Barefoot Thoroughbreds...

Sparkles

Sparkles

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Anyone else keep their TB's barefoot?

If so, how do you cope with workload - ie, restricted at all? How do they fare hacking? Jumping limitations from no studs, any 'issues' made from it....etc.

:)

Thanks!
 
My daughter's old boy was barefoot for about 6 years. He was a retired P2Per but still hacked regularly. We used to go over what almost amounted to a path made of hardcore and he was fine. His feet hardened very well, at least, that's what the farrier said whenever he trimmed him.
 
we have one that has been barefoot for the last 18 months or so, he is fine on a limited workload and out 24/7 but we are going to have fronts back on now that he is going to be doing a bit more. He has started being a little hesitant in the school and we think he may be a bit uncomfortable as the surface is quite solid. Upto now he has been good, if a little footy over stony ground, he managed the frozen ground all winter with no problem at all. His feet are lovely to look at and in good condition which is more than they were when he was shod.
 
my friend has a Tb who used to be barefoot and coped absolutly fine - strode over everything.

However she douldn't give him the management and diet needed to keep his feet healthy (lives on a dairy farm and has to be turned out with the cows so far too much rich grass) and he started to get foot sore in the spring, so ended up with shoes on. Shame, as he had lovely feet:(
 
We have one in our yard who had his shoes off 2 months ago - he was very shakey to begin with but had lots of pampering and Old Macs - he's now absolutely grand in the sand school & field and is ready to start hacking out. It can be done. The first TB I rehabbed took nearly a year to get out of boots, but I didn't know a lot about it 7 years ago.
 
Tried it with mine, just the once - had to get the farrier sharpish after 3 weeks, huge pieces of hoof breaking off and cracks working their way up -and she'd been on an extra good hoof supplement 6 months prior to trying this - never again.:(
 
A lady on our yard has 2 TBs whom she took barefoot about a year ago; one in particular has had problem feet her whole life. They've both improved no end, and are happily out and about, hacking on hard paths, etc. She often puts front boots on them, but not sure it's necessary. The 21yo ex-racer is enjoying his little show jumping, in particular, on grass or surface! :)
 
A friend of mine keeps her TB gelding barefoot with no problems. Very hard ground where we are but he's fine hacking out and working the roads.

My mare can't handle it. Her feet are just too shelly and her soles too tender. Tried her with fronts only over the winter because I couldn't keep backs on in the wet but she ended up with nasty stone bruising and abscesses.
 
I have just put my TB mare barefoot. Apart from the fact she is a bit handy hoofed towards the others sometimes her front feet kept breaking off and after this last shoe came off at 2 weeks I had had enough. She has only been one week so far and was sore for the first 2 days but I bandaged her front feet and gave her a bute for two days and now she is fine. She is a bit 'short' on the one where the shoe broke off and then all the crumbly bits broke off as well but so far she seems fine. I have kept her on grass and am really hoping that the hooves will improve and that I have done the right thing. I have her on healthy hooves feed atm to see if that will help. My farrier thinks it short term but I dunno - if she copes I am hoping to leave it permanently. I dont do any road work as we live on an incredibly busy A road. Most of my friends think I am wrong and that TBs need shoes so I love reading stories like these as I am hoping that this is a good move for her. My gelding TB I wouldnt dream (yet) of taking off his shoes.
 
When I got my TB boy last October, i quickly whipped his awful, non fitting shoes off (to cries of dismay and horror from the rest of the yard!) and we have never looked back - has stopped tripping and being clumsy and I work him like a shod horse would be worked. We completed a 10 mile ride the other day on and off roads and he was absolutely fine - GO BAREFOOTERS :) xx
 
Thanks :)

I gave TB a couple of weeks off from work so pulled his shoes off as he was due to be re-shod, but didn't see the need in him being shod when he wasnt going to be in work and just in a grassy field 24/7.

Anyway, couldn't get the farrier out atm but wanted him back in work. He was a tiny bit footy right at the start over the gravel track we have to go down from the field to the yard [50metres,max approx]. Which was to be expected really as they are quite sharp stones...however, when I bought him back in after being turned away for two weeks, he's not not particularly footy walking over them now.
Been working him in the indoor school and he's not been footy/sore/short/etc and is so much more sure-footed and balanced and jumping a lot lot better [is a clumsy jumper naturally].
Anyway, now coming up to the 2nd week in work barefoot and his hooves are stronger than ever [Had typical tb feet, front's were quite flat and contracted heels] and the shape,quality and angles are looking 100x's better. Rode him outside in the paddock and jmped him, and not sore etc. Not tried hacking him as I was planning on getting shoes put back on him first.
But that's where my dilemma's now lying. I've always kept the ponies barefoot and done everything with them - xc, pony club, hunting, etc. But automatically always had the tb shod. However, I'm quite liking how much more harder and better quality being unshod for just 4 weeks has made him.
But, he's been jumping fine and not slipping etc. Not sore or footy or anything else. He is a 'tough' TB anyway bless him, not a little pansy or anything. He has quite odd movement, which has been doubled by being being barefoot. [Very flicky toed and straight - if that makes sense].
I'm in thoughts about taking Show jumping this weekend, however, am not sure about taking him barefoot or not as I'll have no studs or anything.

Hence why I just wanted others experiences with TB's and barefoot :)
 
Can you go along and try and see how it goes? Has the hoof neated up now? I only ask as my mare has quite a mess around the edges from all the holes. The one has all fallen away where most of it had broken up anyway. The other one has one chunk out. It looks awful but I am assuming this is part of the natural process until all that bit grows out. Its only been one week but if you say at four weeks the hoof is looking better at least I have a guideline as to when I might see any difference. :)
 
Yeah that's what I was thinking. It's a nice little show ground and all on turf, not rutty or stony anywhere.

