Barefoot article in H&H - absolute tosh?

S

soloequestrian

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 January 2009
Messages
3,140
Visit site
I've just scanned it in the supermarket, too mean to buy the magazine. I think it's the most anti-barefoot barefoot article I've ever read. Your horse will be fine to go barefoot if it only ever works on grass or a surface, but roads will wear it's hooves away. Barefoot horses have many more problems with abscesses than shod horses. You shouldn't remove shoes until you have consulted your vet and your farrier. TB's are unlikely to cope.
I didn't look at the name of the author, but they are a vet. Presumably one who has never actually met any barefoot working horses.
Pah.
 
I half read it and decided not to waste my time .
I have never had an abbcess on a BF horse however it did occur to me That a high proprtain of horses going BF do so because they have problem feet so that could account for them having more abbcesses.
And as for TB's and roadwork while mine was BF he did five days roadwork a week most weeks and he has not been blessed with naturally great feet.
 
soloequestrian said:
Barefoot horses have many more problems with abscesses than shod horses.
Click to expand...

Haven't read the article but I really object to that comment.

Exactly what evidence is there to base that theory on???

Nothing like a bit of scaremongering eh!

Sounds like the blind leading the blind to me :rolleyes:.
 
Faracat said:
It went further than that - part TB's wont cope either.

Such a shame. It did have a bit about BF hunters though.
Click to expand...

Damn, must rush out and nail the metal back to my ex racers hooves.. How will she ever survive without :rolleyes: .. People don't half talk out their arses sometimes.
 
...but...but they have letters after their names, so they must be right. :p

All those with sound BF/unshod TB's and PBTB's must be in denial, they actually own cobs!
 
Hmmmm where I am not opposed to shoes I am loving having my old boy barefoot and he's coping just fine and I like the nose his barefoot feet make now, a nice clip clopping and he's got much better grip than my mare who is shod :)

If my old boy needed shoes for comfort he would get them in a heartbeat but this article is tosh.
 
Faracat said:
...but...but they have letters after their names, so they must be right. :p

All those with sound BF/unshod TB's and PBTB's must be in denial, they actually own cobs!
Click to expand...

Seriously? So the reason my full tb ex racer, lost every single race, is more chilled then most horses I know, keeps her weight, lives out all year round 24/7 without 27 rugs, doesn't even notice when her shoes are removed is because she is actually a cob?! Totally makes sense now!:p
 
My barefoot horse is the only one of mine in 12yrs to have had an abscess but it doesn't mean I'm going to put shoes on him. He hunts barefoot all the time. I haven't read the article yet.
 
I for one will certainly be writing a letter of complaint that they've published something that has no supporting evidence at all!!!
 
Could it be that author of article is in fact sponsored to promote the use of shoes by any farriers who do not like to do trims for barefoot horses??? ( cheeky grin)
 
A quick review of barefoot posts will reveal plenty of horses that go barefoot and suddenly start abcessing-so perfectly true. And a shod horse that has it's shoes taken off and then goes hacking will wear away the hoof..
 
SusieT said:
A quick review of barefoot posts will reveal plenty of horses that go barefoot and suddenly start abcessing-so perfectly true. And a shod horse that has it's shoes taken off and then goes hacking will wear away the hoof..
Click to expand...

I know for certain that my mare's terrible abscesses were caused by her stretched white line, which was caused by the terrible job the sacked farrier did. She started to abscess while the shoes were still on.

Many newly unshod/BF horses abscess because of this (their white line is stretched because of the shoes they used to wear and the bad job that was done to balance to hooves). This is not the same as a BF/unshod horse with healthy hooves that are well balanced, with tight white lines.

Yes hacking unshod/BF will wear the hoof away, but if you build up slowly, the hooves will grow faster. So you don't wear away the poor little neddy's hooves to bloody stubs. :p I have never managed to do enough roadwork to to be able to stop needing the farrier trim regularly. I'd love to get to the point where she 'self trims' but so far I'm not even close.
 
