Barefoot or shoes?

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Nalod

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My horses have always been barefoot as I think it's better for them and as native breeds they have good feet. Recently I've found a new route to ride but to get there its a lot of road work, not something I usually do. Also there's several stoney tracks to negotiate too. One of my cobs has now become foot sore, so after a period of rest, yesterday for the first time I had a set of shoes put on him.
I know there are several boots such as Old Macs etc. Has anyone got any experience of these or similar? If I can find the right ones I may even consider stocking them in my shop too.
 
No experience of boots on my unshod horses but can I suggest you remove the advertising link in your sig before the button pushers get you?
 
I've been keeping my horses barefoot for years and never found that theres been a problem with road work, even for TB types.
 
Hi,

I have just moved my Dutch Warmblood to barefoot and its going well so far. :D He has always had just his fronts shod and his back feet are fine on even rocky paths through the woods. So I figured if his back feet are good his fronts should eventually be ok too. I bought hi a pair of Easyboot Glove boots and they are fantastic. Easy to put on and take off and he goes really well in them. The important thing is to make sure that you buy the exact right fit for your horse. My barefoot trimmer from Rock Crunchers brought some gloves to try on Bertie and we found his perfect fit.

I do believe that most horses can be barefoot its just that you have to manage the transition from shod to barefoot very carefully. That means looking at the horse's diet, the living environment and the work he needs to do.

I also know that Easyboot / Easycare are looking for retailers in the UK at the moment.

Hope this helps. :)

Kelly
Equine Compare
 
Mine have always had shoes (and lost a lot!!)
My 'new' horse had such poor hoof growth that there was getting to be nothing for the nails to hang onto.
We first took his back shoes off and left him with glue shoes on the front. It didnt take too long for him to be happy on his back feet.
As the glue shoes kept coming off in the mud, and his feet werent growing, we took them off his front aswell.
He's been shoeless on front since the start of the year, and his feet are beginning to grow. He's not quite 100% sound yet and he doesnt like the stony ground.

We tried to measure him up for cavallo boots, but as his feet were not growing, they were odd shapes so the boots wouldn't fit him!

So, I'm beginning to turn from 'SHOES' to 'BAREFOOT'
 
Just taken Dizz barefoot. Not much point in shoes if we can't do much and we won't be needing stud holes.

She's a DWB. Had her shoeless once before, but I don't think I gave it long enough, plus we were looking for lameness to continue the investigations, so her being footsie did not help matters.
 
Sounds like you over did it a bit too, or that the diets not right, making him sensitive. The roadwork won't be a problem (the more the better!) but the stone will have made him ouchy if he's never done it before.

Which boots depend entirely on the foot shape: some suit long and narrow, others wide and round. You need to match the boot type to the foot.
 
Hiya, its just about keeping going, they do get footy and sore and hobble a bit over stones but it just gradually improves if you grit your teeth and keep on. My ponys feet are at last rock hard but it has taken months and months. I never stopped riding and schooling just took more care.
 
they do get footy and sore and hobble a bit over stones but it just gradually improves if you grit your teeth and keep on
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I'm afraid I think that's entirely unacceptable, to force a foot sore horse onto uncomfortable surfaces. Their feet only improve through CORRECT movement and function, and they don't move correctly if they're sore! That may explain why it's taken you 'months and months' for your pony to come right! They will be sensitive but they should NOT be hobbling about! If they are then you need to rethink what you're doing, either with diet, with workload or look at temporarilty using boots.
 
Kallibear said:
I'm afraid I think that's entirely unacceptable, to force a foot sore horse onto uncomfortable surfaces. Their feet only improve through CORRECT movement and function, and they don't move correctly if they're sore! That may explain why it's taken you 'months and months' for your pony to come right! They will be sensitive but they should NOT be hobbling about! If they are then you need to rethink what you're doing, either with diet, with workload or look at temporarilty using boots.
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Firstly, I didnt ask for your jugemental opinion, I was responding to the OP!!It takes months and months for many horses to move from shod to unshod as lots of people will Im sure tell you. Im not of course suggesting that I forced my beloved horse out hobbling and footsore, indeed when he was 'sensitive' when the shoes were first removed he wasnt ridden (obvious!!) We then built up as any intelligent person would (duh) stony surfaces were more uncomfortable and that has taken time to improve, again totally normal. Its the exercise over different surfaces that builds the strength up. We have been hacking on the roads for over a year no problems whatsoever apart from the odd limp over a stone, but its only now that his feet are rock hard and thats because his hooves have grown out. Myhorses have always lived a very natural life, just hay and sparse grazing with appropriate supplements long before I considered unshod. I dont need to re consider anything but maybe you need to reconsider your knowledge and people skills
Nose and poke comes to mind
 
