Barefoot horse needing shoes?

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ApolloStorm

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My 5 yo mare who has up to this point been barefoot her whole life, having just moved to a new yard where the pasture is very hilly and the paths are all stone, where she is used to soft flat pasture. I noticed she is looking a bit footyover the drive stones, I'm hesitant to put shoes on as if I could keep her barefoot I would, but her front soles are looking a hue of pink which is not normal and her toes have worn much more than normal. Has anybody gone the other way? Needed to put shoes on? have you found you have been able to take them off again in winter?
 
Can you not use hoof boots?

I used to have a TB that was foot sore due to stones so bought some boots and they were the Best Buy ever!!
 
My warmblood was wearing his feet too quickly on our stone drive, so getting footy. I've bought him some scoot boots, I lead him to and from the field in them a well as for hacking. They are really quick to put on and off, he knows to wait while I put them on in the field before he comes out too.
 
Problem with hoof boots would be that shoe would need to wear them in the field as she is wearing her feet in the field not just on the track
 
ApolloStorm said:
Problem with hoof boots would be that shoe would need to wear them in the field as she is wearing her feet in the field not just on the track
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If she has just moved her feet will take time to adjust why not use boots every other day or everyday until grown in the trabpnsition period ?
 
I've had to shoe my 12yo mare (I've had since 3 yo) for the first time over the last couple of months. I'm not sure if I will try to remove shoes unless her workload decreases - main reason is her workload has massively increased over the last year going from the short, off road hacks and a bit of schooling to we now do about 30km per week on the roads hacking plus rougher ground. She's had fronts on for about 5 months and have just had to put backs on as well - when the front shoes have about 1-2mm of metal left at the toe after 7 weeks it kinda tells me she really does need them. She's so much happier and more forward going since she was shod.
I'm a huge fan of barefoot and would love to keep her barefoot but her workload simply doesn't allow it. I did try hoof boots but simply couldn't find ones that fitted her well enough. I've always said I'd much rather have barefoot but if they need shoes then they get them!
 
I suspect there are a couple of points to consider here
1) will booting for work reduce the wear sufficiently to make a difference or would you really have to boot for turnout - which is doable but not really ideal.
2) How long it takes for her hooves to speed up their growth the match the current wear (which they should) and whether you are able to make (like with the boots) this period doable.

Personally I would boot for work/maybe for walking to field and back if it is that stoney and she is struggling and reassess in a month.

I've been through increases/decreases of work/wear with mine, all increases have been gradual so that extra growth could kick in. Stopping that work quickly due to an unrelated issues was a nightmare with regards to growth.
Fwiw when doing miles (30+ easily) of road and stoney hacking every week/hunting etc I was still trimming ever 2/3 weeks, partly due to uneven wear but it showed me how much they can upregulate. Now he is mostly dossing he barely needs anything doing every 6. His feet have always coped with the full workload better than shoes ever did (and he is flat soled and far from perfect hoof confo)
 
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If you need to Duplo shoes are a good compromise as keep the concussion down and offer some sole protection too, easily bought from Germany and fitted by normal farrier. After all her life barefoot one of our mares was not coping due to metabolic issues and is so much happier now with these.
 
It's hardly surprising as you have just moved to this yard.

As you will know, feet take a while to adapt to new terrain and new forage. Every time you make a change, the gut and the whole system takes a bit of time to get used to life - not just emotionally but physically.

It will take a few weeks, you might need to forage test and balance the feed accordingly.

Even when my horses just move pastures their feet get sensitive and change shape but it soon goes back to normal. I generally give them a short break and just stick to tarmac for a while or boot for stones. After a couple of weeks we are riding on all terrains bare. Is she out 24/7?