His hooves did chip away naturally to start with, where he already had cracks from the clenches [he always got these on the back two clenches on the outside and the last clench on the inside, they just crack around them and chip away with a shoe on there after about 3-4 weeks].
However, after 3 weeks, his hooves sorted themselves out and all the weak parts have gone and they are just smooth now - no chips or cracks anywhere in sight. The only 'untidy' bit, is where the front clips and quarters were - there is still the slight marks where these were. White line still 'intact' and not worn down too short to it, etc. His heels are looking a lot more upright and 'normal' too.

Could do with a trim again soon when I can get the farrier out again, I was going to leave it 6 weeks to grow a bit more hoof [so 2 more weeks from now till a trim] as there's not a huge amount he could take off at present.

ETA - they were bandaged to start with when the shoes originally came off for a couple of days, not sure how much that helped or anything. Also gets hosed after he's been worked most days too, as weather's been so damn hot and dry lately.
 
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My TB has been barefoot for 5 months now. At first it was horrible his feet broke up and looked like a total mess but now they're looking much better. He's very flat footed and his heels are very under run but im happy I made the change. I know of other TBs who have been barefoot for years are they're feet became much stronger.
 
Binky01---my pony is very flicky-toed, and my trimmer has videoed him as a textbook example of a proper heel-first landing---maybe that's what you're seeing? In which case, that's agood thing! :)
 
Mine has been barefoot 5 years now, was very footy to start with although hadn't had shoes on for the winter before I got him but his feet had been ignored so weren't in the greatest state, he also has few coronet scars so always has cracks.

But he manages with what we do, some schooling, lots of field work - don't go on roads and I'm careful with him on stony ground, they do break off bit more in summer but sort themselves over winter when ground softens.

I tried him farriers formula for a while but it didn't make much difference. I would say his feet look better now they they ever have before.
 
Mine is.

He was taken barefoot to help with soft tissue damage so he's still a bit of a work in progress, he would have been shod at under 2 years old as he was in training at 22 months and was shod until his shoes came off at 7.

His feet have grown down at a whole new angle and he has heels now!
He is absolutely fine in the school of course but also good over almost all the surfaces around us. We hack most days over roads and tracks as I am trying to build up his feet and apart from 2 really sharp stony stretches he is fine and getting better all the time.

Not had an issues with cracking even in this weather, ends look a bit ragged at times but no chunks out or cracks. I am very careful with what he eats though.
Haven't started jumping again yet but plan to. I expect him to be fine on a surface and he seems very surefooted on grass now so we'll see.
 
Mine is barefoot after a navicular diagnosis. We are still in the early days (9 weeks ) but he is fine on grass and in a school. I still use his boots on the front for the minted road work we are currently doing, but his feet are strong (just the wrong shape) and I hope that as they change to the 'correct' shape ( in the horse's opinion) then we will remain barefoot.
 
I have had my TB barefoot for about 2 years now and I haven't had a problem, it did take several months and products for my farrier and I to get his feet up to a decent quality. Once they were we found he was better without shoes. He would be hacked out on roads 4-7 times per week as well as schooling in an area or in fields. Before he was barefoot my farrier told me not to buy him due to the state of his feet and now he only has (very!) good things to say, I would actually now strongly consider having future horses barefoot.
 
My tb has been barefoot for a year. He had the usual typical tb feet, flat footed, collapsed heels and low grade changes to the navicular, due to possible shoes or genetics. Shoes came off a year ago. He transitioned very well to barefoot. This was very suprising, as when he lost a shoe ho couldnt cope for more than 48 hours before being re-shod. He now hacks out in old mac hoof boots at the front and renegades at the back. He sschools barefoot in a sand school, will do short distances barefoot, but can get footy. He also competes in showjumping on all surfaces barefoot with no issues. It is the best desicion that I have ever made in taking the shoes off.
 
My 7 year old tb has always been either barefoot or just shod infront. Throught the summer i tend to have frounts on just because i do a bit more with her and harder ground etc. through the winter no shoes and shes fine, never had a pick of bother, tiny bit footy on stones and thats it
:)
 
It will take a fulll foot growth cycle to see the real difference in the foot, so about 6 months. The hoof wall growing down will be hugely thicker than the present stuff (so much so in my stood-in-a-field-for-4years horse that he had a vertical splint all the way round the new growth) and much harder wearing. But it sounds all good so far. Your horse is showing the reason so many people are hugely pro-barefoot - the improvement in healthy foot is so extreme, so quickly, and shows the real damage that shoeing actually does to the feet.

The best way of getting healthy hard feet is actually LOTS of road hacking. A hard smooth surface (i.e tarmac) makes them use the foot properly and strengthens the inside structures and encourages faseter foot growth.

However you may find his foot growth doesn't keep up with the wear to begin with - it can take a couple of months of work for slowgrowing feet to get the idea;). That's what hoof boots are for. It depends on his foot shape obviously but have a look at Easyboot Gloves and Renegade hoof boots. They are the least 'cluncky' boots and they cost the same as a set of shoes. They can also have studs put in!
 
I've had to have my retired TB shod!

She was barefoot for years in Hertfordshire and quite happy pottering around flat paddocks. I was given her and moved her to Wales (sloping paddocks) and she was soon footsore on every hoof. It was horrible, she'd badly chipped her hooves and was really unhappy. We put shoes on her and she was instantly relieved and sound! A real transformation. :) I can't flatten the hill, so she'll just have to be shod! :D
 
I have two tbs that are bearfoot, my 4yr old has never had shoes on, and my 10 yr old has had them off for two years, i ride her out regularly and jump with no problems.
 
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