Contemplating going barefoot but why am I so stressed about it?

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Frozen Hoof Boots

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I'm seriously contemplating going barefoot with my 16'3hh WB who has underrun heels in front.
Specifically on one foot which is more flat and splayed bigger than the other.
The farrier keeps rasping the hell out of his toes and its massively bugging me that seeing his feet with no shoes on looks better. The problem is that speaking to the farrier about my concerns last time was met with being told that I was paranoid about his feet and he's seen a lot worse... silence followed for 30 mins... And then he changes the shoe type... To appease me... His words not mine.
He's due back in 2 weeks and I know if I suggest taking shoes off I know the farrier will have a mega strop.

I've started giving Biotin in preparation but am thinking about speaking to a barefoot trimmer about the situation.
My reasons for going barefoot are that I feel that the underrun heels will get better unshod rather than with shoes. I'm not expecting a perfect matching pair of feet, just a sound and well horse.
Thoughts anyone?
 
My initial thoughts were that if the farrier has to rasp the toe excessively, there is probably a fair bit of flare there that needs addressing. Diet is the primary avenue of attack; removing the shoes to relieve stress on the hoof wall will also help. If you can tackle the flare and grow in a well connected hoof wall, the underrun heels will most likely resolve themselves as well.

The best thing you can do is read up on the subject - posts from the Barefoot Taliban on here, and also check out the PhoenixHorse forum. I've found it's a lot more stressful now I'm a bit more clued up on the ins and outs of horses' feet.
 
Do it... If your aware of work involved and the changes you may need to make to your routine/management then it's worth a go.

I have one the same, odd front feet, one is tiny and contracted, one splayed and flat, both under run. He's had his shoes off for 6 weeks now and it's all beginning to look better, I'm really pleased. I decided to do it after having good results with 2 other horses of mine who had feet and leg issues and had responded well to going barefoot.

One thing I will say is get a good trimmer, you need someone who is on your side and if your farrier's attitude stinks then stop giving him your money! I have the support of my farrier but find his trims to be a bit too brutal and they made my guys sore so I went down the trimmer route and am very happy :)
 
I have a horse that the farrier said would not cope barefoot, so I had a consultation with a trimmer and she said although it would not be a quick fix , with the right diet and work his feet would mend!
So this is what I have chosen to do and chose a trimmer instead of the farrier, who obviously thinks I am mad!
 
Because anything that is new / unknown / missunderstood is daunting.

I would definately cancel your next farrier appointment and enlist the help of an equine podiatrist (trimmer). Your farrier doesn't sound very understanding of your concerns...

In the mean time, finish off the biotin by all means but don't waste your money on any more. Make sure your horse is on a low sugar, low starch diet and a good hoof supplement - look through the barefoot threads on here to find a reccomended one.

Diet wise I can reccomend Fast Fibre and Micronised linseed. Cut out all mixes, alfa-alfa (that includes Hi-fi) and mollasses.
 
There are many good farriers out there who have no problem with maintaining barefoot horses. I would be changing my farrier asap if I were you, he sounds like an arrogant p**ck to me! Diet is key, no grain, high fibre, low sugar, controlled grass. There's loads of threads about it on here. Mine has been happily barefoot for 7 years under the care of an excellent farrier.:) Is yours in full work at the moment? lots of movement is key for growing a good foot, preferably on lots of different surfaces. Controlled road work is brilliant for conditioning feet straight out of shoes but it does all take time so you will have to be patient. Hoof boots can be a godsend too if your boy needs them, some do, others manage without. Good luck. :)
 
GiddyUpGirl said:
He's due back in 2 weeks and I know if I suggest taking shoes off I know the farrier will have a mega strop.

Thoughts anyone?
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Get a new farrier!

I certainly wouldn't have him back a second time if he wasn't willing to discuss the best possible route for my horse.. not the adequate one because it wasn't as bad as other horses!

Pan
 
Cancel the farrier, get a trimmer to take the shoes off, put a roll on and leave them for 8-12 weeks. Then have trimmer back to re assess what the horse has chosen to grow. You mention rasping the hell out of his feet - this is why im saying leave them for a while as over rasped walls is something one of mine ended up with and took nearly a year to grow down and I had lots of cracks whilst the weakened bits were growing down.

