Care of shoeless feet...

Honey08

Honey08

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Not wanting to hi-jack the other thread on no shoes, so here's my question.

My horse was at stud all summer barefoot. She came home not in foal, I had her shod, then I had an accident so can't ride most of the winter now. A few people said they'd ride her, but she can be a handful, and they haven't come yet. I'm wondering about taking her shoes off again. She recently lost a shoe, and doesn't seem to notice, unlike on previous occasions when she would feel stones on the road etc. I presume that her foot has hardened over the summer. If anything, her feet are on the long side of normal, so they could take some wear. So I have the following questions -

Do you think she would be able to be ridden now and again without shoes? She isn't fit, so wouldn't be doing much anyway. I'd just like my weekend girl to ride her now and again, and also my child, as the pony they ride will be too small next year, and I want to wean them onto her!

Do you find you have any more problems with bare feet - such as problems due to mud (we have tons everywhere in winter) or thrush etc due to standing directly on dirty bedding etc.? Opinions please...x
 
I would say there's no reason she can't be ridden barefoot especially lightly. However you do need to look holistically ie. diet, management, trim and possible ways of support if she should need it eg. boots and or pads.
Constant wet and stable muck is a problem for all hooves so time out of the mud each day helps as well as keeping on top of any thrush etc. so a good hygiene programme is necessary if stabled part of the time. Diet is the biggie though imo.
Here's a link to some questions answered by a Trimmer. http://www.performancebarefoot.co.uk/page3.html
Have a look round the site and do a search for others there's tons of info out there. Best of luck and tbh it sounds a sensible option to me good luck.
 
Some horses thrive barefoot regardless.

Others not so much

For the latter group the management will need to be reviewed.

What will make is successful is as individual as each horse.

But for many a diet tweak will be necessary.

Some are sore because of thrush

But I am not so sure about the 'light work'. My most successful barefooters all work hard over a variety of terrain.

The work stimulates the foot to put out quality (and quantity if required) horn and if the work is consistent wear will match growth

Trouble comes when a horse is worked inconsistently/has sudden changes in workload.

Also owner has to know what the foot should look like bare. I have found some expect the horse to be walking on 1cm of wall or so and then they worry when this wears off.

Barefoot is great, but if you can't work your horse consistently to develop the hoof then you might need boots for when you ride on more challenging surfaces.
 
Honey08 my horse & pony do very little road work and consequently are never shod. They have no "special diets" as such other than applying cornucesine to the ID/TB coronet band during the summer to help the cracking that she is prone to & adding farriers aid to her feed.

They are trimmed every 6 - 8 weeks by a nice normal farrier, no barefoot weekly trimming nonsense and are both 100% sound and happy to walk across fields / tarmac & gravel.

The are out at grass 24/7 from April - November and then stabled at night only during the winter. Other than a normal hoof pick out daily they have no special treatment & never have & never needed it. Farrier very happy with hoof condition even on flat footed ID/TB.

Just enjoy not having a shoeing bill :)
 
you could go for halfway house and take the backs off, as Ive done. Normally that doesnt cause any issues for a lot of horses and its the fronts/all 4 coming off that causes headaches.

In that way you can see how they do this winter, already be half way to fuill barefoot next year and save on some of the cost.

My chap had his backs taken off after 15 years of being shod about a month ago and he doesnt seem to have noticed theyve gone yet :-)
 
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