Barefoot Beginner

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MollyMoo1307

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Hi all, im hoping you can point me in the right direction here. I apologise in advance, my enter key doesn't seem to work on forums. As the title suggests im a complete beginner to going Barefoot, but after doing some reading online and discussing with a lady at our livery who is a firm believer in it I have decided to give it a go. Problem is I don't even know where to start. My boy has just been shod with (hopefully) his last set of shoes so I have a few weeks to get things sorted and I wanted to start his new diet now so that its on its way so to speak for when the shoes come off. Hes a 15.2hh ID who is a very good doer, his feet "seem" very good but have started to crack badly in this weird weather, hence the decision to go BF. Hes had a few weeks off work so is just coming back into it slowly but will be in moderate work, with RC activities, a few jumping shows and hopefully some XC/hunter shows. Hes currently 475kg but could afford to lose alittle but not too much weight but I think that will shift once hes back in proper work. He currently gets a section of soaked hay at night, in field all day, has a salt lick in stable and is given a handful of Safe and Sound and a handful of Competition Mix with carrots and apples, a scoop of garlic and a scoop of a joint supplement which for the life of me I cant remember the name. What should I change it too? where do I start? ive read that I should ad vits and minerals but which ones? He probs doesn't need a feed at all except to add the vits etc and the fact that all the horses get fed at the same time and he'd kick the stable door down if he didn't get anything. Any help much appreciated.
 
Well, first you're doing the right thing sorting the diet out before shoes come off :)

Most BF'ers use a base feed for mineral balancers; ie Fast Fibre, and something like Pro Hoof from Progressive Earth ( ebay ) tbh they don't need anything else. One section of hay at night doesn't sound much though, so I would double that if its soaked.

Ditch the Safe and Sound and the Competition mix also the apples and carrots! Add salt ( everyone should add salt imo )

Best of luck, and if you can, take a photo diary of the changes in your horses hooves :)
 
Ditto AngieandBen - something like fast fibre makes a good safe base feed for a mineral balancer. Pro Hoof/Pro Balance + are good, as are the forage plus balancers.

Is it one slice of small bale or big bale hay?
 
Thanks for the replies, i will have a look at the website and those feeds. its one....maybe two(depends if its me or my mum filling the haynets) leafs of the small square bales. the leafs are pretty big and he always has hay left in the morning, not alot but some. its in one of those small holed haynets so it takes him longer to eat. Hes out at grass (not great quality but better than some) from 8am to 6-7pm.
 
Bearing in mind your horse is in his stable from 7pm-ish until 8am, is over 12 hours, one slice of hay is no where near enough, even in a haynet to slow his eating and him being on grass all day. This sort of routine will affect his gut, increase the chances of him getting ulcers or other digestive issues and ultimately affect his feet as he will not be able to get the best out of his feed. If a horse is compromised in any way it seems to show in the feet first.

If I were you I'd get some Fast Fibre and feed a small handful of that soaked with Pro-Hoof - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PRO-HOOF-...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item41740e67fa - and salt. You could bulk it out with some plain chaff - oat straw, or even Hi-Fi unmollassed if you have limited options in your feed shop.

If you want to keep weight off your lad then soak the hay well for a few hours - think its 12 hours to remove sugar but having never had a fattie I'm not sure, I'm always trying to keep weight on mine! :) He definitely needs more than a slice or two though, I'd be feeding 3 or 4 at the very least.

The competition mix you feed will be full of molasses, as, I *think*, is Safe and Sound. Avoid these. Molasses is BAD for feet, some horses cant tolerate alfalfa either, even in tiny amounts.

To begin with it all looks really complicated, but it's not honestly! The diet changes are good on so many levels and will make positive changes to you horse even with shoes on, it will be worth it!

Good luck! :)
 
Scarlett thanks for this. i will go.to feed store today and see what they have. the problem with the hay is even getting the one maybe two leafs he always has hay left in the morning. i dont really want to put more in when hes not eating it all anyway. i will play this bit by ear and see if he starts to finish it now hes back in work. if he does i will start adding more.
 
It's better to feed hay by weight rather than slices but if he always has some hay left in the morning then you're obviously giving him enough. I feed unmolassed beet pulp and TopSpec Lite balancer (works well for my horses and it's quite a bit cheaper than Pro-Hoof or Forageplus) and salt. As long as you aim for a well balanced, forage-based diet that's low in starch and sugar, you'll be on the right tracks. A few slices of carrots or apples won't hurt but I'd ditch the garlic if I were you.
 
Thanks, i was looking at fast fibre, the pro balancer and just a teeny bit of dengie hi-fi molasses free. (i think it said 35%fibre, 2.5%sugar and 1.5%starch. is this ok? Just to kinda dry out the fast fibre abit. also how much salt do i give? just table salt or some other kind. lol gone are the days when u just fed chaff and pasture mix to everything.
 
MollyMoo1307 said:
Thanks, i was looking at fast fibre, the pro balancer and just a teeny bit of dengie hi-fi molasses free. (i think it said 35%fibre, 2.5%sugar and 1.5%starch. is this ok? Just to kinda dry out the fast fibre abit. also how much salt do i give? just table salt or some other kind. lol gone are the days when u just fed chaff and pasture mix to everything.
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Yup, sounds spot on :) some folk don't like the Hi-Fi molasses free because of the alfalfa but it's certainly a good place to start, you can always swap things about if you don't think it's working.

Take pics now of his feet if you can, you'll be surprised by the changes that can be made from just diet :)
 
The NRC suggest that a resting horse needs about 25g (about 2 teaspoons) salt per day, Dr Kellon suggests 1oz/28g per day in winter and 2oz/56g per day in summer, or more depending on workload. I add a teaspoon of table salt to am and pm feeds.
 
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