Barefooters- Boots. 2 or 4?

[CBFan]

As the title really. I have just bought a pair of boa boots for my boy's front feet but should I have bought 2 pairs?

 

[cptrayes]

Surely he only has one pair of front feet ?

Seriously though, do you mean should you boot him all round? It depends. I've had some that need no boots at all, some all round for a week or two, some that only needed fronts, and two who needed backs but no fronts. It is not true that the front feet are always the ones that need boots if only two are needed.

Suck it and see, but be aware that it is much more difficult to spot bilateral hind limb lameness than forelimb lameness, and err on the side of caution to start with.

 

[RobinHood]

I'd say it depends on your horse and the terrain you'll be riding over. There's no hacking from my yard so we box out twice a week to hack, and I can boot/not boot according to where we're going. For example if we go to the downs it's all grass so he can be barefoot, if we go to the gallops we have to hack along some stony paths so he wears front boots, and there's one particular hack with endless flinty tracks where I use 4 boots (easyboot gloves with powerstraps).

I think you need to consider how long your horse has been out of shoes (or never shod?), how well he copes with different surfaces, what surfaces he's used to being ridden on etc.

 

[CBFan]

Yeah, sorry... wondered if I should boot him all round. I'm pretty sure his hinds aren't an issue... they are actually a really good shape with nice concave soles... his fronts however are almost as flat as pancakes ... I'm working on it.

Speaking of which... is it worth me trying him on brewers yeast? he's on Magnesium on top of a broad spec supp and graze on gold blend at the mo...

 

[CBFan]

I think you need to consider how long your horse has been out of shoes (or never shod?), how well he copes with different surfaces, what surfaces he's used to being ridden on etc.

He's a newly backed 3.5 year old. Never been shod. so this is all quite new territory. he's just been a bit 'off' in front and reluctand to move forward... he moves better on non stoney ground but still not great IMO

 

[OneInAMillion]

Usually just fronts are enough. Never needed to use backs at all

 

[Andalusianlover]

No boots at all.

Just take him out on flat/smooth roads if you can to begin with. He'll get used to it.

More than likely his reluctance to go forward is due to the fact he's a newly backed 3.5 year old and not the fact that his feet are sore.

 

[cptrayes]

Yeah, sorry... wondered if I should boot him all round. I'm pretty sure his hinds aren't an issue... they are actually a really good shape with nice concave soles... his fronts however are almost as flat as pancakes ... I'm working on it.

Speaking of which... is it worth me trying him on brewers yeast? he's on Magnesium on top of a broad spec supp and graze on gold blend at the mo...

You may have seen my post saying that I have had a problem with a previously rock crunching horse since I lost my supply of brewers yeast, so I would say that it might help. I used to feed 50 grams a day and it has an anti-inflammatory effect on the gut as well as high levels of B vitamins which act on nerves and on foot quality. I have replaced it with live yeast (yea-sacc) at 15g a day (BY is dead yeast, so you need more) and with activated charcoal and after a week of that he is back to normal.

It won't hurt. It might help.


ps check your supplement, it may already have the yeast in it, NAF haylage balancer does.

 

[BigRed]

Can I tag onto this thread - all you barefooters - exactly how much roadwork do you do with these barefoot wonders ? My old horse used to wear out her shoes in 5 weeks flat, sometimes we struggled to make 5 weeks. I have no school, so always ride on the roads and our tracks are stony/gravel. My new horse is very difficult to shoe behind. I am concerned if I try going barefoot behind her feet won't cope.

 

[CBFan]

Andalusian lover... You might have a point re him being newly backed. I am purchasing the boots as a means of eliminating pain / discomfort as a cause and thus narrowing down the lis of possible causes.

As for riding him on the roads. He really isn't confident in traffic at all and whilst he does have to get used to it, I intend to do this very gradually. I don't want to frighten the bejeesus out of him on his early adventures in the big wide world!! plus unfortunately the roads round us are either fast B roads or windy country lanes where drivers think it's perfectly acceptable to do in excess of 50mph, completely oblivious of the 'warning horses crossing' signs, or even the farms themselves adording the sides of the roads... needless to say, I'd like to keep road riging to a minimum... thankfully we do have access to miles and miles of off road but sometimes stony hacking.

Thanks CP Trayes ... I'll take a look.

 

[cptrayes]

Can I tag onto this thread - all you barefooters - exactly how much roadwork do you do with these barefoot wonders ? My old horse used to wear out her shoes in 5 weeks flat, sometimes we struggled to make 5 weeks. I have no school, so always ride on the roads and our tracks are stony/gravel. My new horse is very difficult to shoe behind. I am concerned if I try going barefoot behind her feet won't cope.

you increase it gradually and make sure that you have their nutrition spot on and then they cope with any number of miles that you throw at them. My hunter does all his fitness training on roads because I can't be bothered to open gates. I'm about to go and do five miles including some very hefty hills, lots of trotting and even a bit of canter. By August he'll be doing that, and more, 3-4 times a week.

Some, but by no means all, horses that are out 24/7 would not be able to do it because wet ground makes their feet softer. Keratex hoof gel can help but I was advised that you need their feet bone dry when it goes on, so that's a bit problematic

You can't directly compare the wear you get on shoes. First, her feet will grow in response to wear as long as you don't increase it too suddenly. Two, material science will tell you that it is possible for the harder surface to wear more than the softer one. Look at how an old fashioned barber sharpens his cutthroat razor on a leather strop, and you'll see how it works.

Try it, you can always buy a pair of boots, expensive but still cheaper than shoes and you can take them off again.

 

[tazzle]

Can I tag onto this thread - all you barefooters - exactly how much roadwork do you do with these barefoot wonders ? My old horse used to wear out her shoes in 5 weeks flat, sometimes we struggled to make 5 weeks. I have no school, so always ride on the roads and our tracks are stony/gravel. My new horse is very difficult to shoe behind. I am concerned if I try going barefoot behind her feet won't cope.

Well when we were driving we were on roads a lot including trotting and for most of the time we were doing about 20 miles or more a week. The same when we were doing endurance ...although more then added on grass/ tracks.

If we were wearing feet more than groth we did boot up at times .....but did not need to do it that often. Thats the advantage of boots... they are on only when needed and off the rest of the time

If you did take back shoes off then it might understandably take him quite a while to transition and build up the milage even with boots on ..... although if in the long term he will be better off then maybe the transition period will be worth it.

and just cause cptrayes liked her feet

that is stony track we are cantering on .

 

[cptrayes]

Well you can SEE just how strong those stonking barefoot feet are, can't you And how short barefoot feet are meant to be, too.