Connor's barefoot journey

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nirikina

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Hi everyone. This is my first post here (I've been lurking a while) so please be nice.

I've owned Connor for 3 years, and after lots of research I made the decision to go barefoot. Here's some pictures of his feet at 2.5 weeks post shoe removal. I'd be interested in your comments. Would you say they need trimming or leaving alone?

Front Left
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Front Right
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And here's his sandals that he wears on alternate days for our in hand walks, just because they look so cute!
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I cant really comment on his feet, as I am learning about all this myself as well :D took my tb's shoes off three days ago!
I LOVE his sandals, they are so sweet!! Lol, where on earth did u get them??
 
They are in need of a trim. bless his sandals. I would say he has a way to go with those contracted heels. I assume you have a good hoof practitioner (farrier/trimmer - doesn't matter as long as they understand barefoot) and they aresupporting you, you will be fine. Just take it easy. I am sure some of the other bf's will also input :)
 
The sandals were designed and made by a saddler in Shetland:
http://www.journeyman-leather.co.uk/

Most schools of thought tend to agree that frequent trimming and maintaining a roll (to avoid flare) is critical to the success of going barefoot. But a significant minority advocate leaving the hoof to shape itself.

The lady who trimmed him said she'd ideally like to take off all the flare, but given he seemed to be sensitive it was probably best to leave him with as much hoof as possible for support.

Both approaches make sense. So it's hard to know which approach to follow.
 
nirikina said:
The sandals were designed and made by a saddler in Shetland:
http://www.journeyman-leather.co.uk/

Most schools of thought tend to agree that frequent trimming and maintaining a roll (to avoid flare) is critical to the success of going barefoot. But a significant minority advocate leaving the hoof to shape itself.

The lady who trimmed him said she'd ideally like to take off all the flare, but given he seemed to be sensitive it was probably best to leave him with as much hoof as possible for support.

Both approaches make sense. So it's hard to know which approach to follow.
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Who trimmed him?
 
Never seen boots like that before. Interesting.

The LF has abscessed in the medial heal bulb, and the frogs overall are delicate and contracted. TLC is needed here as I'm sure you're aware. The soles are nice and the walls will be good once thicker. I wouldn't be in a rush to trim them just yet, another 3 weeks or so I would say.

The thing that jumps out to me is the coronary band, its very angry, short and inflammed in all photos, and the angle of the pastern to hoof wall changes at that point. I've not seen this before, and I've seen a lot!! So what's the history of this horse, and your decision to go barefoot?
 
gosh those are interesting looking feet! do you have a trimmer or farrier??

He needs silvetrasol spraying on those once a day once theyve been scrubbed out. Is he getting any stimulus to the bare hoof aside from muddy fields?

Is he sore on gravel/tarmac?
 
My farrier is a traditional blacksmith type farrier and not supportive of barefoot. So I searched the internet for barefoot trimmers, found a few who covered my area, and chose one after a few e-mail converations. She seemed knowledgeable, and when she met Connor she quickly picked up on his issues.

I asked her about thrush and she said there was no infection. I've also asked my farrier at previous visits, and he said the same. I'm well aware Connor's frogs are contracted, weak, raggedy etc but apparently it's simply because he's been shod for 10 years.

We are doing in hand hacks, 30 minutes to an hour, 3 times per week. He wears his sandals on alternate days. We have mixed surfaces, some sharp stony tracks, some gravel, some soft tracks, but mostly tarmac. (Most of our bridlepaths have been tarmacced for the benefit of cyclists.) He is comfortable on tarmac. We are mostly walking, with very short trots if he is able. He is sore on stones, so I let him walk on the verges and go as slow as he wants. On the days I work he gets a short lunging or ridden schooling session in the arena at walk/trot/canter. In addition, it's a 1/3rd of a mile round trip along the road between his field and the yard so he gets a minimum level of movement when he comes in for grooming/feeding even if I don't have time to 'work' him.
 
Thought I might know your trimmer is all:)

I think her approach is a sound one.

The hooves are too long - but to be too aggressive to an already sore horse (except in an acute laminitis situation) will only lead to a more sore horse with prettier hooves.

I would agree to take it slowly and let him build tissue where he needs it, then she can gradually take it from where he doesn't need it. He'll do the rest of the complicated stuff in between trims.

