Barefoot?!

[RDO]

Hi,
My exmoor pony is barefoot and I would like to keep him that way if possible. Currently we do an hour to two hours hacking and schooling 6 days a week. I have been told if I carry on to do endurance riding like I intend to I will probably need to have him shod. What I don't get is how will I know when he needs shod?! People keep talking about horses getting 'footy' but I don't know what this actually means!

 

[tallyho!]

Hi RDO, keeping horses barefooted is the most healthy way if he can cope. Lots of horses do.. lots of examples on t'interweb. Seems endurance is where lots of barefooted horses are. Have you considered boots for endurance? Just google barefoot endurance.

Hooves will adapt quickly to workload, terrain and will get "footy" if sensitive on sole or frog. To me footiness when usually not, is a sign that diet isn't quite right.

Mine gets 'footy' over stony ground but then is sound again on other terrain so I guess it's like if we were to be barefoot like people are in some countries. I have a pair of boots if I think he needs it but generally, I let the hoof work.

Good luck with your goals and hope you enjoy learning about all the options.

 

[AndySpooner]

Have a look at this website it may give you some idea of barefoot and endurance.

www.performancebarefoot.co.uk

 

[OneInAMillion]

Mine gets 'footy' over stony ground but then is sound again on other terrain so I guess it's like if we were to be barefoot like people are in some countries. I have a pair of boots if I think he needs it but generally, I let the hoof work.

Yep this is what we have. Over stones FH goes a bit 'footy' but then the second off them he is fine, we also have some boots for him if we know he will be going absolutely miles but that is more of a case of not wanting to wear his feet out too much as most of his work has to be done on roads

 

[RDO]

So what does footy feel like? We are mostly doing road work to get his fitness up at the moment and there are some stoney bits but I didn't notice any change tbh.

 

[RDO]

Have a look at this website it may give you some idea of barefoot and endurance.

www.performancebarefoot.co.uk

Thanks for the link, just looked at the road riding bit, was interesting cause it was my farrier who told me that with the road riding I would wear the hoof away and he would need shod.

 

[AndySpooner]

Thanks for the link, just looked at the road riding bit, was interesting cause it was my farrier who told me that with the road riding I would wear the hoof away and he would need shod.

A common misconception, the more you do the better the hooves.

 

[LucyPriory]

Thanks for the link, just looked at the road riding bit, was interesting cause it was my farrier who told me that with the road riding I would wear the hoof away and he would need shod.

If you condition your horse (and hooves) effectively you should be fine. Many endurance horses both train and compete bare. Some choose to use boots when needed or if transitioning.

Most footiness is down to one or more of three things:

Inflamed solar corium (due to hind gut issues, usually too much sugar)
Thrush - many peeps underestimate how painful this can be when a thrushy frog hits stones
Inadequate/inappropriate conditioning - train on what you want to compete on

As AndySpooner said - road work is excellent for conditioning hooves, but build up the quantity gradually over time, don't go from zero to hero overnight. If you do overdo it by mistake (for example you get lost) then it doesn't take very long for the hoof to recover and you can always boot if needed.

Hooves respond both in quality and quantity of horn growth to the work they do - there is a time lag, allow for this.

Lots of information at http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com

I've never in over 15 years managed to wear a foot out doing road work barefooted, even when doing 50+ miles per week, although I have had to learn how to condition and feed properly.

Note - I used to wear out horse shoes in 3 weeks - the same feet bare never wore out.

 

[tallyho!]

So what does footy feel like? We are mostly doing road work to get his fitness up at the moment and there are some stoney bits but I didn't notice any change tbh.

Tbh, lots of people use the word to mean different things. Footy to me is when my horse is over-sensitive or careful when going over jaggy rocks (we have lots of that here). Others might be use "footy" to mean "sore"! So I dunno RDO - what does it mean to you???

You have to put it into context of your horse. If he is sound on every terrain apart from "x" then you might describe that as footy going over that ground.

If mine is uncomfortable coming out of his stable or his paddock onto the concrete yard and finds it difficult to walk, to me that is not footy. That is "in pain" probably with lamelar involvement and should be booted right away until it stops hurting and take away anything that might make him so sensitive e.g. feed rich in starch/sugar or grass which equals soaked hay and meds for a few days.

So you could say footy was something temporarily out of the ordinary to do with his feet but not serious enough to be a real concern.

Hope that made sense - probably not as it is Sunday and I'm just cooking lunch with my usual dose of sherry...

 

[tallyho!]

Note - I used to wear out horse shoes in 3 weeks - the same feet bare never wore out.

lol me too!! And now spring is here I think I need to do a bit more work maybe as I swear, his hoof wall is growing down as I look at it

We already do 6 - 8 hrs* road/rock work a week!!!

*based on 3/4x 2hr hacks give or take some dressage in an arena and jumping in a grass paddock

 

[LucyPriory]

lol me too!! And now spring is here I think I need to do a bit more work maybe as I swear, his hoof wall is growing down as I look at it

We already do 6 - 8 hrs* road/rock work a week!!!

*based on 3/4x 2hr hacks give or take some dressage in an arena and jumping in a grass paddock

Every day at daybreak now finds me and Ned hurtling up and down the only relatively safe stretch of road in an effort to wear her feet down. Then we do an hour over the roughest farm tracks I can find, including the foundations of a new track which consist of builders rubble - broken bricks and concrete. I am still going to have to trim the b***** things

 

[RolyPolyPony]

I have been told if I carry on to do endurance riding like I intend to I will probably need to have him shod.

A livery at my yard has just done her first endurance ride and her pony is barefoot, she coped fine. i know several others who are fans of endurance riding and theirs are barefoot.

 

[RDO]

So you could say footy was something temporarily out of the ordinary to do with his feet but not serious enough to be a real concern.

Ok well that puts my mind at rest, ive been worrying I won't be able to tell and will be damaging his feet. I've only had him a few weeks so am not really sure what his normal is yet and before that I've only ever had a lame horse once and that time the horse threw a shoe on a hack and I had to lead him on foot for miles while he stumbled and tripped beside me so was quite obvious there was a problem!

 

[Orangehorse]

I used to ride my welsh pony without shoes, hacking, hunting, jumping. He hadn't been shod when we got him and just kept him like that.