Barefoot taking the plunge - Is my plan OK???

snopuma

snopuma

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Okay so my TB mare keeps pulling her shoes off, farrier has suggested he shoes her tighter behind but alarm bells are ringing as this is waht happened to my WB and he ended up up with navicular and is now barefoot but I will never be able to compete him again.

she has small flared fleet which are flat and have contracted heels, shoeing for the last year has made little improvement, and when she pulls a shoe she is at least 7/10ths lame, but I transitioned WB with boots, so thats the plan.

Farrier is coming out next friday with the intention of putting smaller shoes on, but I really want to say, Stop! just take them off, I have already broached this with him and he poo pooed the idea, saying well she's already got contracted heels and there nothing you can do about that, but I think in this instance I know better?

So is there anything else I should do, apart from buy boots and tell farrier to take shoes off!
 
Get the diet right, low sugar high fibre :) and many barefooters supplement to balance forage. Good luck.
 
before you do anything, get hold of the book "Feet First", co-authored by Nic Barker. It really is my bf bible, and it emphasises diet,diet,diet.

Hope that helps, let us know how you get on xxx
 
I'd go for it. There's lots of useful information on the Rockley website. I sent my lad there after his navicular, collateral ligament damage and pedal osteitis diagnosis. It's working well. He did have contracted heels but certainly doesn't now! He's just at the 12 week mark as well.

I don't know anything about boots but from what I've heard from Nic whilst visiting my boy it's all about the right balance of feed. Someone more knowledgeable will be along soon I'm sure but think low sugar, high fibre and forage analysis to get vitamins right and you're on the right track. Good luck. :) x
 
Good diet and good trimmer. Personally if ur farrier is anti barefoot for her I would worry that he wouldnt do his best to make barefoot work. Also if he says u can't fix contracted heels he is wrong!
U r looking for a high fibre low starch low sugar diet. (Under 10% starch). Something like Hifi, a balancer (or vit min sup like equivite), and low sugar sugar beat like quickbeat or equibeat. Hi fibre slows down the rate the food passes through gut so nutrients r absorbed in right place and don't change Ph in gut. Therefore doesn't kill off the good bacteria either!

Get a good balancer trim, may take a few trims if feet r not great at mo. Boots and pads r good idea, as needs to b comfortable and encourage foot to land slightly heel first. In hand walking is a good start. This will start to strengthen the stuctures in the back of the foot (like u using muscles for exercise) which will in turn help the foot/sole to become concave etc.
Epauk is a good site to find a trimmer. Good luck. X
 
I'd be concerned about the ed and training of a hoof care prof that believes that contracted heels can't be fixed. Diet is important, esp if your horse is already evidencing dietary issues (thin flat sole) so be ready to put boots on your horse so they can be comfortable for exercise while they grow better feet.
 
I really should have all this written down and just copy and paste it
lol.gif
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Contracted heels are not normal or natural. They are common (but not exclusive) with shod horses. I certainly had them with my Arab, shod for 13 years, but my Tank (who has never been shod) has always had good, strong heels. You can draw your own conclusion from that.

A contracted heel will also be a weak heel. And as such, will house weak internal structures as well. The whole area needs to strengthen. Let him use the heels and (like a muscle) they will strengthen.

So how do you proceed?

1) Diet - you will find about a hundred threads on here with dietary advice.

2) Movement - hooves need to work out to get stronger. A sore horse won't move, however, so you need to do everything you can to keep her comfortable. I often recommend having boots on standby. They are a great tool to allow a horse to work, even if their hooves aren't ready to go it alone yet.

3) Treat disease - if any nook or cranny in the frog is sensitive to the hoof pick, there is likely to be some thrush there. It's often made light of, but it's very serious and painful for the horse and an infected sulcus will not de-contract. Diet and stimulation will work well, but topicals have there place too. There are many remedies - they need to be anti bacterial AND anti fungal. I like Red Horse's ArtiMud and Field Paste but I've also found success with good old Sudocrem.

4) Trim - needs to be sympathetic and conservative, especially at first. If the back of the hoof is sensitive and weak, then chopping a load of heel off and dumping her on her heel will result in her walking on her toes to avoid discomfort. If she walks on her toes - the back of the hoof won't get the work out it needs. Also, the sole and the frog will need more tissue, not less. So it's a case of thinking before removing any tissue at all at this stage.

The hooves may look dreadful at first. As long as she is comfortable, don't worry. Trust her to model them how she needs them.

Other things you should budget for - many newly unshod horses benefit from a visit from a body worker and also require a saddle refit at some point.
 