Even though he has been declared free from thrush I would still be treating him in those sulcus' and under any hoof flaps - if you use something gentle then it won't do him any harm, even if it doesn't do any good.

I'm loving the Clarke's shoes you have for him
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Changes said:
How long had these shoes been on before you took them off?
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Do you mean how long had he been shod or how long did he have the last set on for?

He is 12 years old, an ex racer (pacer) so potentially shod since he was 2.

The last set had only been on 4 weeks, but he'd already pulled off a front and the backs were starting to loosen.
 
Are you feeding Fast Fibre and Micronised linseed, I would certainly be doing something to boost the vitamin and minerals, but apart from that if he seems happy, I would ask trimmer out next week just to support him a bit and advise you.
If you are confident you can round off the edges and the wall with a light rasping, but at this stage I would wait for trimmer, and feed his feet.
 
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The nail holes were from 19 November, so 7.5 weeks ago now.

He has been on Happy Hoof for the last year. No supplements, no treats.
 
nirikina said:
The nail holes were from 19 November, so 7.5 weeks ago now.

He has been on Happy Hoof for the last year. No supplements, no treats.
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Yes , but I don't think the diet is adequate, Happy Hoof is a good marketing name, but in your case he is not very happy!
Digestible Energy (MJ/kg) 8.8
Oil (%) 4.0
Protein (%) 8.0
Fibre (%) 25.0
Starch (%) 4.0
Vitamin A (iu/kg) 10,000
Vitamin D (iu/kg) 1,500
Vitamin E (iu/kg) 200
Selenium (mg/kg) 0.15
Copper (mg/kg) 20.0
Zinc (mg/kg) 100
I don't know the ingredients, but there is no Biotin, with this boy, I would be feeding 20gms per day also magnesium and calcium balanced plus micronised linseed, 120 gms per day for a bigger type of French Trotter.
Can I recommend you contact Equimins by email or by phone and ask for advice, they don't sell feeds, other than Micronised linseed, and are very detailed in their product analysis.
They also sell minerals which are not on their website, but the main thing is to get them all balanced, which is why I suggest using a qualified nutritionist.
You could try Speedy Beet, but then you are not feeding a balanced product as you need to add basic minerals.
Fast Fibre [Allen and Page] is a plain fibre based feed which should provide all essential minerals and vitamins for any horse, then you are looking to supplement to support the feet, you will also see a difference in his coat, muscles, and general appearance over a period to three or four months, believe me my boy always looked in the best of health before he started on the Micronised Linseed, but I would not ever stop feeding it, as it also is good for joint health.
I realise this diet will be more expensive than Happy Hoof, but you are saving quite a bit on shoeing, so this should more than compensate. Once you are well in to the diet you can look at cost saving, but with one horse, at this stage, it is easier to buy stuff off the shelf.
Have a look at Feet First [seaweed is no longer recommended] and at the Cavallo boot site for a video on barefoot. You can sign up to Rockley Farm forum, and generally build up your knowledge this way, if you went to the trouble to have your own sandals made, you are well on the way to barefoot expertise!
 
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Spillers Happy Hoof Ingredients


Ingredients: Nutritionaly improved straw, Chopped straw, Wheatfeed, Dry lucerne, Low sugar molglo, Oatfeed, Ricebran, Grass nuts, Calcium carbonate, Vegetable oil, Soya oil, VItamins and minerals, Calcined magnesite, Dried spearmint 0.25%, Garlic 0.25%, Salt.

Theres your problem in bright red - molglo is a mixture of soya oil and mollasses

Normal mollasses has a listed sugar content of 47% and Molglo 40%, so they're splitting hairs saying its low in sugar, yes its lowER than some, but way too high for barefoot or laminitics (this feed is sponsored by the lami trust lot ffs! Talk about misleading!)

I wont feed soya myself because unless you know you're source its usually genetically modified, and our modern horses have enough chemical crap to cope with without adding it to their feed buckets.

