barefoot question

FreshandMinty

FreshandMinty

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My farrier said one of my ponies has great feet and should manage fine without shoes for the little work we do. I was willing to give this a try however just how footy would you expect them to be to start with?! Said pony is ok on nice smooth grass but step onto a hard surface and he literally acts crippled, refuses to take a step (think reversing and half rears) and when i persuaded him to do so I thought he was going to feign death and keel over! Needless to say I hopped off and called it a day.
 
What is he being fed? I think this can have a major influence on how they are feeling.

Also, how long has he had his shoes off? It may take him a little while to adjust - my boy has had his off now for about 6 weeks and he is doing well, he is careful on very rough surfaces but is happy enough on tarmac, gravel, sand etc.
 
fed? lol, virtually nothing. He gets a lowcal type balancer that is good for feet and is on a very bare paddock with a salt lick and a net of soaked hay and straw mixed. The shoes have only been off a few days though..
 
Hehe, fair enough! Maybe he will just need a wee while to adjust. I know very little about this really, can only go by my own experiences. Hopefully someone with more wisdom will come along soon - hoof boots are a good option if you want to keep working him while he adjusts, I think it's one of those things where the more work he does, the greater the benefits for his feet, but it is difficult to strike a balance especially if he is a bit footy.
 
thanks Sheep, fingers crossed. Its very tempting to ring the farrier to put shoes back on again after his dying swan routine lol
 
Fingers crossed for you! I have only just sat on my boy for the first time since he had his off at the weekend there, mainly due to the fact that we have a LOT of issues lol but in the interim period I did a lot of inhand work, taking him for walks down the road as though he were a massive dog, quite a few people on here advised that it was good for their feet, he seemed to enjoy it too. I think the key is just to take it gently and adjust your approach depending on what the horse is saying - it is difficult but for my boy it is definitely the right thing, he is so much sounder now without (previously shod in wedges) and his feet are looking so much better already.

Good luck!
 
Our mare has been barefoot for 7 years, initially a bit footy for five days, we just did the inhand walking that others have suggested and didn't ride on hard/stony ground for a week. We were lucky that we had a school to ride her in. Her feet soon became as hard as rocks and she is competed at all disciplines. TBH patience is the key.
 
FreshandMinty said:
thanks Sheep, fingers crossed. Its very tempting to ring the farrier to put shoes back on again after his dying swan routine lol
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It's a ruse; don't fall for it. I took the shoes off my mare (also on the farriers advice) when she was 16 and she gave it the full crippled diva act but there was absolutely nothing wrong she was just adjusting to the different feel when she was walking. I spent a couple of weeks walking her in hand over as many different surfaces possible to conditioner her feet and get her used to the different feelings. I did buy front hoof boots which I used initially when I started riding but they were such a faff to get on I gave up on them. Now five years one she has perfect feet (according to the farrier) and will walk on anything. I didn't change her diet in any way but she did have a carefully balance diet anyway.
 
My mare use to have front shoes, but after pulling several off in a row and doing more damage than good, I decided to keep her barefoot to allow them time to heal.

I started her off working on the all weather and sand arenas, and then gradually we would hack out/walk on concrete with me on top. Yes she took the odd sore step (I did some work in hand on different surfaces too), and she was reluctant to begin with, but after a couple of weeks she soon toughened up and is now fine, to the point where her feet are ten times better bare foot and she has now been that way for two years! I also had her on some supplements to help strengthen her feet to begin with, but she is no longer on these, and used hoof boots when I needed them (after trimming for the first couple of months, and when she first had shoes off).

Give him time to adjust, work on softer surfaces (possibly mount on the soft surface if you can, and dismount on it too), then gradually build up to your normal routine. I wouldn't rush to phone the farrier.
 
Give him time, they all adjust differently.

I've been so lucky with my boy, he was a bit tottery for a day or two but since then I've been able to carry on as normal. Roads, gravel, nothing's been an issue so far *touch wood*.
 
thanks for all the thoughts, fronts are back on though hey ho. I had to get the farrier to look at him as he literally would barely move and i was really worried. The farrier has never seen such a performance, he really would barely take a step inhand and if he caught a stone he almost went down on his knees. It wasnt fair on him, fronts are on and 24 hours later, ta da, sound again.
 
Since having her shoes off my mare has done very little work, but strangely she seems less effected with no shoes than with just fronts, she does pick her way on very rocky ground but I’m doing so little at the moment that it’s not a worry, both her and my old horse were happy on roads straight away, but gravel and rocks seem to be an issue.

When she's back in proper work if she needs shoeing she'll get shoes, but as she has been hacked out very lightly twice in the past 10 weeks I think she'll be fine without for now.
 
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