Liath
Well-Known Member
Hi, I'm a long-time lurker and occasional poster but this is my first thread... could I please have some guidance/advice on making the transition to barefoot please? I've read LOADS of threads here about barefooting over the past few months, and learnt a massive amount, but it'd be great to have some specific advice for my boy!
Background: He's a 9 yo ISH, I've owned him 12 weeks and I adore him, he's perfect for me in every way.... with the exception of his feet!!
When he was vetted the vet picked up a 'sheared heel' and suggested bar shoes- farrier obliged, shear is healing well, however although when I bought him the rest of his feet didn't look too bad, they have deteriorated massively since working on different terrain and having a different routine.
He was previously kept in pretty much 24/7- got an hour or so turnout and was worked daily either in an arena or hacking mainly on the roads, now he's out for up to 7 hours a day on poor pasture, in overnight, worked every other day on average, hacking over hilly, rocky, muddy terrain or in an arena- I have obviously built his hacking up slowly as it was a bit of a shock to his system!
Feed-wise, previously on limited haylege and 'pony nuts'- and was a bit poor looking when he arrived, now having whatever nibbles of grass he finds plus ad-lib hay at night and two feeds a which are mainly to get his supplements into him, and consist of:
Fast Fibre, a handful of Badminton Hi-fibre complete, a cup of micronised linseed and handful of hay chaff.
His current supplements are: Salt, bicarbonate of soda, turmeric and formula 4 feet, which i'm about to change to Pro-balance. He's been on this feed/supplement plan for around 10 weeks now.
My farrier is horrified at the state of his feet, as am I- he seems to have very soft, crumbly horn, which doesn't grow particularly fast, obviously had the sheared heel, and has had terrible thrush.
I have all but cleared the thrush by scrubbing with Milton sterilising fluid and spraying with 'Hoof Master with Violet' but the horn continues to be soft and crumbly- and I know this will take a long time to grow out, and even longer with shoes on!
He's been shod every 4 weeks, and has *just* held his shoes- clenches rise within 24hours of being shod, wall breaks away round old and new nail holes, he looses nails and has to wear over reach boots pretty much 24/7 to protect his legs from the risen clenches after week two as they are so high.... he's remained sound, but I'm not sure how!!
My farrier and I are now in agreement (it took me a while to bring him round ;-) ) to trying him barefoot and seeing how he goes.... which is quite scary for me as along with most, I'm indoctrinated to the 'shoes or loose' idea!
His shoes are coming off on Nov 28th (if he hasn't thrown them before!) and I plan to get some boots and pads to hack him in when he's ready, lead him on concrete and arena to start 'conditioning' his feet and turn him out 'bare'... he'll have to walk over concrete and a 3 metre patch of 'rough' stony ground to get to his field- planning to allow him to pick his way slowly over it.
I'll post some pictures as a 'reply' as my computer has a habit of crashing if I try to post too much text and pictures but my questions are, amongst other things...
Am I making the right decision to take his shoes off?
Is there anything else I should do between now and Nov 28th when they come off?
Does his feed sound OK?
Any recommendations for boots and what pads will he need?
Should he be booted to get to the field to start with? (this may be an issue with yard staff!!)
Anything else I should be doing/ not doing?
Sorry for SUCH a long post, but I'm hoping I've got all the info needed in - Huge thanks, loads of chocolate biscuits and a large baileys to anyone who has got this far!!
Background: He's a 9 yo ISH, I've owned him 12 weeks and I adore him, he's perfect for me in every way.... with the exception of his feet!!
When he was vetted the vet picked up a 'sheared heel' and suggested bar shoes- farrier obliged, shear is healing well, however although when I bought him the rest of his feet didn't look too bad, they have deteriorated massively since working on different terrain and having a different routine.
He was previously kept in pretty much 24/7- got an hour or so turnout and was worked daily either in an arena or hacking mainly on the roads, now he's out for up to 7 hours a day on poor pasture, in overnight, worked every other day on average, hacking over hilly, rocky, muddy terrain or in an arena- I have obviously built his hacking up slowly as it was a bit of a shock to his system!
Feed-wise, previously on limited haylege and 'pony nuts'- and was a bit poor looking when he arrived, now having whatever nibbles of grass he finds plus ad-lib hay at night and two feeds a which are mainly to get his supplements into him, and consist of:
Fast Fibre, a handful of Badminton Hi-fibre complete, a cup of micronised linseed and handful of hay chaff.
His current supplements are: Salt, bicarbonate of soda, turmeric and formula 4 feet, which i'm about to change to Pro-balance. He's been on this feed/supplement plan for around 10 weeks now.
My farrier is horrified at the state of his feet, as am I- he seems to have very soft, crumbly horn, which doesn't grow particularly fast, obviously had the sheared heel, and has had terrible thrush.
I have all but cleared the thrush by scrubbing with Milton sterilising fluid and spraying with 'Hoof Master with Violet' but the horn continues to be soft and crumbly- and I know this will take a long time to grow out, and even longer with shoes on!
He's been shod every 4 weeks, and has *just* held his shoes- clenches rise within 24hours of being shod, wall breaks away round old and new nail holes, he looses nails and has to wear over reach boots pretty much 24/7 to protect his legs from the risen clenches after week two as they are so high.... he's remained sound, but I'm not sure how!!
My farrier and I are now in agreement (it took me a while to bring him round ;-) ) to trying him barefoot and seeing how he goes.... which is quite scary for me as along with most, I'm indoctrinated to the 'shoes or loose' idea!
His shoes are coming off on Nov 28th (if he hasn't thrown them before!) and I plan to get some boots and pads to hack him in when he's ready, lead him on concrete and arena to start 'conditioning' his feet and turn him out 'bare'... he'll have to walk over concrete and a 3 metre patch of 'rough' stony ground to get to his field- planning to allow him to pick his way slowly over it.
I'll post some pictures as a 'reply' as my computer has a habit of crashing if I try to post too much text and pictures but my questions are, amongst other things...
Am I making the right decision to take his shoes off?
Is there anything else I should do between now and Nov 28th when they come off?
Does his feed sound OK?
Any recommendations for boots and what pads will he need?
Should he be booted to get to the field to start with? (this may be an issue with yard staff!!)
Anything else I should be doing/ not doing?
Sorry for SUCH a long post, but I'm hoping I've got all the info needed in - Huge thanks, loads of chocolate biscuits and a large baileys to anyone who has got this far!!
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those sole shots are a bit eye watering 
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