Definitely barefoot. Road and stones are no problem if you work up to them gradually and if you have your horse's feed and mineral balances right. Watch out for the grass in spring, lots of barefooters are footie if they aren't kept off the grass during the day, when there is too much sugar in it. Lots of us also feed magnesium oxide, 25g a day, and brewer's yeast instead of a "balancer", 50g a day. Best diet is low carbs (especially sugar/molasses) and high fibre, just what a horse should eat really :)
 
Nigsha said:
Hiya, its just about keeping going, they do get footy and sore and hobble a bit over stones but it just gradually improves if you grit your teeth and keep on. My ponys feet are at last rock hard but it has taken months and months. I never stopped riding and schooling just took more care.
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Nigsha I also read this post as meaning that you made your horse hobble over stones - "grit your teeth and keep on" means just that to me. I am glad you have explained that we have misinterpreted what you wrote, but your attack on the person who commented was uncalled for and very rude. We all have a right to respond on a public forum. If you want to make comments to a poster that other people don't comment on, use a PM.
 
My traditional cob is barefoot and has been for 7 years. She transitioned very easily and is surefooted over every terrain you can imagine. Lucky for me! I know it certainly isn't that easy for everyone. I also have a 7 mth old foal that I also intend to keep barefoot, start as you mean to go on and all that! LOL

I have used a barefoot trimmer for all that time too, but recently he has become very shoddy in his work, impatient, rough and damn right abusive. I was gutted with the way he treated my foal and very upset. I have made the decision to use a farrier to trim their hooves now, as I have no respect left for the guy and don't want to hand my hard earned cash over to him. Good luck with whatever you choose, one way isn't for everyone and you can only do what is best for your horse.
 
Nigsha said:
Firstly, I didnt ask for your jugemental opinion, I was responding to the OP!!It takes months and months for many horses to move from shod to unshod as lots of people will Im sure tell you. Im not of course suggesting that I forced my beloved horse out hobbling and footsore, indeed when he was 'sensitive' when the shoes were first removed he wasnt ridden (obvious!!) We then built up as any intelligent person would (duh) stony surfaces were more uncomfortable and that has taken time to improve, again totally normal. Its the exercise over different surfaces that builds the strength up. We have been hacking on the roads for over a year no problems whatsoever apart from the odd limp over a stone, but its only now that his feet are rock hard and thats because his hooves have grown out. Myhorses have always lived a very natural life, just hay and sparse grazing with appropriate supplements long before I considered unshod. I dont need to re consider anything but maybe you need to reconsider your knowledge and people skills
Nose and poke comes to mind
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My my, aren't you defensive (and rather self assured at your own perfection :rolleyes: )? Feeling a little guilty about 'gritting your teeth' and making your horse 'hobble over stones' maybe ;) If that's what you write, that's what's read. And if you're going to be giving advise, of course you're going to be critisized if you give cruel advise. Hopefully the OP has more sense than you but she could well have taken your advise to heart and believed it was just fine to have her horse 'hobbling' about for months. :(
 
Nalod said:
My horses have always been barefoot as I think it's better for them and as native breeds they have good feet. Recently I've found a new route to ride but to get there its a lot of road work, not something I usually do. Also there's several stoney tracks to negotiate too. One of my cobs has now become foot sore, so after a period of rest, yesterday for the first time I had a set of shoes put on him.
I know there are several boots such as Old Macs etc. Has anyone got any experience of these or similar? If I can find the right ones I may even consider stocking them in my shop too.
Click to expand...

I'm using cavallos at the moment and think they are very good (£80 ish). I think with going over new terrain, you have to be patient as the hoof can take several weeks to grow new sole and harden up to cope with stones etc but it will toughen! :D

A few weeks ago we started going onto new ground too, quite stony and rocky. We just took it slowly and used boots, then tried again, turned back if it was too much and today I've just come back from doing the full route (trot & canter) without even a flinch and no boots. I'm learning that hooves can change very quickly but it needs exposure to new terrain relatively slowly.

It doesn't help with this wet climate and hooves are softer but they do cope amazingly well :)
 
For what it's worth I don't think Nigsha was giving cruel advice. You do have to have a certain amount of "lets push on" attitude but I'm sure she was being sensitive to what her horse needed and I don't think she would have pushed if it was hobblingly bad which is what I think some have taken her to mean... the frog could have been sensitive or even the sole but essentially, it's this stimulation that encourages new growth.
 
Yes but it's the 'grit your teeth and push the horse on' attitude that gives barefooters a bad name.

It's not right to push on if your horse is footsore, and it has no benefit to the horse either as Kallibear said.

