Barefoot people - how impressed am i?!!

itsonlyme

itsonlyme

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Mo had her shoes off at the end of august. I've been taking pictures and keeping a photo diary. Was just uploading todays, when i noticed how well she's doing. Check out the bulbs of heel!!


18th Sept

DSC04462.jpg


Today

2011-10-06164120.jpg


Am i right to be impressed?! The photos are less than 3 weeks apart. I love watching them change. :)


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Wow, check out that heel!! You must be really pleased!
It is such a brilliant feeling seeing how fantastic their feet are at developing just what they need, what a clever girl!
 
Wow what a difference , can i ask why you decided to go barefoot and is your horse living out or part stabled , has it suffered / been footy/lame from going without shoes? sorry loads of questions..
 
loverly said:
I'm thinking about going barefoot especially after seeing your photos of the dramatic improveen.. Can any horse successfully convert?

(Sorry to hijack your post OP)
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I def belive any horse can, it is more difficult for the owner to be able to provide the right diet and exercise esp if the horse proves to be rather sensitive. Exercise over vaired terrain + diet = happy barefoot horse! Prob is if you have an over sensitive flower then these things can be trickly to supply esp if you don't have your own land. Definatly do-able though, and so worth it! (feet first book, rockley blog and uknhcp forums are brilliant for getting more information before you decide to take the plunge!).
 
i echo ThePony - you need this

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/

this

http://uknhcp.myfastforum.org/


and deffo this

http://www.amazon.com/Feet-First-Ba...9602/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1317931795&sr=8-3

Mo is a cushings/IR horse, so has been a bit footy in the transition period, but you just need to bare with them and not expect an overnight miracle. You may need a complete diet overhaul too. Our trimmer just took her shoes off and left her to self-trim. They may not be perfectly neat and tidy, but they dont need to be. She's still got work to do, but we're getting there. My other 2 have also gone barefoot too. One has a ddft lesion and was in heartbars for 3 years - causing massive thrush infections :( We're on it though! :) They moved yards last week - were stabled overnight at old yard, but will now be living out with field shelters. :D
 
They look great, call me old fashioned but horses dont wear shoes in the wild so they dont get them when they join my family :D

Heard a girl say once 'mine wear them because i like the sound when they walk' WTF!!??? :rolleyes:
 
People think we are daft when we talk about how quickly the feet change. I am thrilled for you that you now have personal experience of how quick it is. Great innit?
 
loverly said:
I'm thinking about going barefoot especially after seeing your photos of the dramatic improveen.. Can any horse successfully convert?

(Sorry to hijack your post OP)
Click to expand...

Most can. Do some research first. Diet is number one. Work and movement are number two. Trim is number three and by far the least important for most horses. It's not always easy for the owner, especially in livery yards and in winter with not enough daylight for serious work, but some horses are very easy and sail through, yours might be one if you are lucky.
 
cptrayes said:
People think we are daft when we talk about how quickly the feet change. I am thrilled for you that you now have personal experience of how quick it is. Great innit?
Click to expand...


It sure is :D Molly's getting there too - her heels aren't as impressive as Mo's, but deffinitely improved, as is her thrush. And all of their heels are widening. Amazing how contracted the shoes make them. :( Just feel bad for ever having them shod now! Never again :D

Thanks everyone :)
 
itsonlyme said:
It sure is :D Molly's getting there too - her heels aren't as impressive as Mo's, but deffinitely improved, as is her thrush. And all of their heels are widening. Amazing how contracted the shoes make them. :( Just feel bad for ever having them shod now! Never again :D

Thanks everyone :)
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Just a warning so you don't get disappointed. It is quite common for horses to do really well and improve for several weeks and then suddenly be less capable than they have been. In spring, this would normally be due to the grass suddenly coming through, but it happens at any time of year a few weeks after shoe removal. The only way I can describe it is that it is as if things that were "dead" inside the feet "come alive" and start to hurt. I have experienced it with several horses and I know other people have too.

If it happens, try not to get despondant, it is usually over quite quickly and from then on they never look back (unless they get too much fresh grass!)
 
