Barefoot horses

[Kenzo]

Barefoot, unshod…what ever you want to call it, I prefer to say unshod, bare foot sounds so unnatural, like you’ve taken away something that is meant to be there when in fact its totally the opposite!

Anyway back to the subject of my post and you’ll have to excuse me for the dumb question but how do you know and I mean really know if your horses feet are coping well enough without shoes.

Take my horse for example, been shod in the past, but his shoes were removed back in May last year because he was being turned away (not because I was being a tight wad and couldnt afford to have him shod lol

) so no road work, feet where in good nick so I thought no point in keeping him shod but since been regularly trimmed, his feet don’t grow terribly fast but there hard and healthy, I’d say there quite flat underneath though and the frog and parts of the sole I guessing will come into contact with the ground on the uneven or stony ground but how do I know if and when he’s feet are wearing a bit too much now he’s starting roadwork again on weekends when I’m long reining?

Now normally I know, it would be obvious with some horses, they would appear a bit footy or you’d clearly see that the hoof is wearing back quicker that it should be or its chipping or you’d notice uneven wear etc but if you can’t see any of that and the horse is not a big striding type with an active bouncy type walk (as in no difference when the shoes are on so you can’t compare) how do you really know?

Personally I think weekend road work should not cause him too much wear, I will speak to my farrier about it but he may be a wee bit biased if you see what I mean.

Bascially any more info really from anyone experianced in this area.

Thankies

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

all mine are barefoot/unshod/shoeless!!!

ok shetland does booger all in the way of work, but both my boy (5yo ex racer) and mums schoolmaster (13yo ISH) do all their schooling, competing and hacking minus shoes.

mums boy has always had fab feet-textbook shape and really strong, never lost shoes, never chipped/cracked and now he is barefoot this has continued.

My boy, being a TB doesnt have text book feet but he does grow very good strong horn, so although his feet are a bit more upright than is ideal, his feet wear well and dont chip.

i think you will soon know if he is uncomfortable-is he happy to trot for short periods, and is he happy to work the day after a hack or does he look shuffly? are his feet the same temp in all 4 feet and the same (approx) temp most days?

if he is wearing his feet faster than he is growing it and was sore i think you would notice TBH-he would feel uncertain and shuffly.

keep an eye on his toes-if he is squaring off his front toes and his back feet start to look bullnosed he is probably wearing them unevenly and the trim may need tweaking to take this in to account.

if he feels fine-just build it up slowly, mine will do 2 hour hacks no probs now

also-if his feet dont need trimming much but dont look worn down, then congrats he has reached the stage of growing as much foot as he needs and self trimming in the main, which is a good thing! yes he will still need tidying up and balancing but i wouldnt worry about not having much foot to trim off!

 

[Kenzo]

Thank you, thats very helpful.

Yes every time he's trimmed, they don't take hardly anything off, just use the hoof nice a bit and then the file, I'm going to have a good look at them this evening...well around the toe area to see if this changes in the next few weeks.

 

[brightmount]

If he's been barefoot since May and is comfortable then I would think he's clearly ready for road work. It's part of the conditioning process anyway if you follow the KC LaPierre method. It's actually very therapeutic as long as you don't do too much too soon, and your horse already has 8 months out of shoes, so go for it.

It helps stimulate growth, build concavity of the sole and correct underrun heels. It's a misconception that barefoot horses shouldn't do road work. They will also be more sure footed.

Good luck

 

[Kenzo]

Thank you for help.

Thats good to hear because the reason I wanted to keep him barefoot for the time being is because I beleive its safer for him while he's out on the roads (longreining) because should he have one of his moments ...spin/nap or spook then I thought he'd be less likely to slip should he scatter about, not only that but when I'm longreining its not doubt safer for me should he act about and should I accidently get cought etc

 

[mrdarcy]

Agree with brightmount - roadwork is great for developing strong hooves... the more work you do the better feet your horse will grow. The contact the hoof makes with the ground stimulates the nerve endings in the horn tubules, which triggers them to produce more horn. The weakest barefoot hooves are the ones that only mooch about in the field or are only worked on soft surfaces.

It sounds like he's coping just fine - well done for getting to this stage. If you're a bit unsure then I'd recommend getting a barefoot trained trimmer (also some farriers have done the training, or at least read up on the subject) to have a look.

The reason we term it barefoot rather than unshod is that unshod implies you simply remove the shoes and do nothing else. For some horses that works just fine (as it seems to be in your case) but for the majority of horses just removing the shoes isn't enough, you also have to change the diet and the environment the horse is kept in.

 

[cptrayes]

My hunter did two hours roadwork in one day on Tuesday It's fantastic for bare feet. As long as he is not sore, his feet are not being worn down too much, no matter how short they look. Barefoot feet are supposed to be short and can look very odd to people used to seeing shoes.