cob&onion
Well-Known Member
My 3and half yr old has recently been backed and is now riding away. She is a native type cob and has never worn shoes, she generally has very good feet (according to my farrier) and has a trim every 8 - 12 weeks depending on the time of year.
She lives out 24/7, she is a very good doer and i don't giver her hard feed, she is on restricted grazing and is starting to look a bit slimmer with the extra work she is doing.
She is hacked out 4 - 5 x per week just at a walk, mainly around a stretch of road (tarmac) and then onto a stoney hilly bridleway (takes about 40 mins to do the whole way round, half road tarmac and half stoney track). I try and stick to the verges as much as possible but obviously its not always an option.
So far so good, she has been in work 4 weeks now and has coped with bare-feet, however she does tend to be a bit short and careful over the very stony areas and i do worry about her feet on these sharper stones and rocks. She is fine on the roads
I do want to leave her bare foot if possible so what do i need to be feeding her as i understand alot is to do with diet, bearing in mind that she is an excellent doer. What about hoof boots? would she be a candidate for these? if so what type etc.........
Any more advice?
Also........
Just to add my TB is having the winter off (long story) and i had her shoes off last month, shes out 24/7 and her feet are looking really good! was a bit foot sore for about a week but 100% better now. She had them trimmed again last week and the farrier was very pleased with them. She has a scoop of happy hoof and a glucosamine & devils claw supplement, would you add anything to her diet feet wise?
Thanks
She lives out 24/7, she is a very good doer and i don't giver her hard feed, she is on restricted grazing and is starting to look a bit slimmer with the extra work she is doing.
She is hacked out 4 - 5 x per week just at a walk, mainly around a stretch of road (tarmac) and then onto a stoney hilly bridleway (takes about 40 mins to do the whole way round, half road tarmac and half stoney track). I try and stick to the verges as much as possible but obviously its not always an option.
So far so good, she has been in work 4 weeks now and has coped with bare-feet, however she does tend to be a bit short and careful over the very stony areas and i do worry about her feet on these sharper stones and rocks. She is fine on the roads
I do want to leave her bare foot if possible so what do i need to be feeding her as i understand alot is to do with diet, bearing in mind that she is an excellent doer. What about hoof boots? would she be a candidate for these? if so what type etc.........
Any more advice?
Also........
Just to add my TB is having the winter off (long story) and i had her shoes off last month, shes out 24/7 and her feet are looking really good! was a bit foot sore for about a week but 100% better now. She had them trimmed again last week and the farrier was very pleased with them. She has a scoop of happy hoof and a glucosamine & devils claw supplement, would you add anything to her diet feet wise?
Thanks
) and found that what made the biggest difference was getting a diet plan done by Forageplus which was balanced to my haylage & grass. If you can't do that lots of barefoot horses have magnesium oxide added to their feeds plus yea-sacc / brewers yeast, linseed meal & seaweed. I got a book called Feet First off amazon which explains it all in words you can understand without a degree 
