BAREFOOTERS -ADVICE PLEASE

Wundahorse

Wundahorse

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Hi i have a 17 year old Section D bay mare who has been with us for 8 years,having been my daughters pony,which she outgrew some 4 years ago.Decided to keep her as she can be sharp to ride,and occassionally strong in hand,otherwise she is sweet natured.Over the years her feet have tended to crack and crumble,and she was always throwing shoes.With feeding this is much improved,to the point where she did lose a front shoe out hacking yesterday but her foot remained intact.This was after a 6 week shoeing cycle. My dilemna is should i keep shoeing or try barefoot?I am hoping to keep this mare for myself when my 27 year old Arab is retired,but no indication of this yet.A 16 year old girl also part loans the Welshie,and she often likes to hack out.I would really appreciate some advice and guidance from the experienced barefooters on the forum.
 
I would have a chat with your farrier. Mine was fantastic at helping me make the choice. We took back shoes off first and then progressed to fronts off as well. However I am very lucky in that my mares feet are fantastically hard anyway. I was warned that her feet would crack and break off at first but not to worry, but I had none of that.

I am not a barefoot expert and don't feed a special diet (although I stay clear of molasses as she does become footy) and I do put front shoes on towards the end of the hunt season as she gets footy hunting on the flints and concreate forrestry tracks.

What is your hacking like? If it's minimal roadwork then I would definately try it, you can always put shoes back on!!
 
We run a remedial and rehabilitation centre and none of the horses here are shod (60 of them at last count) and none of my own horses have ever been shod. Even the worst feet that arrive improve dramatically given the right environment and care. You'll find many people will give you advice about diet for barefoots or unshods. We don't do anything special diet wise. All horses have free access to a broad based mineral supplement and we don't feed cereal to those that don't need it (and most don't - even those working at quite an intense level) - it is grass, hay and haylage here. We also prefer they were out 24/7 - no stabled horses here unless absolutely necessary.
 
Wundahorse said:
Hi i have a 17 year old Section D bay mare who has been with us for 8 years,having been my daughters pony,which she outgrew some 4 years ago.Decided to keep her as she can be sharp to ride,and occassionally strong in hand,otherwise she is sweet natured.Over the years her feet have tended to crack and crumble,and she was always throwing shoes.With feeding this is much improved,to the point where she did lose a front shoe out hacking yesterday but her foot remained intact.This was after a 6 week shoeing cycle. My dilemna is should i keep shoeing or try barefoot?I am hoping to keep this mare for myself when my 27 year old Arab is retired,but no indication of this yet.A 16 year old girl also part loans the Welshie,and she often likes to hack out.I would really appreciate some advice and guidance from the experienced barefooters on the forum.
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You have made the link yourself between hoof and diet.

It is the most important factor in a barefooter's regime.

Low sugar/starch and high (balanced) minerals will make all the difference.

Spring can be an awkward time as the sugar levels in the grass can be dodgy - especially for a good doer. The tenderness can be blamed on the hoof being 'weak' - when it's actually the sugar causing it.

Most of us feed extra magnesium at this time of year at the very least.

There have been lots of threads regarding barefoot and diet on here previously that you may find helpful.

Other than that, it is a case of allowing the hoof to grow and callous as it wishes and being sympathetic in trimming.

Then (as long as the horse is comfortable) it's work, work, work on as many terrains as you can to grow the strongest and toughest hoof.
 
Agree with diet as everyone says... it's not really a "Special Barefoot Diet" - that is what it has been coined! Its just basically a high fibre, high nutrient diet which you can buy in bags apart from they come with masses of sugar & starch!

I use alfalfa pellets (beware as some do not tolerate!) but fibreplus pellets are good too and speedibeet. Good quality chaff with a sprinkle of linseed, brewers yeast and magnesium. A mineral block provides the rest. After that, to quote Oberon "it's work, work, work"!

