Barefoot question

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gooster

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Hi all

Just after reassurance about Blue's transition from shod to barefoot. He's currently on box rest due to sesamoid ligament damage in his left hind. He tends to slip a lot on concrete when he has shoes on. As the next stage of his recovery, he has to be walked out in hand. As we live in a really hilly area, I was reluctant to keep his shoes on, as I didn't want to hinder his recovery by him slipping.

Anyway, shoes came off on Thursday and he's not slipped once with his in hand walking. However he has been a bit stumbly. He is a bit footsore, which I expected, but didn't expect him to be stumbly. Is this normal, or should I be worried? How long should I expect this to last? We are walking out on smooth concrete 2 times a day for 10 minutes.
 
Hi.
Ahh bless him. Sounds like it is normal to me, i would imagine its a bit like wearing platforms for us, only the opposite for him. I think in another two or three days he should of adjusted and got him self sorted.
Hope all goes well!!! X
 
Stumbling can be down to either soreness and/or too much wall.

Both are likely in the beginning - has the farrier rolled the edge of the wall to ease the break over?

Also - what is he eating?
 
Thanks, he is fed happy hoof and spillers lite balancer, with garlic and global herbs super calm (started that on Thursday to see if it helps with his box walking/cribbing etc). He is also fed hay - triple netted to last him, as he is a very good doer, so have to watch what he eats.
 
His stumbling is to be expected, as he'll no doubt be footsore to start with, plus his injury will make him extra protective of each step he's taking.

With barefoot transitioning, diet and movement are key to getting his hooves healthy - working hooves in their natural state need proper nourishment and nutrition, and movement is key to keep a healthy circulation going through them and back up the leg.

His hooves are now going to mirror what's going on with his whole system, so any quirkism in his diet, i.e. too much grass, too sugary hay/haylage, wrong feeds, will all show up in his hooves from now on - you'll end up a real hoof nerd like the rest of us barefooters! The diet must be as low sugar as you can get it, avoid any bagged or processed feed that has any molasses in it - Allen & Page Fast Fibre is good at just 2% sugar, or KwikBeet is very low as well. Then you need to add appropriate vitamins and minerals. The trend nowadays is to get forage and grazing analysed so minerals can be balanced to it, but the reality is that this is tricky as our grazing tends to be extremely variable and we usually have several different sources of hay suppliers!

However, the good news is that there are some excellent pre-blended supplements available on the market now, which are getting rave reviews for improving hoof health. Try ForagePlus, ProHoof or my personal favourite, EquiMins MetaBalance.

Getting the diet right, allowing the hooves the time it takes to build to good health and strength, with boots and pads if necessary in the early days, and managing the grass in future will set you on the right path.
 
gooster said:
Thanks, he is fed happy hoof and spillers lite balancer, with garlic and global herbs super calm (started that on Thursday to see if it helps with his box walking/cribbing etc). He is also fed hay - triple netted to last him, as he is a very good doer, so have to watch what he eats.
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You have to appreciate that a horse's hooves are very affected by their overall health and diet.

This time of year we have high levels of sugar in the grass. And the Happy Hoof (despite the marketing) is a mixture of alfalfa and molasses.

So sugar and sugar. Alfalfa is a feed for the hardest working horses only.

Garlic can be controversial - there are some claims that it can negatively affect the gut flora....as can a high sugar diet.

In the forage (grass and hay) we have a very common trend of high iron versus low copper and zinc....both of which have an affect on metabolism and healthy tissue (skin and hoof).

So you can see the challenges already presented to your (and everyone else's) horse.
 
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