Barefoot help......bruised toes!

Tinsel Trouble said:
That is facinating, thank you Rockley- I am getting the book from Amazon and having a proper look through it!!
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Just so you know, the dietry advice is a little outdated now - routinely feeding seaweed in no longer recommended except in cases of iodine deficiency in the forage;)
 
Tinsel Trouble said:
That is facinating, thank you Rockley- I am getting the book from Amazon and having a proper look through it!!
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Good one, though the seaweed advice is out of date, as it can lead to excess of Iodine, so just use Fast Fibre and or a good broad mineral base for maintenance and tweak it up with one of the barefoot mixtures.
Linseed meal 100gm per day, plus magnesium and biotin etcetera, a whole new educational experience awaits you.
Join us on the dark side....................
 
Very interesting comments re jumping on grass, one of the reasons I stopped eventing was because his feet were so difficult to manage..........maybe, one day........???!!;)
 
I would say his heels are too long so he is not landing heel first, therefore putting all the pressure in front, which could also be that his feet have become too long all around. Remember barefoot does not mean that feet can become long and dont need to be trimmed regularly in the idea to save money as they will become weak and in the wild they would have been kept nice and short by self trimming - horses do not travel enough to self trim effectively so bear this in mind.
 
Can't resist showing off my wonderful boy when people ask if "real" hunters can go barefoot :)

TinselTrouble I have plenty of eventing pix of other horses in poor ground conditions too, jumps up to 1m 20/ Novice Affiliated.
 
Beeswax - I can assure you his heels aren't long, and he is being seen by the farrier every 6wks, there's no way I'd allow his toes to get too long. Thanks for the guest ion though:)!
 
I event my barefoot boy. Also re the footy on stones on yard, mine still is a little bit and has no problems on any other ground including ODEs. As another poster said it depends on the balance etc (if you search the forums there are some feisty debates on the topic!).

You can get studs for hoof boots too though, I have a set just in case :)
 
Sorry to bore you all but I'm excited to say I popped up the road today, had a wee trot and he's as sound as a pound, he also walked out in his normal 'big' way :) :) :)
 
Am really enjoying this thread! We live in Ireland with our horses. Currently two sports horses, two connemaras, an ex-racehorse and 24yr old half-bred whom I bred. All are barefoot and my husband and I have been trimming for 12 years. In those years we have ridden and competed a total of 13 barefoot horses.

All our horses including the TB have been hunted in barefeet, ( my own connemara is currently in his 6th full season), and 2 evented at RC level (1m sj and xc). Here are a few of my observations; Grip is excellent in slippy/deep going - you wouldn't believe how mucky our hunts are and we regularly jump huge drains from a walk or trot, that after several horses, are bare mud-slides. They scare the pants off me but our horses make nothing of them! On slippy, steep, wet fields all the horses out hunting slip a bit but ours no more so than them. We do plenty of very fast trotting on tarmac roads (which I hate) but again you would not be able to spot that our horses aren't wearing shoes. A good friend, who would have been a real traditionlist when it came to hoofcare, transitioned his hunter to barefeet for last season and a second horse that his son hunts, for this season. He is absolutely delighted with how they are crossing the country and is a complete convert!

We trim our horses every 2-4 weeks. It is only a light trim at these intervals and often only a light mustang roll. This ensures the hooves stay in tip top shape and hugely lessens chipping (stone wall country is very hard on horses feet). It is something you could learn to do yourself in between a 'professional' trim and is crucial in helping to prevent mechanical forces pulling the hoof wall. We always 'trim' the day before a competition or hunting and our horses have NEVER been sore (nor ever should be) following a trim.

Whilst eventing, the worst surface for grip we have found to be very hard ground with lush, short grass. This ground also causes the same problems for shod horses without studs. Our solution for the sj phase was to trot round any sharp turns, which I know is not ideal, but prevented any slips.

My biggest problem is hoof abcesses. I do not have many of them, tho'. In past years I might have had only 1 case every two years! This winter I have had two already, but it has been depressingly wet. My vet says he has been out to loads of cases this winter and they were all in shod horses in work, so I know it isn't just a 'barefoot' thing. Obviously, we have never lost a day to a pulled shoe or nail-prick. Our horses have all required different lengths of time to transition fully, but you will learn to trust your instincts by listening to your horse with regards to what he is able to do in his bare feet. Google Pete Ramey for an excellent website and good luck!

P.S. I would agree that the bleeding you are seeing at the toe is likely to be historical but keep the toe short and well bevelled to prevent tearing of the hoof wall in future. Trust your horse to tell you what he is comfortable doing. He can feel what he's walking on and will tell you what he can handle.
 
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