Great pics and yes a big difference. Once you start to get your eye in it never stops! I'm still learning to notice things that I can't believe I didn't notice before.

Second cptrayes, it's not always a straight forward improvement but it really teaches you to 'listen' and take on the next challenge. :D I think we (shoeless horse people) have all got despondent at one or more than one point but just keep thinking, looking and learning. It also teaches you to 'go with the flow' and be more flexible in what you plan do with your horse. :)
 
jessikaGinger said:
They look great, call me old fashioned but horses dont wear shoes in the wild so they dont get them when they join my family
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That is the most ridiculous statement I've ever read.

Not against barefoot at all - but it is the statement above that totally switches many of us off, because it shows a real lack of understanding of the development of the shoe, their uses and their needs. I.e the horse is now a domesticated animal which is asked to do jobs for which it can't always be barefoot.

That aside; OP - looks fantastic.
 
cptrayes said:
Just a warning so you don't get disappointed. It is quite common for horses to do really well and improve for several weeks and then suddenly be less capable than they have been. In spring, this would normally be due to the grass suddenly coming through, but it happens at any time of year a few weeks after shoe removal. The only way I can describe it is that it is as if things that were "dead" inside the feet "come alive" and start to hurt. I have experienced it with several horses and I know other people have too.

If it happens, try not to get despondant, it is usually over quite quickly and from then on they never look back (unless they get too much fresh grass!)
Click to expand...

Excellent photo's, it is quite a dramatic improvement when you see the pictures, I never photograph anything and always mean too, but never get round to it.

Agree with what CP says here, things do change, up and down, but it teaches you to keep a close eye on things and adjust your management as necessary.
 
I'm a great fan of barefoot too when it works but I really get sick of this wild horse crap being trotted out for everything.

Wild horse is no rugs, no food and forage other than what they find, no water brought to them and no boundaries. If your in the US throw in a few mountain lions and bears and then you have a wild horse.

What do you call a wild horse with an abcess?




Lunch!

Terri
 
cptrayes said:
Just a warning so you don't get disappointed. It is quite common for horses to do really well and improve for several weeks and then suddenly be less capable than they have been. In spring, this would normally be due to the grass suddenly coming through, but it happens at any time of year a few weeks after shoe removal. The only way I can describe it is that it is as if things that were "dead" inside the feet "come alive" and start to hurt. I have experienced it with several horses and I know other people have too.

If it happens, try not to get despondant, it is usually over quite quickly and from then on they never look back (unless they get too much fresh grass!)
Click to expand...

What do you mean by less capable, do you mean discomfort/foot sore like?
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
I'm a great fan of barefoot too when it works but I really get sick of this wild horse crap being trotted out for everything.

Wild horse is no rugs, no food and forage other than what they find, no water brought to them and no boundaries. If your in the US throw in a few mountain lions and bears and then you have a wild horse.

What do you call a wild horse with an abcess?




Lunch!

Terri
Click to expand...


Very true. And no one horse is the same as another, therefore their management cannot be exactly the same. We have one Arab/welsh mare who has been barefoot for years (she has been shod for a few of these but we decided she was best without) and has beautiful feet, to whom stones and gravel are no issue. A farrier was once herd to comment, 'why ruin a perfectly good hoof with a shoe?' at an Endurance ride.

However we had another TBxConnemara mare who we tried to keep barefoot, with regular trims, nutrition and exercise on varying terrain, but her paper thin soles and flat feet are making her prone to abscesses. She is due to be shod, which is not what we wanted to do, but what will be best for her.
 
Orchardbeck said:
However we had another TBxConnemara mare who we tried to keep barefoot, with regular trims, nutrition and exercise on varying terrain, but her paper thin soles and flat feet are making her prone to abscesses. She is due to be shod, which is not what we wanted to do, but what will be best for her.
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Have you tried boots and pads? When do you think the horse is getting the bruising, is it when ridden or just in the field? Are the abcesses forming due to bruising or is there any movement of the coffin bone? Is there any signs of laminitis?
The soles should thicken and toughen up eventually but some take longer. Do you supplement with minerals to help hoof quality?
Whilst shod, I used to feed biotin to my (mostly) TB x and it definitely made a big difference to his hoof quality then. Once he had his shoes off, after 12 mo, I was able to stop the biotin as his hooves had thickened up and didn't crack or split anymore.
I do feel sad when there doesn't seem to be an alternative to nailing shoes back on.
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
I'm a great fan of barefoot too when it works but I really get sick of this wild horse crap being trotted out for everything.