I feed micronised linseed from Charnwood Milling http://www.charnwood-milling.co.uk/mail-order/Horse_Food.html


Pro Hoof supplement which contains everything MissL has said http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PRO-HOOF-...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item415ecd69e0

and a handful of readigrass :)
 
Changes said:
So those nail holes are only 6.5 weeks old? The foot is incredibly long for that at this time of year.
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That rate of growth is normal for newly unshod and many other barefoot horses Changes. One of mine got a coronet bruise eight weeks ago and the mark in the horn that resulted is already over an inch down his foot. It's one of the marvellous eye-openers, how fast a hoof will grow if only it is allowed to. If you look at the many pictures on the Rockley Blog, some grow out even faster when on a fantastic, stimulating track system.
 
cptrayes said:
That rate of growth is normal for newly unshod and many other barefoot horses Changes. One of mine got a coronet bruise eight weeks ago and the mark in the horn that resulted is already over an inch down his foot. It's one of the marvellous eye-openers, how fast a hoof will grow if only it is allowed to. If you look at the many pictures on the Rockley Blog, some grow out even faster when on a fantastic, stimulating track system.
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As the nail holes are very close to the botton of the foot, it suggests to me the foot was very long before the shoes were taken off. For whatever reason.

And I am not unaware about hoof growth, I have frequently had horses unshod.
 
Changes said:
So those nail holes are only 6.5 weeks old? The foot is incredibly long for that at this time of year.
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Changes said:
As the nail holes are very close to the botton of the foot, it suggests to me the foot was very long before the shoes were taken off. For whatever reason.

And I am not unaware about hoof growth, I have frequently had horses unshod.
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I apologise that I mistook you Changes. Can I ask what your comment "for this time of year" meant if it did not mean that you thought that the rate of growth of the hoof was fast for this time of year?
 
OP - I'd second some others on this thread. I've never seen a central sulcus that narrow and deep that didn't have thrush at the bottom of it.

Ditto also the feed. I personally won't feed anything made by Spillers - they are really good at hiding nasties in the small print and it really is small print. Unfortunately many of the Lami Trust badged products have molasses or straw in them somewhere.

Of concern is the complete failure to maintain the HA (healing angle)
 
cptrayes said:
I apologise that I mistook you Changes. Can I ask what your comment "for this time of year" meant if it did not mean that you thought that the rate of growth of the hoof was fast for this time of year?
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That is what I meant, cptryes. From the location of the nail holes in relation to the trimmed area (2.5 weeks beforehand) and the length of the foot from the coronet down to the nail holes, my view is that the foot was very long before the shoe was removed. So either the shod foot had grown very quickly in 4 weeks, or the foot was very long.
 
I hope you kept those shoes so you can visualise the change in shape of the back of the foot as he gets more sound and his contraction decontracts.

I wouldn't get too worked up at the moment - the trim doesn't look bad and first trim with the shoes off needs to be conservative. Best to see where the feet are going first.

Re the central sulcus - just gently clean it using some gauze as "floss" - use a little made up hibiscrub if you have it and draw the gauze through. He'll really appreciate it, but be gentle because there may be some irritation in there..

Getting the diet right is absolutely key - so I suggest you go to the UKNHCP forum where everyone is keeping barefoot horses and there's a lot of dietary experience and access to folks who have done the Kellon training etc. Personally I have a great mistrust of bagged feeds - but I do use Fast Fibre (hypocrite eh!) as a carrier for supplements and minerals.

But you also have to accept that a horse that was shod at 2 is never going to have the kind of development in the caudal hoof that he would have had if he had never been shod - it will improve, but the optimum developmental period was undermined. Don't beat yourself up about that - just do the best you can to provide an diet and environment that will allow it to grow better.

:)
 
Just to say well done and thanks for sharing - I am eight weeks into a barefoot regime with my new horse and can honestly say that his feet are improving massively. If you can get through the first 6 weeks when people may judge you, and also when your horse is super-sensitive, you will see real progress. My trimmer is one that advocates nature taking its course, to let the feet 'do their own thing', and I have been taking regular pics to monitor his progress - I'd suggest you do the same!
Do consider contacting Trelawne for advice if you are looking at barefoot booting options - www.trelawneequine.co.uk .
I will let all the experts here comment on the actual footcare and your next steps, but wanted to say well done for sharing, and bearing with him while he transitions and recovers - you will never look back, and as your friends' horses with their pathologies and 'heel pain' symptoms build up, you will hopefully have a healthy, happy barefoot horse once he's recovered/transitioned.
MJC
 
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