This is when a lot of people shoe as they lose confidence so you do what you need to do but arm yourself with good knowledge and speak to as many barefoot people as possible. Only you know what's right or not.
 
mynutmeg said:
I've had to shoe my 12yo mare (I've had since 3 yo) for the first time over the last couple of months. I'm not sure if I will try to remove shoes unless her workload decreases - main reason is her workload has massively increased over the last year going from the short, off road hacks and a bit of schooling to we now do about 30km per week on the roads hacking plus rougher ground. She's had fronts on for about 5 months and have just had to put backs on as well - when the front shoes have about 1-2mm of metal left at the toe after 7 weeks it kinda tells me she really does need them. She's so much happier and more forward going since she was shod.
I'm a huge fan of barefoot and would love to keep her barefoot but her workload simply doesn't allow it. I did try hoof boots but simply couldn't find ones that fitted her well enough. I've always said I'd much rather have barefoot but if they need shoes then they get them!
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But if you increase workload slowly and give feet time to adjust they will cope ?
 
if you have moved yards, is the grazing better quality? this may contribute to some soreness. if she is not coping in the field either then i would shoe for the summer, you can always take them off for the winter and try again....if she is sore its not fair to leave her like that 24/7, if its only on the stones then boot for the stones only...
 
Tbh if you're worried then you probably need to be having a discussion with your farrier or trimmer so they can have a look in person and assess what's going on. If you've recently moved I'd look at the grazing compared to where you were as well as the surfaces as well as the recent weather creating good conditions for grass growth. If you've got lusher grazing / she's spending more time on the grass than previously then it may be that grass restriction in some form (be that removing from grass for part of day or use of a muzzle) may need to be considered as part of your solution. (If I suspect grass as main culprit for anything then I tend to remove from it completely for a few days as an experiment to see if there's any difference... if there is then Mr Muzzle comes out for a play or as was the case earlier in the year I put the horse back into previous field and routine as my well meaning messing about with this was the cause of my problem!) Would also look at diet. If not already low in sugar and high in fibre then would consider swapping to feed that is as well as supplementing with good quality mineral balancer and additional magnesium oxide to offset likely deficiency in growing grass at this time of year. The sudden change of terrain probably isn't helping overall but if everything else is as good as it can be then her feet should be able to adapt to this over time. If very very sore than would consider booting over more difficult surfaces whilst you get to the bottom of what factors are at play and if there's anything that can be improved but if just a bit hesitant then would probably let her pick her way.
 
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Good advice re. watching grass, diet and increasing workload slowly. I'd still be looking to boot for work and let the feet adapt in the field. A cautionary tale for you - I shod my now 6yo in front in February against my better judgement, having raised him carefully without shoes since a foal. He's undergoing investigations for intermittent hind end issues and my vet is heavily pro shoes. I wanted to rule out soreness in front and also shut the vet up and show shoes made no difference so I agreed to one cycle. 10 days in he stood on his own shoe while messing about in the field and tore a huge hole in the hind sole. One set of hinds for a pad, and several hundred pounds in vets bills later he is just now coming back in to work. Never again will I shoe! I'm sticking to boots as backup, even if the damned things cost £160 a pair because his feet are so big! Oh, and in the 10 days he wore the shoes his performance was no better 😂
 
saskiahorsey said:
Could use boots if workload increases too quickly
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Work was increased slowly and appropriately for pony's fitness so not "too quickly" but foot growth didn't keep pace. Not against working horses without shoes but some horses simply don't manage.

Also, found pony was slipping in long grass and needed studs occasionally.
 
saskiahorsey said:
But if you increase workload slowly and give feet time to adjust they will cope ?
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unfortunately not - we did everything possible. While between this time last year and now she's massively increased workload it's been done slowly and carefully - both from a feet point of view and a fitness point of view. Her feed was right, had good trimmer etc and she just wasn't coping, reluctant to walk out, and really struggling on anything other than flat ground. While her walls are quite thick and strong she has fairly thin and flat soles (1/4 tb).
 
I shod my youngster at 7.....i had her since she was 18 months and she had lots of correct conditioning etc. However as her work load increased, combined with tough flinty hacking, she started showing soreness in her body. Vet and physio agreed sore feet. Shod all round and never looked back. I'm pro barefoot but for her, in our current location and living conditions, she needed shoes to work. She needed to work to get her physically stronger. Worked for us.

I've used boots with my old mare. They have advantages and disadvantages. For this particular horse they were not suitable for various reasons.
 