Snopuma - you are doing the right thing thinking of taking the shoes off. I have a barefoot TB - we took the plunge back in November and I know I'm doing the right thing - my horse had badly contracted heels on one front foot and the difference is out of this world. I still use Cavallo hoof boots on her front feet for riding out on the roads, but for the long-reining out I'm starting to take her completely barefoot. The hoof boots have been life savers.
I also rate Red Horse field paste as an anti-thrush treatment and in winter I put it on before i turned her out in the mud and it made a huge difference. My horse has a number of lameness issues, including navicular and PSLD but is now sound behind and 95% better in front. I feed Fast Fibre, micronised linseed and Pro Hoof. Good luck.
 
The first thing I would consider is changing farrier. If you don't have the sort of relationship where you feel comfortable discussing things without him dismissing what you are saying, it doesn't bode well for a total change of plan. Good luck. :)
 
Thank you all so much for your help, I will look at her diet, but not sure if what she has is ok

At the mo she has

1/2 scoop Hi Fi Lite
a handful of own brand horse & pony nuts
she is on Magnitude

twice a day

daily turnout for about 10 hours a day on a paddock that has grass but she's not up to her knees in it by any means

and she get about 10-12 lbs of meadow hay overnight

she is bedded on rubber matting with bedmax (a proper bed not a skim)

I can't get them out 24/7 as the WB has to come in over night due to being a 17hh native pony (he could easliy live on fresh air) thay go out together and that suits me and them.

Interestingly I bought her 11 months ago and she didn't dish but with my farrier she almost instantly did and has continued to ( she was shod all round when I bought her but after a few shoeings I asked him to take hinds off and she has been fine on them) they are heathly and she is sound on them, they had flares but now are really nice tight little feet.

She is only 7 and I want her to have the best of everything, I too am worried that the farrier will not be helpful in any barefoot attempts, I will tell him not to touch the sole.
 
My TB is six and still growing a bit his feet where chipping and beginning to flare in shoes I am sure they are adjusting ( or trying too) to his frame growing too weeks ago I had them removed his walk changed at once less swinging the leg round and more natural forward and back swing at that point I stopped worring and was sure its the right thing to do two weeks now awful chipping of the wall but no pain with the hoof testers he's walking in hand up the lanes about 300 yards aday he's happy in the field galloping and playing fingers crossed .
I would cancel the farrier get a trimmer to come and remove the shoes ( they will do it one nail at a time to preserve the wall as much as possible )
I also recommend the book Feet First but the key all this BF thing seems to be diet get it right and REGULAR movement over different surfaces the amount to be apporiate to the horses tolerance at the stage its at by regular I mean daily that's the commitment from the owner it's harder work and more responsibility than them being shod.
IMO there's no piont in getting a farrier who thinks that flaring and collapsed heels are just how a horse is to trim a BF horse .
Oh get boots that imprtant that really is a big help knowing you have boots there and ready when you need them
Good luck we can compare notes how we are getting on
 
Okay so tomorrow is D-day as is de-shoe Indy!

Boots have arrived (but no gel pads and wraps in the box!) have emailed seller, I have bought 3 pairs of Cavallos before and have always come with pads and wraps so a bit disappointed at that, never mind It will all come out in the wash!

I am a pretty concerned that this may not work for her, and as I have just got her going again, it seems a bit mad, but there's no way I am letting the farrier shoe her short I have been down that road with my WB and he ended up with navicular so I am just not going there, i am going to tell farrier when he gets there tomorrow instead of letting him have time to think of answers why I shouldn't take the shoes off, and I keep reminding myself that when she pulls a shoe off she not only damages her foot and is lame, but that by the morning she looks a lot better, so there is hope, she has youth on her side and she is a lightweight TB, also I am pretty sure she wasn't born with shoes on her feet so I keep that thought in mind too, plus Oberon has given me some great tips on what to feed etc... so thanks Oberon, and i'm going to take pics and a ruler to see how/when/and if these heels get moving apart again, she lands heel first now with shoes on so I am going to keep an eye on without,


wish me luck, I will keep you posted!
 
Just a note, try not to (don't ;)) let him do any trimming, especially of sole. If she has thin soles she needs all she has currently got for protection. Good luck. x
 
Good luck!

I recommend if you can that you turn your pair out overnight instead of during the day. There is much less sugar in grass at night.

I have footiness in Spring with 2 of my 3 (OK, one died last week but it's too complicated to use both tenses!) if I do not feed them yeast. It has anti-inflammatory effects on the gut.

If you read Feet First (recommended) then don't feed seaweed unless you know that your horses do not already have a diet high in iron and/or iodine.

Keep a shoe. I'm betting that in a year's time the shoe will not be anywhere near fitting the foot. I have a collection that make me smile when I put them near the horse that I took them off. Yours will be going in the other direction, but this is my favourite - the ring of nail holes is now on the outside edge of his foot - it would be impossible to nail it back on!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Ozz9sR8GT8/T0fOytjhTAI/AAAAAAAAA2w/K0U_EJYJ0e0/s320/radarsfoot.jpg
 
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