Get the diet sorted, as per CBFan, and see how you go :)
 
Your are stressed because its a bit like going into the unknown I was too and I was lucky my first was a healthy horse with no foot issues who had been out of work and so I did not have to deal with the chipping back to the nail holes etc as he had been shoeless for a good while when I started trying to work him BF
In the spring I took my TB barefoot unrun heels thin soles almost no frogs at all in the hind feet I was prepared then , I knew the system ( I had started off another as well.) I knew the things that might happen and what to do. The horse had been on the correct diet for six months despite the horse having repeated infections and courses of antibiotic, masses of drugs in horsepital at regular intervals over the summer I have kept going he is now doing four miles at a time on the roads not a lot I know but pretty amazing from where we started he is working well in the school and on grass and I will start jumping next week.
Read everything you can find look at all the threads on here ask questions I would never have done it without the support on here and Phoenix horse , I opted for a trimmer principally to learn more and he has helped enormously but it's not necessary if you have a open minded farrier .
Good luck .
 
Firstly thankyou everyone for your replies and support.

Scarlett said:
I have one the same, odd front feet, one is tiny and contracted, one splayed and flat, both under run. He's had his shoes off for 6 weeks now and it's all beginning to look better, I'm really pleased. I decided to do it after having good results with 2 other horses of mine who had feet and leg issues and had responded well to going barefoot.

One thing I will say is get a good trimmer, you need someone who is on your side and if your farrier's attitude stinks then stop giving him your money! I have the support of my farrier but find his trims to be a bit too brutal and they made my guys sore so I went down the trimmer route and am very happy :)
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That's very interesting how has the splayed foot changed is the new growth more upright now?

CBFan said:
Diet wise I can reccomend Fast Fibre and Micronised linseed. Cut out all mixes, alfa-alfa (that includes Hi-fi) and mollasses.
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Is that A & P Fast Fibre? I bought a big bag of linseed pellets, I guess that isn't the same as micronnised linseed? :confused:

TwoStroke said:
My initial thoughts were that if the farrier has to rasp the toe excessively, there is probably a fair bit of flare there that needs addressing. Diet is the primary avenue of attack; removing the shoes to relieve stress on the hoof wall will also help. If you can tackle the flare and grow in a well connected hoof wall, the underrun heels will most likely resolve themselves as well.
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He's rasped it right up the wall... :(


Here's some pics of his front feet, thoughts and critique welcome... :)
OS front (Flat underrun)
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NS front
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You can see how desperate the frog is to get some ground pressure. It's trying to kiss the ground but it can't quite reach :o

Walls long and flaring rasped out. Heels contracted and weak.

But there's lots to like about the hooves to start off with. Certainly not as bad as many I've seen and full of potential to be good and strong, given half a chance :)

You'll have to lay off the oil if you go barefoot ;)

If you have concerns about the hooves not matching, you'll need to get a decent body worker on board to investigate a reason for that. The opposite hind to the more upright hoof is often the suspect.....but worry about that later. Sometimes just allowing the horse to grow the hoof it wants sorts the main issue out all by itself.
 
Linseed pellets are not the same as micronised linseed - dont feed them :eek:

As Oberon said, lay off the tar/oil - actually prevents the hoof being able to breathe and can cause fungal infections.
 
Typical farrier induced feet.
Start feeding, make sure you get pro hoof minerals plus Fast Fibre.
Feed 100gms+ micronised linseed.
Extra fibre sources, non molasses s b pulp and also Dengie non molasses lo alfa chaff.
tsp salt
I don't like New Balance shoes, as they are supposed to emulate "wild mustang feet", but heck, they are mustang feet with crampons!
 
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Your farrier sounds awful! Don't take that- you're paying him for a service not grief!

Perhaps try and find another farrier or trimmer by word of mouth.

Promise you they're not all like that. My farrier is lovely, encouraged me to try barefoot and is very patient with all my hoof questions and requests.

Think you'd feel much more confident if you were recieving adequate support from your farrier/trimmer.
 
Agree that there's lots to like for a beginning; you should see some good improvements from going barefoot. I would say though that be prepared to need boots, as it looks like the frog has prolapsed a little, and is lower than the hoof wall, so he may be tender once the weight of the horse is dumped down onto them. I would wait until the next shoeing's due, and not trim any wall off to start with, if he were my horse.
 