Shoes might not solve the problem. My mare was wearing through her shoes when shod and on a 4 week shoeing cycle. Now she is barefoot, we bought boots to transition and she will literally hack all day everyday over any terrain in boots. She rarely wears her boots now and can do the level of work that was causing her to wear out metal shoes! We only boot if we are doing much more road work than usual of going on lots of stoney paths. Most of the time I just let her go on the verge and take her time if it stoney.

I find that quite a few shod horses struggle on very stoneground tracks too.

I would try to keep her bare by booting for work to help her adjust to the new terrain. Also add a specialist supplement like forage plus or pro-earth if you don't already.
 
Could it be the different grass making her footy? I found with a pony I had a few years ago (and was barefoot), he'd get footy when he'd basically had too much good grass so I'd limit it and he'd be fine again.
 
I have shod mine this yr...lots of stones on drive and lanes.
One has been bf all her life but since starting jumping I found her grip poor on grass unless excellent going...so shod all round for grip as well as comfort.
The other is not comfortable over stones.shod all round.
The 4yo is ok and bf.
The hunter is shod in front as not comfy on stones.

The shoes will be off in December for 2nonths and will try to keep em off...but if they aren't comfy or safe I will shoe again.
All on restricted grazing, low sugar feed, worked daily, good condition score....
 
amandaco2 said:
Fed on pro balance.ive not tested the grass or hay to get a bespoke balancer tho
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It's worth it for sure. I have mine tested. I used to have to do separate ones each time a batch came in (I missed a few sometimes!!!) but I asked farmer if I can have his and he agreed. ryegrass unfortunately but at least I know where I stand...

turns out, this is a high molybdenum, iron, calcium and cobalt region. All I needed was copper and magnesium. turns out though she is deficient in a couple of vitamins (just genetics) so I add in B1 and B6 with some brewers yeast. Her liver seems so much better.Wee is clear and tummy has reduced significantly. Probs wasn't tummy trouble but liver I hypothesise.

My conclusion is it's worth the cost of a test for what you save on expensive wee :)
 
Have heard so many people tell me that their TB/ 1/8th/1/16th bred/hint of TB blood in there somewhere can't manage to stand on their feet without shoes - that its fine for me with an appy - actually he couldn't be shod without having one front and one back shoe on at a time otherwise he was crippled.

I have found that diet is key - everything has to be less than 10% sugar and starch combined - thats each and every meal. Grass is a problem - he is more footy on grass.

Every horse can go barefoot provided you do your research and feed accordingly. You also need to work them accordingly - no one could possibly expect a pasture kept horse to suddenly do loads of road work and their feet keep up in a nano second. It isn't rocket science, just common sense, but clearly shoeing horses reduces the feeling in their feet and you can do loads more with little preparation.

I guess it all depends what you want long term for your horse and how long you want to keep them.

And if the grass and hay hasn't been tested then surely that would be a cheaper and better outcome than slapping shoes on? Most hay and grass is very lacking in copper and zinc - even if you bought a proper balancer like the Forage Plus Laminae Plus - wouldn't that be a better way forward than giving up and putting shoes on - although shoeing is clearly much easier and you don't have to worry about lammi or lgl as the shoes mask it all.
 
To answer all queries, she is fed only grass, no hard feed, the pasture she has come from was like a flat soft meadow, whereas she has moved to more sparse hilly dry, significantly less lush. I am only concerned because her front toes are wearing significantly, and her soles are developing a pink hue, she is actually being worked less than at the previous yard, so she would need to wear boots in the field and I don't know of any boots suitable for that, besides she's shire x and has dinner plates so the boots would need to be massive. I personally prefer barefoot, but i would also say surely its better to "slap some front shoes on" for 2 months over the summer than have a sore horse?
 
ester said:
2) How long it takes for her hooves to speed up their growth the match the current wear (which they should) and whether you are able to make (like with the boots) this period doable.
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My girl's did, although she had boots on for a little bit when we went hacking (which is when we went over the drive). Asked my farrier if it was possible for him to let me know when I didn't need any more (after doing some research haha im not miss know all :D) and he was very helpful. She's still bareboot. Took her feet about 6 months to catch up and they're back to normal if not better now!

Also walking on the stones has helped her become more sure and taught her to think about what she's doing and she trips less hacking and riding now too.
 
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