Barefoot???

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kateknights

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Hi guys, I know this has been done before sorry...
But I am thinking of putting my neddy barefoot, she has always been prone to losing a shoe, for example on Saturday on our first ever hunt for both of us, that I paid £50 for, she lost one after an hour! How annoying!
Anyway, do you think it's worth trying her barefoot?
Do any of you have your neddies barefoot?
Or have any experiences that you can share with me?
All comments and views greatly appreciated.
Thankies
Kate x
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Well I don't shoe my pony, but that is on farrier's advice - he thinks pony doesn't need shoes, so he doesn't get them. I would check with your farrier before you decide, see what he or she says.
 
My boys only get fronts, if Beau didnt enjoy rough playing and digging he wouldnt need any!

Have a chat with your farrier, mine is great and wont just put shoes on a horse for the sake of it, only if they need them.
 
Is she footsore after losing a shoe? TBH if she's so prone to losing shoes then I'd be worried about her feet being able to cope with out any shoes on at all.

If you're not going to ride on roads or gravelly areas then it's possible she'll be fine, but definitely check with your farrier.
Maybe try her without back shoes first.

Meg was unshod when I first broke her and her feet were getting worn down too quickly once I upped her workload. She was very pottery on gravel and roads, which contributed to her nappiness, and was much happier shod.
 
I have two with no shoes - one is a driving pony and one a ridden horse, and two with shoes only at the front. We have tried both of those totally unshod but their feet won't cope.

Best thing is to ask your farrier.
 
Depends on pony's feet, what work she does and how the farrier trims them.
One of mine has rock hard black feet, I've never shod him in the four years I've had him, he works reasonably hard, but we're lucky to have good verges and tracks so not vast amounts of roadwork. If he's hunting and there's going to be more roads our farrier will trim accordingly. The grey mare has the same workload but has softer feet and is shod in front in summer, all four for hunting.

Work with your farrier, it may take a little trial and error, but you and he know your pony's feet best
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a girl i know has a pony who she competes pre-novice BE and her pony is barefoot! another friend of mine has a pony who only has front shoes on! i have been thinking the same for my girlie but i do too much road work and hunting so her feet wouldn't stand up to it!

depends on the tyoe of work you do with your horse. talk to your farrier he/she will know best!
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I have 6 competition horses all barefoot and beautiful! No worries about losing shoes!! It is VERY inportant to get them trimmed properly to ensure the feet will transition properly. I would contact an EP to see if they can help?
My horses are fine on gravel/tarmac/mud/ etc etc.....
Wouldn't see it as an easy option though as the feet will require regular trimming and conditioning over varied terrain.
Good luck!
Have a look at www.barefoothorses.co.uk for more advice and to see some case studies.
 
Speak to your farrier, he knows their feet and should advise accordingly. My farrier recommended that we try Cropi naked as she was not holding shoes and her feet were terrible. We had 9 months of nakedness and they were great, she wore Old Mac G2's all round though when we hacked out. We had to put fronts on in the summer as her feet were not handling the hard ground (in the field) very well and we put the back ones on about a month ago.

I'd recommend it if your farrier thinks its a good idea
 
Have you tried changing your farrier? Shouldn't really be losing shoes like that... unless she has really shitty feet?

And by barefoot do you mean actually having a barefoot trimmer out to do them or just having the farrier "trim" them in preperation for a shoe?

Ive had both. I competed my Welsh D for a year as a 4yo without any shoes. He was trimmed by the farrier. He was fine - never footsore or anything because he naturally has good feet and he'd never had any on by this point anyway! However, I eventually had to put shoes on because he would slip on wet grass when competing outdoors. It started to effect his confidence so I had him shod and could then use studs which helped a lot.

2 of my veteran ponies are barefoot trimmed. One had very serious laminitis as a 5yo and under farrier advice, was always shod since. This year (he's 20) we took his shoes off and got a barefoot woman in. She also does our shetland who had very messed up feet (due to farrier refusing to bother with her...). They WERE footsore for a while (although the shetland was anyway) but both have got so much better. Ive definately noticed my 20yr old ponies hooves are 10 times better nic than ever! And he's 100% sound and seems a lot looser in his paces somehow. I occassionally ride him and put on Boa boots just to protect his feet.

Definately try it, you'll soon know if your horse can cope. It's much cheaper and so much more natural. Like I said, only prob I had was with my Welsh who I show jumped etc. because of the lack of grip.
 
My girl is barefoot. She has very strong feet though as is a native type. King did have no shoes either but was sore so they were replaced. Do however use Old Macs for hacking if going where it is rocky which is most of it around here.

Certainly worth trying, it's easy enough to replace the shoes if it doesn't suit your Horse
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