In answer to the OP- Barefoot all the way :)
 
My horse used to throw shoes all the time (really thin hoof walls, I have a great farrier). He is 17"2 and competes low level jumping, and eventing and dressage. He has been barefoot for a few years now and he does get occasionally footsore on hard ground without boots, the iced fields meant no T/O for him, :(

For roadwork he wears Easy boots on the front with gaiters (completely useless without gaiters in my opinion though his feet are two different sizes so easyboots were best as you don't have to get pairs) and Boa boots on the back which are a nightmare to get on. I am saving up for some Cavallos (I have heard good things).

We go completely barefoot for dressage obviously.

He just has Front boots for schooling.
 
Nigsha i stopped bothering to offer "My Opinion - ideas - experience" on the H&H forum because of others pulling apart my post and taking what i said the wrong way. Lest they forget that everyone has different experiences with things in life and unless you share them how do we learn from them. Sadly people read a thread and a "word or sentence" catches their eye and they forget what the whole paragraph was saying and then go off on an tangent. Frankly if someone is stupid enough to take any advice for their horse that might be cruel then they shouldnt be owning one in the first place.
 
Barefoot all the way :)

How about a lick of keratex hoof hardener on the sole?

I have previosuly bought Old Mac G1's which i highly rate, but I think they have stopped making them now and have a new G2 style. I would have bought the Easyboot Gloves though if her foot shape matched. This was when I was first starting out barefoot and noticed her foot wearing away too fast but I'm glad we persevered as now adays the rate of growth catches up with the rate of wear. :) She still slightly hobbles on big stones but I put this down to proprioception and not painfullness.
 
lucy1984 said:
Barefoot all the way :)

How about a lick of keratex hoof hardener on the sole?
She still slightly hobbles on big stones but I put this down to proprioception and not painfullness.
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Quite right - I think you can get a over protective when barefoot. But what would they do without you on thier own if they stood on a stony bit of ground?

It's about balance and you absolutely MUST condition feet for the kind of riding you want to do. This means exposure to the terrain. Using boots all the time defeats the object and if the feet are oversensitive then it could be for a reason other than the stones like nutrition or LGL.

Ultimately, as the owner you need to make the call if your kind of riding suits going barefoot where shoes may be more appropriate and the OP clearly has until she decides to try something different.
 
My horses are barefoot, I started them with hoof boots while I worked on conditioning their hooves and now they have fab rock crunchers! I do notice however changes in their hooves with changes in sugar levels in the grass, weather etc. They have a forage only diet with no molasses and supplements for minerals. OP do you feed anything with molasses in? Its amazing the affect this has on barefoot horses. If you google barefoot there are tons of helpful websites and case studies re the benefits of going barefoot. The horse is the only animal made to walk on its toes by wearing shoes - a contributing factor to many unsoundness issues todays horses face. I have spent hours researching case studies and barefoot practices and recommend it to anyone, so much info even if you dont want to go barefoot it makes interesting reading :) One of my horses competes in endurance - originally with front boots but can now go barefoot without an issue on any terrain you just have to manage your horse correctly rather than back down to the pressure of shoes which essentially just numb the hoof - hence no footiness over the rough terrain - but a whole host of other issues to develop! Happy Reading :)
 
I have one who doesn't need shoes and two who do. All kept the same, one has navicular and is kept sound by shoeing. Another, an ISH, has good feet, but can't manage the amount of roadwork we would do, around 50 miles a week, whereas, the cob manages this fine. So after a winter of trying to keep shoes off her, she'll have fronts on this week. Pity, as these two, cope with all terrain well, not footy, but the ISH simply wears her feet down too much.
 
horserider said:
I have one who doesn't need shoes and two who do. All kept the same, one has navicular and is kept sound by shoeing. Another, an ISH, has good feet, but can't manage the amount of roadwork we would do, around 50 miles a week, whereas, the cob manages this fine. So after a winter of trying to keep shoes off her, she'll have fronts on this week. Pity, as these two, cope with all terrain well, not footy, but the ISH simply wears her feet down too much.
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I'm intrigued. If she is perfectly sound and not footie then why do you think that she is wearing her feet down too much? A sound horse is a sound horse. If she is happy with her feet short, why does your farrier think you need to shoe her? Most hardworking self-trimming barefoot feet are extremely short. This is my hunter a couple of weeks back:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IaGqwoQlnmA/TOvlktjYQHI/AAAAAAAAAqg/NHHYx77wYNo/s1600/Coming+Down+WR.jpg
 
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Great photo caroline!

I too do lots of roadwork with my two - getting both fit for the endurance season. Started out with boots as they'd been in a field for the winter but now both are boot free and bouncing off the tarmac. Growth matches wear as long as you build up slowly. In fact my older horse, who is 23 this year and was shod for 18 years, is growing more hoof than he wears at the moment - his feet are pretty amazing for a horse that was shod for so many years. I've yet to meet a horse that wears their feet away to bloody stumps!
 
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