Barefoot and mental wellbeing

[Mrs B]

Why would you have a barefoot horse in a dry dusty small area?Mine arn't.Their habitat is just the same as any shod horse.Why shouldn't it be?Also,id like to make a point logically.The frog is supposed to pump blood round the hoof when in contact with the floor.Its also there to absorb shock on impact.With shoes on its unable to do this.It is just possible the horse stops feeling so much in the hoof.Suddenly,you take the shoes off(if you do)and their soft feet that havnt come into contact with the ground for who knows how long,its gonna be a complete shock to the system and its going to hurt.Thats why i think dont put shoes on in the first place.With people we wear shoes,and if we were to walk on stony ground,we are going to struggle,our feet have never had a chance to harden up.And yes,it can be done,but in modern society people wear shoes.But the one thing with people is our feet come into contact with ground there for pumping blood round our feet.

Well, from my reading of other threads on this topic, it seems to be suggested that in order to limit the sugar in your horses diet to enable it to be comfortable barefoot, access to grazing should be limited.

I agree your point is logical, but what does it have to do with what I said? Even if my horse can't feel as well with shoes on as with barefoot, where's the problem if he's sound and happy?

 

[use a name]

Well, from my reading of other threads on this topic, it seems to be suggested that in order to limit the sugar in your horses diet to enable it to be comfortable barefoot, access to grazing should be limited.

I agree your point is logical, but what does it have to do with what I said? Even if my horse can't feel as well with shoes on as with barefoot, where's the problem if he's sound and happy?

I only meant it to be the first bit that had anything to do with what you said.Not the rest.Its just,as i see it,your horse may be sound and happy,but what is happening to his foot.He has not as much feeling in it,the blood is not being pumped around his hoof there for the tissue starts to die.Also,when the foot hits the ground,the shock jars up the leg.Also not good!I would imagine it would be quite painful.With the ''access to grazing'' thing i find this quite strange.I wouldnt restrict grazing or anything simply because of being barefoot and i dont understand why you would do this?Im not saying you do,just the people that have said this.Im not saying its wrong i just dont get it.

 

[Mrs B]

If a horse is very sugar/starch sensitive then it's not just the feet that are affected. They are the most outwardly obvious sign that there is a problem i.e. in a horse without shoes the horse becomes footy when its system is overloaded with sugar, in a shod horse with their feet held off the ground by shoes this footiness is not as easily seen. So the effects on the feet are the same whether shod or barefoot i.e. the feet become inflamed and sore - it's just might not see it when the horse is shod. The shoes haven't removed the inflammation - how could they? And if the feet suffer repeated low level inflammation, slowly but surely they will become weaker and more prone to soft tissue injury, long term. On top of this if the horses system is overloaded with sugar then it's not just the feet that are adversely affected. The hind gut will be acidic, which can lead to stomach ulcers and toxins will be circulating round the whole horse causing longer terms problems to liver and kidneys.

Shoe your horse or don't - either way ensuring the horse isn't eating a diet that overloads it's system with sugar/starch is crucial. One of the many benefits of barefoot is that you can see almost instantly if this is happening and do something about it. In the shod horse how will you ever know?

All I know is I have kept horses shod and at grass for several decades. They have done a variety of jobs from hunting to hacking to polo. They have all and without exception lived happy, healthy lives until their 20's (often late 20's) with no gut problems, liver problems, kidney problems, ulcers, lameness.... I did lose one to colic aged 29 as he had a cancerous growth which caused his gut to twist. Nor have I ever had one with a problem of casting shoes due to poor hoof quality. I do agree with you that feeding too much starch or sugar is unhealthy - mine have always had mostly forage with a small amount of hard feed.

All I can do: all ANYONE can do, is take an overall view and do what they think is best for their horses.

 

[LucyPriory]

I am glad the OP has raised the issue of mental health of the horse. Something all too often neglected. But why restrict it to barefoot?

