barefoot

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loopinlou

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HI, I am looking to buy a horse for general all-round fun including hacking trec etc.

One horse that i have seen is currently been barefoot, are there any specific things i would need to consider? would obviously be happy for them to be shod or have hoof boots as necessary should they not cope (due to wetter ground than he is used to)

Thanks in advance
 
Do not rush out and buy seaweed, as the current thinking is against it, I suggest you start off with a recommended mix and work from there, better stlil, ask the vendors.
I buy micronised linseed from Charnwood Milling, here is my current diet per day, he is in very light work and has very good feet, but not those perfectly hard feet as found on ponies and some cobs.
I have just started with the regime [three months], so I am not recommending this, just letting you know what I do!
"My mix" for a 485kg RC type
100 gm micronised linseed meal ... Charnwood
10 gm biotin ......... Equimins
10gm limestone flour Equimins
15 gm Steady up [Feedmark] . I already had this in stock: herbs, yeast sac and magnesium
10gm brewers yeast prebiotic
10gm MGO magnesium supplement [ don't want to start off with too high a dose in case it is unpalatable]
10gm seaweed meal ... purchased the seaweed meal before I read up about it
500 gm micronised beet [Speedy beet]
400 gm of my favourite horse feed [actually mare and youngstock]
I will increase his hard feed [ and the mix] as he does more work, keep the same amount of beet but may add Calm and Condition or Fast Fibre, as long as it is low sugar hi fibre.
Ad lib soaked haylage [must remove sugars]
3 hours grazing
The main thing I have found is that the feet are too wet, and just as if he was soaking in a bath for too long, the horn absorbs water and this makes him footy, farrier suggests deep dry shavings bed and dry fields!
I have just bought a pair of Cavallo boots to see if I can get him back in to work, he gets 30 mins walking on a tarmac road to self trim and last year he had good growth, but this year it is so cold they are not growing a lot, also he is getting less than an hour of work / hacking, which I think he needs.
The idea is to manage the grazing and the exercise and the feeding.

TRIMMING
the trimming [I hear RUMBLINGS OF THUNDER IN THE DISTANCE] is another factor, your farrier will start you off with a pasture trim, but make sure he knows your intentions, see if he thinks you are "from the dark side", apparently I am from "The Dark Side", as unknown to him, I have been rasping round the edges and even took a wee teeny bit off the toes!
I bought a wood rasp which is really too small and fine, but I had to start somewhere, as we don't have trimmers round here.
I found the Roclkey siite [Celery, or was it Asparagus?] interesting.
The very best pictures and explanation so far is on the US Cavallo site
http://www.cavallo-inc.com/hoofcare/barefoot-horse-riding.html
There is al lot of education on that site.
Also see this http://www.progressivehorse.co.uk/

You have to commit to this barefoot business and not revert to shoes at the first difficulty

Of course some horse adapt perfectly and are no problem.
I think that in the long term it will be beneficial to the health of the horse and save you money.
 
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My 6 year old has never had shoes. He is a TB x WB, (actually, we think that he is full TB) and he has lovely hard feet, lovely wide frogs and excellent horn growth. He is out during the day, in at night and has calmer chaff, fast fibre and a magnesium supplement. I had to take him off the brewers yeast, as wasn't eating feeds with it in. He also has haylage, not hay.

Other than that, I have an excellent trimmer ever 6 weeks and he is as happy as Larry! Not footy on the roads or around the hardcore and stoney yard. He has Easyboot Gloves in case he does go footy, but they have very rarely been used.

Personally, I find him easier to deal with than my other riding horse, who has rubbish feet and remedial shoes. The barefoot horse is easy to manage.
 
The things that changed for my bf horse is diet, management and choice of professional hoof person.

Mine gets soaked speedibeet and lucie nuts, with linseed and brewers yeast sprinkled on top and then mixed with a big scoop of hifi. He is out 24/7 and as long as I managed the grass intake (muzzle) in summer he was fine. So far this autumn, no footiness and we've been out on ht's barefoot doing 2'9 courses. He could do bigger but I am a massive wimp.

Unless a horse needs shoes for his work, can't see point of it. Some definitely need it. Most cope well without. If I couldn't manage for bf, then I would shoe.
 
there are things that can make or break the successful barefoot horse..

Pasture ... what is the prospective horse grazing now.. how different is yours.. is it richer or poorer.. if richer you may hit problems.

Farriers and trimmers should avoid trimming sole / frog .. as this can remove protective layers that maybe look like they are about to shed but are in fact giving some protection.

How you feed your horse needs to be carefully balanced to work load and the foreage content (grazing / hay / hayledge etc)

Linseed (preferably whole and micronised) should help the hoof manage the moisture content effectively

Beware over supplimenting minerals in particular.. unless you have your foreage and grazing analysed I would avoid use of any balancer or vit and min suppliment as you may be inadvertantly unbalancing your horses minerals... certain minerals if fed in excess will prevent uptake of others so the ratios are quite crucial.

There are a good variety of hoof boots available now .. find the boot with the best dimensions for your horses hooves... hoof proportions vary considerably.
 
Zuzan said:
there are things that can make or break the successful barefoot horse..

Pasture ... what is the prospective horse grazing now.. how different is yours.. is it richer or poorer.. if richer you may hit problems.

Farriers and trimmers should avoid trimming sole / frog .. as this can remove protective layers that maybe look like they are about to shed but are in fact giving some protection.

How you feed your horse needs to be carefully balanced to work load and the foreage content (grazing / hay / hayledge etc)

Linseed (preferably whole and micronised) should help the hoof manage the moisture content effectively

Beware over supplimenting minerals in particular.. unless you have your foreage and grazing analysed I would avoid use of any balancer or vit and min suppliment as you may be inadvertantly unbalancing your horses minerals... certain minerals if fed in excess will prevent uptake of others so the ratios are quite crucial.

There are a good variety of hoof boots available now .. find the boot with the best dimensions for your horses hooves... hoof proportions vary considerably.
Click to expand...

Look who's swallowed the barefoot bible
woot.gif
 
Shoes come off as a matter of course here. None are on special diets and we only feed cereals when absolutely necesary. Good grass and hay is usually sufficient (with free access to mineral and salt licks).

We deal with a wide range of ages and problems but have never yet had to have a horse shod once the shoes are off - even those that arrive with remedial shoes.

The fact that the foot is being allowed to function as it was originally intended and designed to do means that horn quality improves due to better circulation and stimulation of the foot (sole, frog, walls, etc).
 
It's fantastic to see so many people embrace 'barefoot', especially on this sort of forum.
The more who experience the overall benefits of removing shoes the better for the UK horse population as a whole. I've no doubt that it will be a few more years yet, but I'm sure that shoeing horses will become the exception in the future.
 
Pale Rider said:
It's fantastic to see so many people embrace 'barefoot', especially on this sort of forum.
The more who experience the overall benefits of removing shoes the better for the UK horse population as a whole. I've no doubt that it will be a few more years yet, but I'm sure that shoeing horses will become the exception in the future.
Click to expand...

Shhhhh - you'll spook them!
 
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