Barefoot!!!

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Caritas

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Now I posted a couple of months ago to all you peeps who have experience of going barefoot. My horse has now been barefoot for 12 weeks and hacked out the weekend for an hours roadwork without his boa boots, he was completely sound and only once maybe twice felt the ground as there were a few odd stones. He had his feet trimmed 3 weeks ago by the farrier and had some growth which I was very pleased about. Now his feet look completely solid, no chips and look in great condition, he walks up a soft, stoney track from the field fine but feels an odd stone or two. Does this mean this is the best he will get or is there a possiblity that it could still go either way for him? The last thing I want is to put shoes back on him, he is ridden 5 days a week, once hackin and the rest in the school. Please guys can you shed some light on how you think he is doing, myself, I feel really pleased with the progress.
 
Sound like he is doing fine. Even shod horses feel the odd stone. SO that fact he's opnly been footy a couple of times is a bonus! Sounds like Unshod feet suit him.
The fact his feet are still showing grow tells me that his feet arte growing quicker than they are being worn down which is another good sign.
No chips and looking good. Cant be bad!
Lou x
 
Well if you are pleased and hes happy then sounds like he's doing just fine! Ive never really shod any of my horses not because I dont like it just because me nor my farrier have nevr felt that they needed to be.
 
It sounds good and I don't think he needs shoes, you should continue to see an improvement as his feet toughen- which will continue as you ride him more without the boa boots (its like the difference between walking in flip flops and being barefoot yourself
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Sounds like his feet are doing well, my mare has been barefoot all 17 years of her life, I am really lucky she has great strong feet but she still feels the odd stone, dont worry.
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Thankyou all for your prompt replies, im really pleased with him, it took me a long time to take the plunge but now I got to be honest, I wished id done it years ago!!
 
You guys seem to be doing really well so far - try and stick with it - all horses feel the odd stone - you might see a further improvement once he has grown a whole new hoof capsule- try little hacks with no boots on and/or a wire brush when you pick his feet out to exfoliate and toughen his soles.

Good luck I bet you are saving a packet - think of all those lovely Christmas pressis you can buy (for yourself!)
 
Sounds just great! Well done

My guys have been barefoot for a few years and they still feel the odd stone. It's OK if they are carpetted, but one stone on tarmac can be like a ballbearing on a hard floor on bare feet!
 
it can take 6 months of footiness before the hoof has grown suffieciently in the right directions and back to a more natural state, before the footiness goes. Keep riding him in the boots, all round if you have to but you will fine the footiness will be over the front feet. Keep the trims little and often, do not take huge amounts off, even if you run over a few weeks.

PM me if you want anymore info x
 
Sounds like you're both doing brilliantly. I also took my new horse's shoes off at the end of August. Like your boy he will still feel the odd stone on a hard surface but can walk over our hardcore track without batting an eye lid. Keep doing what you're doing - the more work you do with him the better his feet will get as exercise stimulates the hoof to grow both faster and stronger - internally and externally. You might have ups and downs along the way when he's footier than normal - things like diet and worming with a chemical wormer can affect the feet with 48 hours of digestion. So if you worm him and a couple of days later he's footier than usual then that'll be why. He'll need a few days to flush the chemicals out of his body and his feet will be tough as old boots again.

If you haven't already got a copy then I'd highly recommend getting the book Feet First by Sarah Braithwaite and Nic Barker. Loads of great advice in there - you can buy it on Amazon.
 
You're doing great for 12 weeks and he could get totally rock stomping yet. Watch out for spring grass next year - if he starts to go backwards it will almost certainly be because of that.

The thing about feeling stones is that it's easy to forget that there are plenty of shod horses out there that feel a half inch stone if they are wearing 1/3 inch shoes, and no-one thinks anything of it. But a barefoot horse feels a stone and we worry about it.

I think if they feel a stone and stop treading on it so it doesn't bruise them, then that's a sensible horse, not a lame one
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Sounds like he is progressing really well. He will (hopefully) continue progressing and his hooves will continue to get tougher as you use the boots less.
Well done.
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