Barefoot supplement?

[Olliepoppy]

Hi, at my boy's recent farrier visit the farrier recommended removing his shoes for the winter as we are not riding on the roads much at the moment (he is young and green) and his feet are in good condition. He is a 6 year old cob who is a good-doer who lives out 24/7 on 1.5 acres of grass. He has a salt lick in his field, gets a couple of carrots/apples after a hack and that is all. My question is should I get him an all round supplement e.g 365 complete over the winter? Or all the time? Now he has gone barefoot I have been reading all the diet info but just getting more and more confused about what he should or shouldn't have. He is only in light hacking work at the moment which will reduce when the dark days come in as I work full time so he will only get out and about at the weekends. Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

 

[Janovich]

I'd have a look and a good read on Forage Plus's website,..they have some fantastic information on there for what you're looking for OP.

Hope that helps.

 

[Olliepoppy]

Thanks Janovich, heading for a look now..

 

[culteuchar]

Cant speak for everyone but magnesium oxide has calming effects and is good for helping keeping the weight of cob type horses i am led to believe. I am not a great believer in supplements as most horses are now over weight in this country and are kept on agricultural grass lands which are very rich. In my experience most cope well without general supplements if they are out 24/7 on quite rough pastures that have a good mix of herbs and stuff. Its a personal choice but i prefer my horses out 24/7 with shelter of some kind and unless they have specific problems they get nothing other than grass or hay and have all coped well, winter is a good time to get there weight down. We tend to molly coddle our nags a bit to much in this country they are a lot hardier than we think. But a mineral salt lick is as good as anything.

 

[culteuchar]

Please ignore my last post i have posted an answer to another question dont know what happened must have been the computer well thats my excuse and i am sticking to it.

 

[Janovich]

Thanks Janovich, heading for a look now..

You're very welcome. My boy's a barefooter and also an EMS horse too so this site was invaluable to us when I had to make massive changes to his diet and turnout regime.