Benifits of being FREE

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HLB

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Has anyone else had, felt or got the experiance of being free from SHOES, GRAIN and TREES - any other free things welcome!

My horses have been Shoe Free for about 4-5yrs now and the benifits (other than my pocket) have been amazing, better quaility horn growth, larger, rounder shaped feet, amazing road grip and no more grumpy faces at the farrier
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They have also been Grain Free for about 3-4yrs now and that was the best thing i could have done - it was one horse in particular that changed my whole way of thinking and made me reseach, reseach, reseach into horses and there "natural way of feeding" as he was so very ill
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Some are also Stable Free now but not all as im not a stickler for this - some horses yern for more comforts than others and wish for a nice cozy stable.

We are also going Tree Free which i do beleive will be best; for my horses anyway.

Has anyone else gone through this and how have your horses reacted good or bad - i have loads people ask me so many question about going "Free with their horses" and i can only give my experiance and view, but its something that im very intrested in; and to find out about other people and their horses. Mine may just be like, one in so many hundred that have found it benificial - so any views good or bad are welcome - please done be rude though as i know with some idivduals this is a sore point

PS - Please dont judge me as some mad, hippy, way out bird that is off with the fairys, as i am not! i listen very closly to my horses - if they dont like it then i will keep everything traditional (which i have done for about 20yrs prior to changing) but all horses have excepted it well.

cheers XX
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interesting thread. whatever works.
all mine were grain free but i have gone back to feeding straights with great success :-)
all mine were shoe free but one is now shod , now I can go long ,long hacks on roads and ride on consecutive days with that particular horse.
all mine are stable free but have a large field shelter, i still shut the arabs in for a few hours each day so they are dry , at least once a day.
and which ever horse i'm riding that day gets shut in after morning feed so i dont have to catch them up again.
 
Unfortunalty the horses I look after could never be shoe or grain free, they work long days on roads/gravel so its just not going to work but they do live out 24/7 untill feb when they acctually want to come in as they have blanket clips and get a bit chilly! Oh and 3 out of 4 are cuddle monsters and adore a fuss!

What is Tree free? Am I being dence? I think maggie would die if he couldn't scratch his arse on a tree! lol
 
he he Tree free as in Saddle Tree but you look you drive a lot!

mine also work they are competition horses so get clipped too - they get about 2-3 rugs on though and a couple will not stay in! other than the hour after feed just before i ride them.
 
Oooo I can beat tree free then! Saddle free! Can't remember the last time I rode one of the boys in a saddle.... must of been about april! Even then it was because it was jacob on one of his first rides! Thats the trouble when your a charity with massive horses!
 
I tried shoe free, it works on my native but not on my warmblood, he was footsore for months and had to be off work it just wasnt working, hes much happier wearing shoes.

I try to keep as close to a fibre diet as possible, unfortunately my mare is lamanitic and my gelding loves his stable so I'd never have them out completely

Tried the treeless saddle but his withers were too high, shame it was nice and comfy looking

works for some and not for others as long as the horse is happy
 
im with you on nearly all your points.
all my horses have been shoe free for nearly 18 months and their hooves are a lot stronger (one has even come out of ill health retirement due to this) - we do lots of road work/varied ground and we have no issues with any of them.
they also went grain free around the same time. i no longer have any issues of bad behaviour due to sugar levels etc, yes they went through the withdrawal period but it didnt take them long. of course since the change to grain free their feet have been a lot better quality.
all this is because of one of my horses, she made me change the way i think about their feet and food due to an unexplained skin condition (long story but she was damaging her feet because of the amount of stamping she was doing)
they have now lived outfor over 2 years and its the best thing i have ever done (apart from not needing to muck out
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) they are happier, fitter and generally just nicer.

i havent made the change to treeless yet but im not saying i wont, its just not on my agenda atm.
 
How do you feed them grain free, I keep thinking about it but just can't quite do it. Big problem for me is that I am allergic to Hi Fi and Alfa A.
 
Mine are shoe free but tbh I'm not keen on treeless saddles. I think on horses that need them they're fine but not on others. Mine are grain free too because one doesn't need them and the other would be nuts on them
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Couldn't do stable free though - they're both dives who need their snuggly stables
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I'm so glad I'm not the only one who read the tree free bit and had mental images of you bulldozing the trees on your land!!!!

I agree with the grain free bit as my horse is a loon, but couldn't go shoe free ever. I'm in 2 minds about treeless saddles... don't think there would be enough padding for my horses' bony spine and my bony arse...
 
Blue2262 - i use a feed called Primero Equine Nutrition its on a made to order basis so everything is fresh, milled, bagged then delivered. i also use Grass Nuts soaked in water in morning for evening feed and so on, i also feed (for extra conditioning or energy) Alfa Pellets soaked along with the grass nuts and Dengie alfabeet (which is unmolassed) - Alfa in pellet form i would image should be okay for you as you would not have to touch it in any way or breath the little bit in as its just a clean nut.

My horses &stallions are all fed this and not only are they show condition all year they are also dressage horses/ show jumpers and very calm but with enough slow release energy to keep them going.

I changed my horses diets because of a 1yr old Arab which had a very very bad Ulcer - he was in bad pain, rolling, digging his bed and laying on a big pile of bedding, grinding his teeth etc etc, he had been fed on a crushed barley and chaff diet when i brought him and he had an overload of grain. Vets said about the syringe Ulcer medication but at 250.00 a pop (horse not insured for illness within first 2weeks) i could not afford it plus it was no 100% guarantee that it would work - so i stoped grain, needless to say within 2-3 weeks i saw a difference so the whole yard went onto it too and ive never looked back - feeding grain now just look weird to me now.

Also grain dehydrates the body so much - but thats another story.

Its nice to see the different opinions and just how many are/ have changed to a "free" living for horses.

Also my breeds of horses range from Cobs, Welsh Cob, Arab, TB X & pure TB, warmbloods Dutch and British, Holstein and Oldenburg an SF all Free living horses. Obviously the cobs adapted easier and quicker but followed by the TB then the warmbloods - my flat footed boy is fine, they also go over very stoney terrain with blinking.

i am going to be getting some video of my horses going over rocky ground and put on youtube, i have some footage (pun) but still need a bit more - will post link when ready as its good for people to see British horses barefoot doing different stuff and not whinsing in pain.
 
With odd exceptions, ours have been grain free, tree free, shoe free, stable free and some even bit free for over 8 years.
 
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