barefoot question

[savvyblue]

Hi all I know this has been done loads but I'd like some advice.

Bit of background 22yo tbx with arthritis, currently shod all round.

Thinking about letting him go barefoot on back whilst shod at front as he seems uncomfortable with farrier holding his back legs up for a long period of time.

Is there anything I can do to help the transition? Farrier is due in a couple of weeks so if possible would like him shod in front only then.

currently living out over summer and comes in everyday to be ridden and fed, stable is rubber matted. route to field is slightly stony, and have good off road hacking (normally hacked out about once a week)

Thanks for reading.

 

[Clava]

Have a read of Feet First, an excellent book to get started with lots of helpful advice on getting the diet right which could be done before taking the shoes off.

 

[Teamo]

Ditto 'Feet First' - brilliant book. I agree that the diet is one of the biggest factors to consider when taking shoes off. Look carefully at how much sugar and starch you're feeding, as these can make a horse footy. If possible I'd recommend having your grazing/forage analysed, so you can balance the mineral content of your horse's diet. Otherwise you could add a supplement of magnesium oxide, as magnesium is often lacking in domestic horses' diets.

All these things are worth doing for a shod horse too, of course, but shoes often masque symptoms that will be exposed by bare feet.

 

[Oberon]

When you say fed - what are you feeding?

Providing an appropriate diet is usually all that is required for the feet.

Horses rarely struggle without back shoes if they are provided with a sympathetic trim to go along with

 

[savvyblue]

thanks for replies so far will look into getting that book.

feed wise he is out summer grazing and comes in once a day to get feed consisting of: 1 stubbs scoop conditioning mix, joint supplement, pink powder and garlic