Barefoot to Shod - how long to transition

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Scot123

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Anyone had experience of this? After trying my pony barefoot for about 8 months, decided it wasn't really going to work. He has very (very) slow growing hooves and was wearing them down too fast and was very footsore - tried boots but wasn't really practical.

So, now it's 6 weeks on and although he is a lot happier on his feet he's definitely not 100% sound. Do you think his feet are still just tender, and if so, how long could this take to resolve? He's been checked by the vet and although he thought the pony wasn't 'quite right', there wasn't anything wrong he could put his finger on and didn't think at that point it was worth investigating further.
 
I have never known a problem when putting shoes on unless there is an underlying issue such as laminitis or very bad bruising, you must be needing a new set soon so I would get the farrier to have a very good look then.
What are you feeding as that can directly relate to how they cope with or without shoes.
If the diet is right they should grow good feet and be able to keep up with the rate of wear.
If you are worried x rays would be the next step but it may be that a change of diet will help.
 
He's been thoroughly vet checked in the past and no, there's no laminitis, cushings etc. And the vet this time said there really wasn't enough to see wrong to warrant going down the x-ray route... For as long as I've a history for him (about the past 8 years) his hooves have just grown really slowly. He lives out on several acres of very rough grazing and diet is just that + hay + Formula 4 Feet. So you don't think the 'sensitive feet' from being barefoot is a possibility? Maybe get the vet back out again...:confused:
 
unless there is a nail pinching, or bruising, or an abscess brewing, or his feet are rasped too short, there should be immediate soundness being shod. mine are barefoot and will remain that way.
 
Scot123 said:
He's been thoroughly vet checked in the past and no, there's no laminitis, cushings etc. And the vet this time said there really wasn't enough to see wrong to warrant going down the x-ray route... For as long as I've a history for him (about the past 8 years) his hooves have just grown really slowly. He lives out on several acres of very rough grazing and diet is just that + hay + Formula 4 Feet. So you don't think the 'sensitive feet' from being barefoot is a possibility? Maybe get the vet back out again...:confused:
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You have done everything to try and make your horse comfy and I respect you for that :).

And with the greatest of respect for your vet - sometimes they can develop a bit of a blind spot when it comes to the hooves :o

Despite the best efforts of yourself and vet - the horse is still telling you something is wrong.

We need to find out what it is.

Hooves are rarely the primary problem - but they break down as a symptom of a primary problem - and it's usually diet/metabolic related :rolleyes:.

If you can get some pics of the hooves - it may be possible to get an idea of what the horse is trying to tell you :).
 
I really appreciate your positive response. It's one of those things where I suppose there just isn't an easy answer and as you sort of say, it isn't really bad enough for the vet to want to pursue it hugely but when you still know something is wrong it's frustrating!

I will try and get pictures of his hooves - the one noticeable feature (I think) is that the frogs aren't quite as well developed as they could be, but without knowing if that's always been the case... It would certainly be great to have you take a look, thank you:) When I tried him barefoot I did have a knowledgeable barefoot man come to him a couple of times and again, he didn't see anything glaringly wrong. One thing the vet did mention was that it might actually be worth somebody coming to check his back?
 
Hi - I'm not sure if this is now old & won't get read but out of interest... There has been more investigation into the lameness issue. What it seems to be - stiffness in the back/pelvis, probably worsened by not being ridden much during the barefoot phase. Alongside toes that were too long. Had chiropractor and acupuncture done and even before he's been reshod the difference is huge! It just amazes me how you have to follow so many clues and trails when it comes to horses to get to the bottom of things:)!
 
Whether it's worth investigating or not depends on what you as the owner think. If you strongly believe there is a problem then ask for a referral to a different vet who has a stronger intention to get to the bottom of a problem.

If you think of going down that route, maybe it's worth checking whether they'd have a look at Xrays first and comment on those?

Out of interest, I wonder why you have chosen Formula4Feet? It has negligible amounts of selenium in it, so it wouldn't be my choice of vit/min supplement unless I knew that the hay/grass etc already had adequate levels of selenium in it. I only mention that because lack of selenium can be associated with muscular problems, and you mention the horse appearing stiff in the back/pelvis.

Sarah
 
i had mine barefoot for over a year - decided i needed studs to be safe to compete - so had them on and competed a few days later - no time at all to transition back.
i still take her shoes off every winter - ideally i would have liked to stay barefoot but it just wasnt possible for us. she was loosing confidence due to slipping a lot - as soon as we had studs in her DR score on grass increased dramatically and her SJ and XJ became far more confident. left them out for training xc one day and she pratically refused to jump! i know many cope without studs but mine just doesnt!
 
flintfootfilly said:
Whether it's worth investigating or not depends on what you as the owner think. If you strongly believe there is a problem then ask for a referral to a different vet who has a stronger intention to get to the bottom of a problem.

If you think of going down that route, maybe it's worth checking whether they'd have a look at Xrays first and comment on those?

Out of interest, I wonder why you have chosen Formula4Feet? It has negligible amounts of selenium in it, so it wouldn't be my choice of vit/min supplement unless I knew that the hay/grass etc already had adequate levels of selenium in it. I only mention that because lack of selenium can be associated with muscular problems, and you mention the horse appearing stiff in the back/pelvis.

Would just add I saw zero improvement in growth when I had a horse on formula 4 feet.
I have just put my TB onto farriers formula amd wow that works
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