barefoot footy tb & navicular

[china]

weve made the decision to try my tb barefoot, he is constantly pulling his shoes off and making a complete mess of his feet so today i just said to my farrier and vet (he has navicular) what is the point in me paying for them when he is comstantly pulling them off and destroying his feet! so were going to give it a bash!
iv looked at these cavalo boots which look good. what are you recomendations?

ok and for the info needed part.
my tb has NEVER gone barefoot, hes always been shod and has held shoes well, but recently his hocks and back were injected so he is much free-er behind and is always pulling them off, now he has navicular that is under treatment with navilox and remedial shoeing and this is going great! he is going really well so its important i dont agrevate this!
he is stabled overnight on rubber matting, he has 2 winter paddocks, one sand and one gravel (small gravel) now the farrier says he wont cope going on their which i agree as he will be hopping for a while as hes very footy, abit like us walking on hot coals footy! now would i be right in putting him in this gravel paddock for a few hours a day to help strengthen his feet? his feet are currently in a bad way with him pulling his shoes off ( il pop a pick up of what he did last week) he is very flat footed so the farrier isnt to keen on letting him go barefoot completely unless it goes really well that is and i want him to stay that way!

 

[LucyPriory]

I've also commented on your other thread. Boots need to be fitted carefully and different brands suit different feet and work requirements.

But get the underlying cause of event lines sorted as a priority.

http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/event-lines.html

 

[maggiesmum]

Pea gravel is actually a really good surface for barefoot horses as it supports the whole surface of the foot, and you might be surprised at how comfortable he is in the pea gravel paddock - I also can't tell you how envious I am, wish I had access to a pea gravel paddock!

I;m not a fan on rubber matting unless its under the bed, I don't like them standing directly on it as I feel its going to help all those horrible thrushy bugs to thrive, but everyone has their own preference.
Diet will be the key as it always is, fibre only no cereals (that TB's need filling with corn is defo a myth ) and supplement with seaweed, brewers yeast and magnesium oxide.
The flat footedness will, with a good diet, exercise (within the horses comfort zone) and good hoof care sort itself out. The navic might well go away too.
The only other thing is lots and lots of research, read as much as you can and take control of your horses feet. x

 

[china]

thanks for that mm. the gravel paddocks are new we had all sand last year and it was a slushy mess :S but this year its lovely, their paddocks arnt massive and he has a sand paddock aswell so he can have a roll ect but it is big enough that he can have a trot and stretch his legs, he is happy to be on the dry we have a 3yr old that hasnt been shod yet and she copes fine on the gravel but has never been shod ;-)
im hoping this will work. my mare is barefoot behind. when i got her her feet were in an awfull state and she was very footy so i had her shod all round, 7 weeks on her feet look fab and she is now bare behind and comfortable and will go bare infront to on the next shoeing save the pennys!

 

[Smile_and_Wave]

the cavallo boots are by far the easiest boots to put on and off but read thoughly the fitting guide as they only suit horses with certain shape feet

i used to look after a mare with navicualr she had very flat feet and was generally kept barefoot although she was a brood mare so prediminately lived on grass and soft bedding surfaces and still required shoeing late on in pregnancy when she became a bit heavier, when we took the shoes off over winter though she would usually be fine within a few days of having the shoes off

 

[helencharlie]

My tb was always footy when he lost a shoe. He was diagnosed with low grade changes to the navicular about 18 mths ago. Again he had terrible tb feet, couldnt keep shoes on, so remedial shoes were a non no for him. I made the decision to go barefoot. Initially he was footy, however the transition process was not smooth as he developed a very nasty abcess. Once this had cleared up, he did very well transitioning. The YO had hardcore put around the field gates, I took one look at this and thought he will never ever cope walking on this, however, 24 hours later he was walking over it with no problem. When out hacking he wears old mac g1s on his front feet and was wearing renegades on his backs. In the past couple of months he now hacks out completely barefoot on the back. You may like the look of the cavallo boots, but they may not fit your horses hooves. It is very important to get the measurements right for hoof boots. If your horses hooves measure wider than longer the only boots that will fit are the old mac g1s. However, easycare who manufacture these are discontnuing these boots, but they will be replaced sometime next year with easyglove boots. Charlie copes very well barefoot and competes in showjumping all barefoot. If you had asked me 2 years ago, would he cope barefoot I would have said no. He is proof that a footy tb with navicular can go barefoot. Good luck, he will be footy to begin with but he will get better.

 

[china]

he is 5 1/4 by 51/4, farrier measured him for me. im looking forward to giving this a go. and i hope to keep him this way. every horse is different i guess, time will tell.