barefoot on flinty going?

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dorito

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as title really - is anyone successfully, regularly riding barefoot on flinty/chalky going? I'm thinking specifically of the south downs... I have heard of one or two folk who had problems.
should point out though that the horses were normally barefoot, but this wasn't their normal riding country. which might be the crux of it.
 
I used to very frequently. So long as the hoof is properly healthy and fit it shouldn't be an issue. I can see that it would be a problem for those that don't have great thrush free frogs and/or soles that are out of condition, in which case I'd use hoof boots.
 
dorito said:
should point out though that the horses were normally barefoot, but this wasn't their normal riding country. which might be the crux of it.
Click to expand...

Interesting point and one I didn't pick up on properly first time round (apologies).

This horse http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-my-old-vet-said.html

when I first met them (first four photos in entry) couldn't do anything without boots on.

A diet change, modification to exercise regime and they can tackle 50 miles of Exmoor no problem (last four photos) - and it isn't their normal riding country (which is usually in the NF). Mind you client opinion is that parts of NF are worse than Exmoor....... me - I make no comment on that one! :-)
 
In my recent search for a horse I am finding a lot are barefooted and the one common thing I am being told is they dont like going over ie shingle driveways. Now we have a lot of flint & I have a shingle drive where I live and my old barefoot boy lost a chunk although it didnt cause a problem and this was due to an old brick in the field which I found and removed....I have always shoed and quite liked the idea of not having to shoe again.But I have flint in parts of our bridleway & am not convinced, so want the option to shoe or not with next horse.

I did get advised on here there are boots you can buy there are threads on here recently about barefoot.
 
Ditto Lucy. Shingle should be no problem - if you mean rounded stones laid 2-4 inches deep. Round stones are only an issue if they sit on a hard surface, like a road. A horse which cannot cope with a bed of shingle has something pretty wrong with its management or a serious metabolic challenge. Many places use shingle beds as a conditioning surface and newly unshod horses will choose to stand in it.

I hunt one of mine barefoot over Farm tracks made up of broken bricks and crushed concrete, but it does need him to be doing the same sort of work all year round to keep his feet nicely conditioned. I regularly ride stony tracks in the Peak Park on him and on another. In fact I deliberately ride around a carpark made up of sharp limestone chippings to keep their feet conditioned. The second is more sensitive if I do not restrict his grass intake in summer. I have a third who currently can't manage stones, but he is new to me this year, a previous laminitic, and does not yet have a decent foot through to the floor, though the new one since going onto my regime is awesome in its quality compared to the bottom half of his foot. I expect him to crunch rocks by late Autumn if not before.

If they are going to be guaranteed to cope with sharp stones they need low sugar/high fibre diet, lots of movement, "dry" turnout for a good part of the day in winter, and exposure to similar challenges on at least weekly basis. Some of them also need fine tuning of vitamins and minerals, especially if your grazing or forage is unbalanced.
 
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Barefoot horses can go over ANY type of surface IF they have a healthy, thick sole.

They get this sole by correct diet, appropriate conditioning and SYMPATHETIC trimming.

If a horse can't grow and maintain the correct sole, it's because something is out of balance in it's management.

It's never the horse or nature's fault, they got the design right. We all just got the management wrong;)
 
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