Yes, Alan and Page fast fibre - I swapped to it from Speedi-beet as my boy was so sensitive to the sugar in S beet.

No, Linseed pelets are not the same as Micronised linseed. shamelessly lifted from another thread 'Linseed pellets are usually the bi product left when the linseed has been micronised or ground. Usually bound together with sugar so not great value nutrition wise.'

You really are best to get some Micronised linseed.

As for the feet, there is a lot to like about them but agree with all that has been said... you will need to go through a transition period as well as your horse though with regards to the use of topical products... stop them!! they don't help, despite making your horse's hooves 'look nice' ... believe me they will look much nicer in 9 months time when they have been allowed to breathe and grow for themselves :) Going barefoot requires quite a change in mindset and a lot of support from understanding people.

Good luck! :)
 
Someone has said "no grain". Grain is not a problem if it's oats. Barley isn't digested well and isn't recommended, but if your horse needs hard food then oats are fine. Most of us also find cubes are fine, which is what I feed mine. We think that may be because they are well cooked to make them. They do have molasses in, but not nearly as much as in muesli mixes and although I have one grass sensitive horse, he eats cubes all winter without any problems and is rock crunching.
 
Most of us also find cubes are fine, which is what I feed mine. We think that may be because they are well cooked to make them. They do have molasses in, but not nearly as much as in muesli mixes and although I have one grass sensitive horse, he eats cubes all winter without any problems and is rock crunching.
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How interesting! I had always wondered why I managed to get away with feeding cubes, when on the face of it they're a bit high in sugar/starch. That's a plausible possible explanation.

OP - if you feed the micronised linseed for a while, you will find you don't need the topical hoof stuff any more, as the hooves start to look much shinier :)
 
Thankyou Oberon for the PM's very very useful info.

I've bought the micronised linseed. Was going to buy the Pro Hoof as week.

My boy is only 5 and seeing the other posts re Fast Fibre is for older horses & good doers. He's on Bailey's no4, no19 and Hifi Original which I was going to change the hifi to molasses free, lose the no19 in favour of the pro hoof and then progress to changing the nuts over a longer period. Thoughts?

Dreading telling the farrier my decision tbh that's where most of my stressing is coming from. I agree with Oberon the change in the bulb of heels over last two shoeings has meant they've contracted and my historic photos show this which is worrying me. Compounded by the fact he pulled a check ligament the same day he was last shod and had loony moment outside.
I have an excellent body worker and Chiro who have treated this week.

Building up to that chat with the farrier... wish me luck!!
 
GiddyUpGirl said:
Thankyou Oberon for the PM's very very useful info.

I've bought the micronised linseed. Was going to buy the Pro Hoof as week.

My boy is only 5 and seeing the other posts re Fast Fibre is for older horses & good doers. He's on Bailey's no4, no19 and Hifi Original which I was going to change the hifi to molasses free, lose the no19 in favour of the pro hoof and then progress to changing the nuts over a longer period. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

No problem.

Fast Fibre is basically a mixture of straw and unmolassed beet - it's a neutral slop that you can mix stuff into. Most horses eat it without drama.

Your plan sounds fine though.

Basically we are changing perception so that the grass and forage is the main bulk of the diet and we are feeding only to compliment it.

The mineral supplement will do that. The base is just something to mix it into in order to get it down them. So it isn't really important what it is (to a young and healthy horse) as long as it doesn't do more harm than good - such as molassed or alfalfa based feeds (for a sensitive horse).

A friend of mine just uses unmolassed hay chaff as a base for the minerals and her horse is happy with that.

If you mention to your farrier that you won't be riding much, you need to save cash and so you are giving the horse a 'break from shoes for the winter' - it usually goes down better than, "I've been talking to the Barefoot Taliban and I want to join their ranks ;)"
 
GiddyUpGirl said:
I agree with Oberon the change in the bulb of heels over last two shoeings has meant they've contracted and my historic photos show this which is worrying me.!
Click to expand...

You can see a comparison here.....
Ground contact builds a stronger caudal hoof outside and inside - to the digital cushions (red) and lateral cartilages (green).

lateralcartilage.jpg


hoofmechanism.jpg
 
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