Barefoot horse/ muddy field help.

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thatsmygirl

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I had my horses shoes taken off 8 weeks ago and she has been fab, I'm hacking her out with no boots and she's a forward going and joggy as she always is and the changes to her feet within that short time is quite incredible, she lands heel first and the frogs:heels have really beefed up and the toe is coming right back. Now my question is at the moment I'm keeping her out 24/7 and she comes in after i finish work, for work/groom/feed etc but the last couple of days with all this rain I have noticed her being a little less forward coming in from the field ( gravel stoney track) and wonder if its making her soles soft? My 3 other barefoot ponies take no notice and stay rock crunching whatever the weather but they haven't spent 12 years in shoes. Yesterday I picked her feet out and left her to eat her haylage while I attended to the others so her feet could dry out a bit and walked her round the yard for a while before I rode her. Once on the ride she was her normal bouncy self so hopefully wasn't sore as showed no signs. Now I'm building up road work carefully so I honestly don't think I'm over doing it and would like to keep up some road work over winter but,
1, will I wear her feet down a lot quicker in this wet weather
2, anything I can do to help her feet with all this rain
3, am I doing right by trying to keep a bit of roadwork into her or should I just lay off now.

Tbh I only took her shoes off to give her a winter break but after 2 weeks she got bored and silly and I thought why not let's try it and slowly started increase her rd work, its only at about 2.5 miles now about 3 times a week but I'm honestly thinking as she was coping ok maybe it's something I could work on over winter and see how she copes in regards to shoeing next spring.
Thoughts please from the barefoot peeps would be great
 
First thing, roadwork is good for unshod hooves, so don't decide that you'll wear them out by keeping on riding.
Second - what's her diet?
Mine are barefoot and live out. I think you're lucky in that you can bring her on to a yard and stand her on the dry for a while. I'd recommend Silverfeet (Ebay) wiped around the inside of the hooves after they are picked out, all around the frog and also along the white line area. It's greasy so seems to stay in the hooves reasonably well and is very good for dealing with areas of thrush or infection.
So another part of the hoof care to consider is - who is trimming the hooves? I'd expect anyone who is helping you with this transition (farrier or trimmer) to be giving you advice about this stuff. Possibly also how to maintain the trim between their visits - I have my rasp and trusty sanding block handy at all times. I think you could do with some first-hand explanation about what's happening re your horse's hooves and how to care for them. Most trimmers will give this.
Just editing to add... you need to understand the things to watch out for, things like flare, white line stretching, little stones embedded in the white line, also the signs that will tell you the hooves aren't in balance... There is a lot of info on the Net, but I reckon the person trimming your horse should be willing to spend a bit of time explaining what's going on.
 
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I find wet hooves do wear quicker than hard, dry ones, but you still need to keep up the roadwork as Tinypony says, in order to keep the hooves conditioned.
My cob has been mostly barefoot for 7 years (has had the odd month or 2 in shoes but not since 2011) and has amazing feet, but I have had periods when wear has outstripped growth, despite a good diet.
In summer he can usually do any amount of roadwork, but in winter, a combination of slower hoof growth and wet hooves leading to faster wear, means he sometimes has to wear boots to stop his hooves wearing too short and him becoming footy.
Good luck :)
 
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Thanks tinypony :)
Diet wise she is a good doer so has a bit of haylage when she's in for a couple of hours and bucket wise she has, sounds silly but a egg cup full of fast fibre before soaking,( just to let vits stick to something) a mug full of linseed, mag ox, equimins advance complete and equimins hoof mender. Her coat is like glass u can see you face in it.
She has flared feet and of course streached white line which is another reason why I took her shoes off but luckly she dont seem to get stones stuck much. After looking at bare ponies I just wasn't happy with her feet. I'm actually trimming her myself at the mo and her stride has really improved and she has stopped tripping since her toes has chipped back and iv rolled her toes. I did bring her heels down v slightly just to keep her frogs in contract with the ground and it seems to have paid off. Her angle change is clear to see already :) I know road work etc is good for them I think I just need a bit of reassurance going into her 1st winter. Silver feet I can get v cheaply and have used it in the past so will get some on mon when back to work, I used it last winter on all my others.
I'm pretty confident trimming but am going to get a trimmer out to over see my work for a while with her. My others I have trimmed for a while now and my laminitic ponies feet have improved no end and I think it works well doing little and often rather than once every 6/8 weeks.
 
I find my TB walks a bit gingerly in from the field when her feet are sodden, despite the fact that she has fantastic feet. She is in at night so they have time to dry out. I do use hoof boots in winter though for the reasons already stated.
 
Sound like you're well on your way then. I don't know about Equimins, but I believe it you search for previous "barefoot" threads it's recommended. As you're already improving her way of going with her trim I'll risk inflaming some H+H'ers and suggest you contact a good barefoot trimmer for a bit of guidance. Maybe if you say roughly where you are someone can give a recommendation. I find I manage quite well with the easier hooves, but one of mine has hooves that easily go out of balance and I really benefit from some help with him. You could also consider going on an owner's trimming course. Several of my friends have been to training with Dan Guerrera and speak very highly of him. The owner's courses aren't intended to set anyone up as a trimmer of course, but they give a good understanding to anyone who is maintaining hooves themselves, or even anyone who just wants to have a better understanding of what they want from a working horse trim.
 
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