Barefoot questions

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almrc

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Riding a barefoot horse is all new to me so please bare with me. My horse I have re-trained and started riding again is barefoot. In the 11 years of his life he has always been barefoot (bar one time he had 2 fronts put on for jumping - before I owned him) and he was backed at 4 or 5 I believe. Before I got him, he did do hacking but mainly did schooling in the school.

He has started hacking now, obviously I know I need to be careful on stoney ground but is he ok to trot on the road etc? What else do I need to be aware of? I don't want to shoe him unless I really have to, as he has mainly always been bare foot and my farrier says he has absolutely brilliant feet.

Thank you for your help in advance :)
 
please do not put shoes on him, how wonderful he is barefoot. search the net and look at sites under going barefoot and barefoot trimming they are so informative about what you should and shouldnt do, what to expect, what to look out for and esp how the foot actually works.
 
If he's been barefoot all his life I would be riding him completely as normal. Trotting on roads will actually be easier for him barefoot than it would be shod - he's much less likely to slip. As you've mentioned, the main thing to watch out for will be very stoney ground - although you may find he's fine on this too; it will probably depend on the kind of ground he's used to.

When you hear people talking about having to take it gently with barefoot horses and building up work on various surfaces it's usually because they've previously been shod and their feet are having to get used to the change. Our welsh mare has never had shoes and she can walk on the roughest of ground with no problems.
 
Yes you can trot him on the road - his legs will cope better than a shod horse as his feet will deal with a lot of the impact. I trot and canter my two on tarmac and found that the roads were the best place to ride when we were transitioning (which you are not).

You don't need to be too careful on stony ground - I'm not and I live in a desert that is all rocks, shale and gravel. This is fairly typical and we ride with no shoes.

69317_168373143175807_100000093683043_551720_7052536_n.jpg


I would say the most important thing is diet. Sugars and starches need to be kept to a minimum. Mine live on soaked oats with oil, baled dried oats and straw these days, but not too many people live in the same climate as me!

Don't shoe him if you can avoid it, if your farrier says he is fine then stick with it.
 
celia said:
When you hear people talking about having to take it gently with barefoot horses and building up work on various surfaces it's usually because they've previously been shod and their feet are having to get used to the change.
Click to expand...

Ahhh that makes sense. Thank you both. I do need to do some reading up, I have always ridden shod horses, but I would keep him barefoot as he has been forever really and the farrier says they are really good feet. I just need to find out more about it all.
 
Chico Mio-For some reason only just seen your post! Thank you for posting that pic, it really is amazing what they can cope with barefoot. That pic is v.stoney!
 
She decided that, rather than listen to the doctor and not ride until her arm had healed, she would put a brushing boot on it to hold it together during XC......!
 
OP - there are plenty of barefoot endurance horses who go plenty fast over all terrains.

If you are finding riding a barefooter new - just pretend he has new, super douper silent shoes on;)
 
Well he is being fed happy hoof and pink powder at the moment, he is a good do-er and at the minute not in a great amount of work. In winter he will move onto alfa if needed.

ooo I like the sound of those new, super douper silent shoes - good idea!
 
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