Most* of the horses I see suffering mental health issues are being kept in a way not suited to their evolutionary needs not because of their feet, but for their owners convenience. Mostly they are kept in because of mud, they get dirty and pull their shoes off.

So perhaps the question should be: - Is it acceptable to compromise our horse's mental well being for the sake of convenience?

*My entire client list has their horses out, mostly 24/7. One of my newer clients had previously had their horse in a box, shod, for 9+ months on vet instructions. Lame. And yes we took the shoes off, turned it out and it was sound within 2 weeks.

Apologies for using the word 'mostly' so often

 

[cptrayes]

I too agree that the OP has a point about welfare.

The point she misses is that horses which cannot go barefoot without restriction of their grass intake are usually (not always, but usually) actually showing the first signs of laminitis. So the restriction in grass intake is to prevent the health effects of what causes laminitis (which are not restricted to the feet but can include very severe sweet itch and other problems due to a compromised liver function).

The welfare issue is real though, and as a result I keep my horses together in a small barn, just about big enough to canter in, during spring and summer daytimes. They queue to be let into the barn in the morning and if I am not around but the door is left open, they put themselves inside, so I know that there is no welfare issue for them. I am very lucky to have this facility. I would be less happy to have to stable them, but I think that the health benefits of being barefoot would outbalance my concerns about 8 hours a day in a stable.

Regarding paddock paradise systems and track systems, if you have a big enough field and enough time, watch a group of horses. They are creatures of habit, using the same paths at the same time of day. Provided your track is long enough, and wide enough for the horses to have a race with each other now and then, the fact that it is narrow is of no consequence to the horse.

Good points, OP, and a sensible discussion so far

 

[nikkimariet]

"But why is it better to restrict a horse from being in open spaces, from being able to let rip without having to hurtle round corners, or put him in a muzzle, for the sake of taking shoes off him (when he is totally sound in shoes). Additionally often there is 'hardcore' or similar added to 'condition' the feet, and the horse is forced to walk over an uncomfortable substance to get to food. It is not much better than a 'go kart' track, or a carousel pony that has to keep going round and round..(well.. that's an exaggeration obviously..but there are similarities)
Food is another point. Given the choice between hay and grass, particularly soaked hay, a horse will choose grass. Horses are often very keen to get grass and enjoy it. Refusing them access to grass, e.g keeping them in a dust paddock, solely for the purpose of taking shoes of this horse, to me again is sacrificing the mental well being of this horse for the sake of going barefoot."

The first part: not all horses are pets where it doesn't matter if they do a suspensory in the field and don't have to work for a year or two. Bruce did both his suspensories in the field by hurtling round, guess what? Out of work for two years. You will never catch a professional turning their 50k+ horse out in a HUGE field for it to go bonkers. Personally, I am all for turning horses out in the field, dislike it when I know of horses that are being kept in all the time. BUT some horses are merely too precious to be treated as a pet. Get over it.

A muzzle: yes, because a horse gorging himself on grass and getting either colic or laminitis is really fair on them isn't it? UNBELIEVABLE.

Carousel ponies (your 'exaggerated point, your words, not mine): I would really love to know where you get your info from..... It's not cruel, it's being strict to be kind if you like. If we didn't put muzzles on 2 of ours and restrict their grazing, they would end up with severe and chronic laminitis, because they get fat off thin air, can't imagine 5 acres of dairy grassland would do them much good (mainly because the sugary grass would work against their little naked feet).

We went barefoot when it was our last chance to help a horse that we owned, all she did was rear and buck. Took her shoes off, like a different horse! And I'm NOT saying going barefoot is suitable for everyone, some people and some horses just cannot cope with it, which is fine, no one is forcing you to go barefoot. If the horse is in pain, yeah it's causing some mental anguish.....but I don't think you can outright stake a claim that barefoot = a horse in mental pain, well in fact I know. Because that would make you a nutter.

Oh and by the way, horses were originally on dry and dusty land. Hence so many feet problems because UK is so damp and boggy and covered in mud.