He checks their feet and snips the wall on my unbacked youngster and the heels on my warmblood if I have not done enough roadwork. He does check sole,bars and frog and will attend to anything untoward.
It sounds as if you have a good relationship with your farrier. Question his reasons if he wants to trim any underparts and perhaps mention that there are a number of barefoot farriers in the country who would be happy to share their knowledge if he wants to know more.......I am afraid mentioning barefoot trimmers to farriers can be off putting for them,but a fellow qualified farrier who knows about the subject might interest him. I can pm you some names if he seems interested.
Good luck.
 
Thanks everyone.

Good idea Oberon, i kind of am taking them off for winter in a sense, as i only get to ride 1/2 days a week at the moment!

abitodd - Thanks for your advice, i have to walk them to the field and back down a lane about 1/3 mile which is quite stony & rough everyday so im sure that will help & all of my riding is roadwork & tracks through winter.
I will also PM you if he's interested in the farriers with barefoot experience.
I'm sure he'll be ok about it in the end! :)
 
:UPDATE!

Well the shoes came off this morning!

So i took a deep breath and told the farrier that i wanted her shoes off to be met with............agreement! :eek:

Could have fell over when he said ' I think you do right' :eek:

So he told me (without asking) that her sole & frog were healthy so he'd be leaving them alone :D

She walked to the field over the stones and track without a problem, a smiley day :D
 
forestfantasy said:
:UPDATE!

Well the shoes came off this morning!

So i took a deep breath and told the farrier that i wanted her shoes off to be met with............agreement! :eek:

Could have fell over when he said ' I think you do right' :eek:

So he told me (without asking) that her sole & frog were healthy so he'd be leaving them alone :D

She walked to the field over the stones and track without a problem, a smiley day :D
Click to expand...

You farrier sounds fab!

Just take it easy with her. You sometimes find they are fine for the first couple of days - they over do it and then they start gimping after day 2.
 
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