Please do get boots just in case you do bump into any issues to begin with. That way, you still exercise the foot without stones causing discomfort.
 
classicalfan said:
We run a remedial and rehabilitation centre and none of the horses here are shod (60 of them at last count) and none of my own horses have ever been shod. Even the worst feet that arrive improve dramatically given the right environment and care. You'll find many people will give you advice about diet for barefoots or unshods. We don't do anything special diet wise. All horses have free access to a broad based mineral supplement and we don't feed cereal to those that don't need it (and most don't - even those working at quite an intense level) - it is grass, hay and haylage here. We also prefer they were out 24/7 - no stabled horses here unless absolutely necessary.
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Classicalfan can you tell us where in the country you are and how people get hold of you? We only know about Rockley and we need others in other parts of the country.

Ref the 24/7 grazing, if my three were out 24/7, even on a rough hill meadow at 1100 feet, one of them would be laminitic and another would not be able to tread on stones on the road without wincing. I keep them in during the day and then they are fine, as long as they also have magnesium oxide, copper and yeast. Do you not have any sensitivity issues in your 60?
 
Our Welshie is a good doer and she obviously absorbs nutrients well through her diet as she has the glossiest coat on the yard and looks fab.She is fed fast fibre with a small a amount of calm and condition and veteran vitality,with happy hoof and added magnesium in the form of magnitude.She gets a full hay net at night and more in the paddock as the grass is non existant at the moment.For a few years she had a hoof supplement from feedmark which really helped her feet but i have found i do not really need this now as she gets plenty via her current diet.Is this a good diet for her feet? as there is no indication it is not.We do have to hack out on roads to get anywhere,and some of the tracks have ragstone rocks,while in other areas it is relatively soft orchard.I will ask our farrier what he thinks,bearing in mind he has worked hard to keep shoes on her feet for several years.This farrier never pressurises anyone to have their horses shod,and he is perfectly happy to do trims.
 
cptrayes said:
Classicalfan can you tell us where in the country you are and how people get hold of you? We only know about Rockley and we need others in other parts of the country.
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I don't think it's in the UK, I think it's in some far, uncivilised and god forsaken country, like Spain or something....;)
 
Thanks Oberon. Not quite as uncivilized as Spain but we're in Francewhich isn't far off - they eat snails for cripes sake!

Cptrayes, to answer your other question regarding senstivity: over the years we have discovered that we have fewer senstivity issues by keeping everyone out 24/7. Many of the sensitivity problems seem to stem from changes in blood chemistry, hence if the environment is constant then there is much less opportunity for sudden changes within the blood. Therefore we can confidently keep laminitic prone horses and ponies out all the time, even when the grass is frosty, without issue. We have found that the same management also works well for other metobolic diseases, sugar intolerances, etc.
The other lesson the horses have taught us over the years, and Oberon will recognise this as she is a fan of Xenophon, is that there are times when the horse needs to be a little uncomfortable in order to stimulate the hoof growth. We have some truly horrible stony ground here in places (which we have purposely put there) eg, gateways, near the river edge,etc, in order that the horses become accustomed to small physiological stresses. We do occasionally find the odd abcess but not nearly as frequently as one would imagine. Nor do we avoid roadwork - the hooves adapt very quickly.
Hope this helps!
 
Both mine are barefoot.
Fresian x fell is 14, has the most solid feet i know! and my 4yo warmblood x ardennes is a close second. Both get a scoop of Biotin each day.
 
Daughter's 11.3 sec B has never been shod, sound on the roads and tracks and hacks happily so not going to be shod on the 'if something isn't broken don't fix it' principle. I also have a 22 year old Anglo who was a complete pain with boxy and sensitive feet and who regularly lost front shoes when in livery. We tried different farriers and one fabulous one shod him for several years without any losses, but then the farrier moved to Pembrokeshire :-( At that point we moved onto our own yard and as he was taking time out I removed all his shoes. He was a bit footy for the first few weeks but he has been barefoot for the last ten years and even occasionally ridden out on roads without any ill effects. But he is now retired as I can't supervise a child and handle his ridden tantrums at the same time.
I don't feed either of them special hoof supplements, just pink powder and chop. They are out full time summer and winter, unless I feel he needs a night in, and they are just trimmed as normal.
 
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