Barefoot, zero maintenance anyone?

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lazybee

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I have a 7yr old Arab, he's never been shod, never been trimmed and never been rasped. His feet are perfect. All I do is check for stones and grit in the white line.
He goes out every day summer and winter(about five miles and ten or twelve at the weekend) He gets one day off a week. If I had the time we could go further (have to keep the others fit too). He barely gets warmed up. No special diet just grass and hay and a scoop of nuts when we get back.

Just wondering if anyone else has a similar horse, or am I just lucky?

LB
 
Are you sure you have an arab?!?!?!

I have a Cob Normand cross who has feet like that, which I expect, but not a delicate Arab. Jammy you!

Daughter has an Arab cross and, although he has good feet and can go without shoes for a while, we need to put shoes on every now and then to help the horn not break.
 
Most of the arabs I know have feet like OP's and are generally as tough as old boots! I think it is more down to diet and exercise as round here there is no grass, forage tends to be straw (wheat or oat), hard feed is strictly rationed and the terrain is mainly dry desert/rock.

My two have their feet rasped/trimmed as they grow like weeds and we don't always do enough work in the week to keep up with them - or they have had their boots on for really long rides.
 
snoopyinfrance said:
Are you sure you have an arab?!?!?!

I have a Cob Normand cross who has feet like that, which I expect, but not a delicate Arab. Jammy you!

Daughter has an Arab cross and, although he has good feet and can go without shoes for a while, we need to put shoes on every now and then to help the horn not break.
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Oh yes he's 100% Arab, tougher than they look. Odd though b/c my Cob Normand (16:3 beauty)has a full set on :( I have a barefoot Baudet de Poutou too but I don't know if he counts.
 
Arabs are supposed to have good feet, it's what they were bred for. Wouldn't have much fun in the desert with a horse with crumbly feet. They were renound for having 'hooves of iron'.

Anyways, a lot of them don't anymore but most of the ones i have been around who have not been shod have brilliant feet. Think once you put shoes on it takes a long time to repair the damage. And i do think that black hooves seem to be stronger.

Most of them do seem to self maintain as well, but they usually have some hard standing to wear them down naturally. They get a little rasp but it's more of a tidy up than anything. You probably ride far enough to counter out the growth and maintain a nice ballance. So well done :)
 
somethingorother said:
And i do think that black hooves seem to be stronger.
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Interesting....I have often wondered how this is possible when any colour hoof is made from the same material and its colour just dictated by the pigment in the hair at the coronet band.

Genuine question - has anyone noticed that their horse with 'different' hooves (eg one white sock/hoof and the rest black) has issues on the white, but not black hooves when barefoot?
 
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Herbie is barefoot. The farrior looked at his feet 8 weeks ago. She has gone to america for 3 months but will look at them again when she gets home. She shows them the rasp when she looks at them but they never realy need doing :D He's a forest bred forester :)
I know loads of Arabs who do endurance barefoot without a problem. Some even do race rides of 100 miles without shoes. :eek:
 
I suppose when you think about it, Arabs weren't originally from lush grazing areas... it's no wonder they do well in arid areas, like our native ponies living up on mountains and moors fine, then coming down with laminitis when people stick them onto lush cow pastures.
 
Arabs have the hardiest feet of the lot and if you have an arab with poor feet then, unlucky.
 
Arabs originate from quite a harsh climate with sparse nutrition so I guess their metabolism is highly refined to process all the goodness they get and put it to good use. I think you are lucky in that you don't have to feed loads of supps etc.

My farrier commented last time on my boys feet. he said they are incredibly hard and he rarely has to take anything off - he just adjusts the shape of them slightly as he can get a little long in the toe. He's pure CB and barefoot at present (hope to stay that way) but again, tough feet are a breed standardk, although I have had to supplement his diet to get them that way.
 
Mine is the same - in the two years i have had him I have paid a grand total of 20.00 to have his feet trimmed...and that was right at the start! (He does get checked every 6 weeks but never has any work done except once in a blue moon, and that's so little I never get charged!). He is a 5 rising 6 year old PRE (with 1/4 welsh). Works in the school 2-3x pw and hacks for 1 to 3 hours three times a week, although I do have front hoof boots for really stony tracks but rarely use them.

He has one white foot which is just as tough as the others. Fed strip grass and hay if required and a handful of chaff so he doesn't get jealous. He is also mega mega shiny!
 
I've got a self-trimming ID/Shire/TB 17hh hunter who I only ever round off the edges on, and a 16.3 KWPN Warmblood who I rarely take height off, just mustang roll the toes. Both in full work with plenty of roadwork and/or work on a grit arena surface.
 
My TBx mare has v low maintenence feet. She's never been shod and though she went through a stage of having bad feet (cracks etc) the past few years the farrier shapes them every few visits so they look pretty but thats it :)
 
Chico Mio said:
Interesting....I have often wondered how this is possible when any colour hoof is made from the same material and its colour just dictated by the pigment in the hair at the coronet band.

Genuine question - has anyone noticed that their horse with 'different' hooves (eg one white sock/hoof and the rest black) has issues on the white, but not black hooves when barefoot?
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I always thought the same but from observing the 10 or more arabs who have been on the yard over the last 2 years, i have definitely noticed that the black hooves seem to be harder and chip less. Could be coincidence but it has been very apparent to me. Particularly in those with 4 black vs 4 white hooves. They are all fed basically the same and on the same grass. The worst 2 were the 2 who had been shod. Both had to have their shoes off in the end as they wouldn't hold anymore.
 
Our three - a TB, a sec c and a native x - are all unshod. Farrier was last here in oct and all he had to do today was tidy them up with the rasp. Took a while for the TB's feet to recover after having his shoes off (3 years ago) but they've never looked better. The welsh mare has always been barefoot and we took them off the other because he was such a pain to shoe - he adjusted straight away and they've been off ever since. :)

Chico Mio - my TB has three white feet and one black and I have noticed that the black hoof (which is a front) is much less likely to chip or crack. Very odd as I also used to think it must be nonsense!
 
I have a non-arab, white footed horse and is in better nick than his black footed companions.

Interesting to read everyones little differences..

I wonder if we plotted on a map where the best hooves were, we could work out the best conditions for hoof-keeping:D

There must be regional differences in minerals, grass quality etc however this doesn't take into account fertilised fields I suppose...tsk always something :rolleyes:
 
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My appaloosa is barefoot withbno problems at all.
He'd been shod all his life ( hes about 30 yrs ) and when i got him last year i took the shoes off on the advice of my farrier, he hasnt looked back.
Hes old but very healthy and we still go for hacks out.
I get him filed every 8 wks as they look a bit long after that.
My tb is shod in front, bare on the back and is fine with that - but goes hopping lame within a couple of hours if he looses a shoe off the front
Kx
 
Chico Mio said:
Genuine question - has anyone noticed that their horse with 'different' hooves (eg one white sock/hoof and the rest black) has issues on the white, but not black hooves when barefoot?
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Yes! But the complete opposite, hes grey with 4 white socks however 1 has a black hoof (smallest "sock" if I can call it that on a grey :p). Black hoof has 2 horizontal splits from coronet band to base of foot, all others are just a bit cracked between the nail holes! Fortunatley farrier keeps reassuring me (panicy mother thinking foot will fall apart) saying they are just surface cracks and nothing to worry about... :)
 
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