Wild horse is no rugs, no food and forage other than what they find, no water brought to them and no boundaries. If your in the US throw in a few mountain lions and bears and then you have a wild horse.

What do you call a wild horse with an abcess?




Lunch!

Terri
Click to expand...

There are barefoot horses here in the UK that have never had a shoe nailed to their hoof. They are ridden, show jumped, hunted, evented, raced and endurance raced. Their feet are as good as "wild" feet and far more healthy than any shod foot.
There are very few foot problems in wild horses, definitely no navicular or laminitis. They know this from examining wild horses feet that have died in the wild. It is man made iron shoes that weaken and deform the hooves so they are prone to abcesses and diseases that can enter via nail holes.
 
My lami horse is just transitioning to barefoot at present and I'm pleased with how he's doing although his feet do look a bit frilly at the toe, but this is due to the lamitis rather than not wearing shoes.

You can see a marked improvement between the photos above, but i'm a bit concerned about the length of heel in the bottom photo...however this maybe due to the angle of the photo (my apologies if this is the case)
 
All our horses are trimmed not shod. There is a difference between having a trim and a barefoot trim, I had a really good barefoot farrier at one stage, (a girl), but after she had a tendon injury she had to give up barefoot trimmimg. Some farriers do a good trim and some not so good.

I have 7 horses from 8hh mini to 16hh ISH and it saves money not to shoe as well.


I have to say that I believe that the more naturally a horse is kept, the less lameness issues you will get. Barefeet, not stabled - allowed preferably 24/7 turn out, some even say not rugged.

In fact this winter I barely rugged our horses because it was mild, and all fine, although woolly. They have no shelter in paddock other than trees.
 
muff747 said:
There are barefoot horses here in the UK that have never had a shoe nailed to their hoof. They are ridden, show jumped, hunted, evented, raced and endurance raced. Their feet are as good as "wild" feet and far more healthy than any shod foot.
There are very few foot problems in wild horses, definitely no navicular or laminitis. They know this from examining wild horses feet that have died in the wild. It is man made iron shoes that weaken and deform the hooves so they are prone to abcesses and diseases that can enter via nail holes.
Click to expand...

like
 
GingerCat said:
My lami horse is just transitioning to barefoot at present and I'm pleased with how he's doing although his feet do look a bit frilly at the toe, but this is due to the lamitis rather than not wearing shoes.

You can see a marked improvement between the photos above, but i'm a bit concerned about the length of heel in the bottom photo...however this maybe due to the angle of the photo (my apologies if this is the case)
Click to expand...

Mine is also a 'lami' with navi. "We" transitioned July 2010 and I am pleased to say, so far so good...

I also noticed this frillyness at first but it was the weak horn from "remedial" shoeing and previous diet!
 
First off, read my post again. It says I am a big fan of barefoot but not people who use that crap, "in the wild".

So they have seen every horse that has died in the wild and determined that had zero issues with feet. I'm sure if every horse in the UK was examined after death quite a few of those would have zero feet issues too.

The last time I had an abcess in my group of 5 was last summer and it was a bad one on a mare that has been barefoot her whole life. At one stage we thought we were going to lose her. She is now in shoes though I will be taking them off shortly.

As far as diet. I have always fed a high fibre diet and add very few if any concentrates. Just depends on work and time of year. I had sugar in feeds. But yet barefoot people claim this is some new wonder diet.

Trust me I am so much happier with no shoes on my horses. I am wanting to transition my retiree and my mare as soon as possible. It's cheaper and I like barefoot horses.

Like I said if you all love wild horses go by 1000 acres in Canada and chuck out your beloved animals and wave bye bye. It will certainly be cheap. No feed, no forage, and no farrier. The ultimate in keeping horses.

Terri
 
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