Barefoot- going footy!!

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Writteninthestars

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Iv had My horse barefoot for a year now and previous owner was told to take shoes off as her feet are really good but she was only worked once a week if that. My horse is now working 3 times a week which includes a hack every week. Started gradual and got longer and more trotting as we got on.

Over the winter she got footy when she went onto stones like it was sore so I got some NAF pro feet supplement in her feeds over winter incase it was lack of nutrients.

Now she's out on full turn out on grass like last year so I have taken her off feed and supplements as she doesn't get worked in the week and today she was footy again on th stones but fine on the flat ground. I really don't want topit shoes on of I don't have to.

Help!
 
Nutrition! This spring grass plays havoc with their hooves - she's not failing, she's just enjoying the benefits of lush Northern European grass.
 
You don't have to go straight to shoeing if you are willing to try a few things first. With my own horses, getting the diet right was very important as was how their hooves were trimmed.

I would also consider hoof boots. They are so much better these days. Renegades are often used by endurance riders, so might be worth looking at. There are plenty of other good makes too. The main benefit of boots is that you only need to put them on when you are doing hacking routes that are stoney and your horse can be bare the rest of the time.

Do be aware that footyness can indicate low grade laminitis.
 
This is the time they need to still have their supps, disagree having to put shoes back on. No horse without shoes will walk over stones without showing a bit of uneveness, doesnt mean they are hurting
 
It's not too surprising that horse goes footy on grass and no supplementary feed to support hoof growth, including thickening the soles. The grass is full of sugars and the diet is lacking essentials.
OK many ponies don't get anything, but rather than opt for shoes, I would adjust management which includes diet.
Hacking once a week is probably not enough, if you can give her 20 minutes every day on tarmac the feet will firm up, it is quite easy to fit this in to most exercise routines.
A small feed to carry the minerals, but not pony nuts, they don't have enough minerals in them and may have added molasses/moglo which is something to avoid.
Try pro hoof from pro earth.
 
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Writteninthestars said:
Over the winter she got footy when she went onto stones like it was sore so I got some NAF pro feet supplement in her feeds over winter incase it was lack of nutrients.

Now she's out on full turn out on grass like last year so I have taken her off feed and supplements as she doesn't get worked in the week and today she was footy again on th stones but fine on the flat ground. I really don't want topit shoes on of I don't have to.

Help!
Click to expand...

This is exactly the time of year you *do* need to add supplements... the reason is that during the winter, many horses eat preserved forage (hay, haylage) which doesn't vary much in terms of mineral content. Come spring, they start to eat mainly grass. Grass mineral levels in the UK are already pretty weird - there is a very common overabundance of iron, and a notable deficiency in copper and zinc. Add to this the fact that magnesium and potassium levels vary widely from day to day and week to week, dependent on how much it's rained and how sunny it is, and you suddenly have a whole field full of horses feeling their feet.

You can mask this by shoeing, yes. However shoeing doesn't remove the fact that the horses are still having to deal with the metabolic challenge of the grazing, and at some point down the road you'll find it appears as an even larger issue that can no longer be masked by shoeing.

Better to deal with the issue now :) I find my horse does really well on his balanced minerals (I use ForagePlus, which seems to be the Rolls Royce of mineral supplement matched to UK grazing... the eBay shop Progressive Earth do a very good supplement also, and Equimins Advance also seems to work well). We no longer notice grass flushes, and his hooves are in great shape. The key thing to check is that your supplement does not include added iron, and that it has high levels of copper, zinc and magnesium. There are a few other things that help too, but they're the most commonly needed ones. It's sort of ironic that we can have beautiful lush green grass and think it's providing everything a horse needs, only to find it's actually leaving them starved of some very important elements!

Add to that the fact that some horses do not cope well with NSCs ("sugars") in grass or feed - some horses, mine included, need their grazing restricted during summer months, and even more sensitive horses may need time off grass.

If you try (a) balanced minerals and (b) keeping an eye on how your horse reacts to grass, you may find they cope very well with summer grazing and any hoof tenderness disappears :)
 
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