Well, generally speaking, I'd trust my farrier more than my vet (she missed a small pebble in Sham's toe last summer) where feet are concerned in nine cases out of ten.

Farrier trims her feet whenever necessary, and says her feet are brilliant and doesn't need shoes, but I know he'd let me know as soon as he could if anything changed.

Why nail lumps of metal on their feet if it's not necessary? And why spend all that money? Of course I accept there's a time and place for shoes, but I don't shoe for the sake of it.
 
Sounds like it could have been written by any vet from my ex- practice.

I have it in writing that in their opinion my ex-racer wouldn't be suitable as a riding horse and that he NEEDS shoes. Previously had various "discussions" on the subject and their complete lack of knowledge & understanding of foot anatomy and function is unsettling considering the £££ they take from people to diagnose navicular... Their own take on foot care/hoof health of their own horses leaves a lot to be desired too.

The only solution is for owners/ riders to take responsibility for their own education and to apply common sense.

I'm happy to have my farrier trim my horses but they too are of the opinion that it's soft surface work only. This is despite horses being sound on all surfaces including roads and stony forestry tracks.
 
Oh no... More for the tutters to use as 'evidence' over why I'm mad to take shoes off... Sigh.
 
Worst abscess ever, was on a horse that we had taken shoes off, idiot then jumped a fence into a hard yard, bruised both fronts, that took a LONG time to blow. Vets made me feel guilty as sin for no shoes, to the point that I said to vet in question, I must be neglecting him, put an offer in and buy him off me, or shut up with the non stop guilt trips. (including that the ground was wet in feb, and there was mud in fields and round gateway)

Second worst, mare had shoes on, and tracked down and round her white line deep. When it grew down and you could see it, it had taken 1/4 the hoof.

I have 7(gulp) at mo, only one has front shoes on, and its only ever been fronts. and we hacked for miles, roads, tracks, you name it. Unfortunatly he wore his fronts too much, and didnt adjust to being without :(

Ok most of mine are young, but they are in a field with a crushed concrete path by shelter, often choose to stand on it, and are self conditioning their own feet strong. Farrier impressed with their feet.
 
I haven't seen the article... what a shame, I thought it might be something positive and encouraging.

On the abscessing front they can occur in a horse transitioning from shod (and/or neglected) to barefoot. Its part of the natural detoxification process of an unhealthy hoof to a healthy hoof. An abscess has been festering for a while, and then the shoes come off or the hooves trimmed it finally migrates to soft tissue where it can rupture. It's the body’s way of trying to expel a foreign object or necrotic tissue. Sounded like barefoot horses have abscesses as they are unhealthier, hopefully its on the path to health. Horrid for the horse and horse owner though, although I've seen some quite quick turnarounds with soaking and pouticing.

Maybe some complaints would encourage them to do a follow up with some alternative views.
 
I invite the journalist to see my troop;

They are all barefoot and have been for 12 years; a couple of years ago my TB x Connie suffered two abcesses but that was due to incorrect barefoot trimming by a stand in farrier whilst I was looking for a new farrier to replace one who had retired.

I also go barefoot sometimes and I wear a long necklace of brightly coloured beads, flowers in my hair and long robes :D
 
My 2 are barefoot. One has never had shoes on, the other had his shoes taken off the day he came to me 3 years ago. Both regularly do endurance pleasure rides up to 30km over all kinds of terrain. They both do a lot of mileage each week on roads, and our trimmer says they have fabulous hooves!
 
Had just spoken to my farrier about pulling shoes off my boy - he'd been barefoot on the hinds since September. He has one wonky front foot I worry about, but farrier seems to think he'll do well without. Okay, so off they came. Two days later the HH article hit my door mat and my part TB (well, PBA with a lot of TB) hasn't read the article, so we'll just carry on - barefoot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top