Could he go barefoot?

L

lcharles

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 August 2010
Messages
1,082
Visit site
Firstly, i dont understand the bare foot thing so please 'bare' with me :op x

I wondered if my horses could go bare foot to cut back on shoeing costs but also because my gelding keeps pulling his one shoe off!! Had the farrier out 3 times in a week to put it back on! x Think the mud sucks it off!

Is there a rule on bare footed horses? Mine have both got good feet and have the farrier regularly, even though my mare will go longer if needed and her shoes stay on well! x

I have only recently started having back shoes on my gelding as the farrier said as i do alot of cantering/galloping his heel was wearing down quicker than it was growing so recommending shoes and he has always had a full set since.

I dont do much road work but i do compete regularly and do alot of fast work.

How do you know if your horse can go bare footed? sorry if im being dumb/ignorant!! xx
 
Short answer - yes, I'm sure he could go barefoot!

You will need to pay careful attention to his diet (though nothing different to a healthy shod diet, just that barefeet show probs with the diet much more quickly) and allow him to build the strength of his feet carefully so that they become harder to deal with the work, and also build up the strength of his frog and digital cushion.

Some horses manage fine on pretty much anything, but a low sugar/starch and high fibre diet is a good start. Some horses are mega sensitive and benefit from mineral balancing too (forage plus sort it all out for you, makes things way easier!) but no need to leap right in with that until you think it might be a problem.

I would recommend getting the book feet first http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feet-First-Barefoot-Performance-Rehabilitation/dp/0851319602 Just the most useful thing ever! It will give you a good idea of the whole thing before you pull the shoes. That way, should you decide it is right for you and your boy, you will be best placed to make it an easy sucess!

Ours both do heaps of roadwork and work over alot of different surfaces (at a bloomin' good clip too, fast work is no barrier to working barefoot!). They compete too - dressage and sj for us.

The feet do look 'short' to an eye not used to seeing working feet without shoes. Basic test is - if your horse is comfortable then the feet are good. Your horse is the expert so just take his lead on things.

http://uknhcp.myfastforum.org/forum2.php is a brilliant resourse, following the Rockley blog is really useful too http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/sea...dated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00Z&max-results=23

Best of luck!
 
Yes.

I hunt barefoot. I used to event barefoot. Unless your horse was unsound wearing his heels off then your farrier was wrong and that was how he wanted them. Chances are your farrier was leaving his heels too long, barefoot feet can look very short it you are not used to them.

Follow the diet advice and try it. A friend of mine did it for the same reason as you, horse would never keep front shoes on. Not only does he have a sound horse who evented affiliated this year and represented her riding club at the nationals, but the huge dish that the mare used to have has almost disappeared :eek::p
 
Any horse can go barefoot - just whip the shoes off, it's easy.

But not every horse can be barefoot and work comfortably.

Some are fine and can go anywhere and do anything with no changes.

Some need very precise dietary changes and care.

If a horse isn't coping (sore or not growing enough hoof to cope with wear) then it's down to;

1) Diet - too much sugar and not enough balance in minerals.
2) Existing pathology
3) Trimmer taking off too much tissue (sole and frog).

Hooves - when they are fed and cared for properly, get stronger and tougher with the more work they do.

As some farriers and vets are not experienced in seeing healthy, robust, working BF hooves, they will not believe that it is possible. Hence they will often advise against removing shoes on anything but a field ornament.

So the owner HAS to learn and take responsibility for the hooves and guide the hoof care provider on how to trim without laming the horse (sadly very common!).
 
Aww thats interesting! x I may have a read up on those books, thank you! x

I think my mare would do well without shoes but she is the cheapest one anyway and she doesnt pull them off so i dont think i'd gain much from having hers off! x

Billy's heel is quite low but farrier wasnt too bothered until i told him i would be galloping abouts lots to get him fit for team chasing and hunting. Maybe the time period for his feet to get used to it wouldnt be long enough? In fairnedd my farrier is really really good and i wouldnt like to use anyone else. How do you find a barefoot farrier? are there many about?

What has made you lot decide to go barefoot? Should it be so complicated?! x
 
Like a lot of people I originally went barefoot to save a horse who was going lame. When I saw the incredible changes to his feet, having been told by two farriers that he would never manage, I was so stunned that I vowed never to have shoes on a horse again. I was prepared to give up eventing and hunting if I had to, but I've hunted three barefoot and evented five and not had a single "failure". Even the one with navicular syndrome and feet so soft they could be bent with my fingers now hunts with his new owner.

For many horses, it isn't complicated at all. For quite a few, they need their access to spring and summer grass restricted, especially during daylight. For a few with metabolic problems, or minerally unbalanced grazing/forage it can be a real struggle to work out how to get them comfortable on stones.

Hopefully yours will be one of the easy peasy ones, but we prefer to tell people about the rest so that they go into it with their eyes open as to what they might be taking on.
 
We keep our farrier, though tbh we don't see much of him as ours self trim. He's not been out since sept, but is there should we want him to take a look. He was supportive to the whole idea, he isn't fussed on the feed side but I'm happy to be a nerd so all is well!

Don't worry about the name a hoof care person has, care about how well they do the job, if they are sufficiently insured, and how they have become qualified to touch your horses hoof with a rasp!

I took my mares shoes off as I just didn't see that she needed them. I was happy that work would stimulate good quality growth, so just didn't see the need for shoes! Off came the shoes and away we went! We were very lucky as she really was v easy to take barefoot. Other mare had niggles and balance issues in shoes, until our farrier could no longer keep her sound in them. So shoes came off as tbh we were at the end of the line and facing retiring her. She has been more difficult to get rock crunching, but it has been well worth it and she is now going great guns and is on the form of her life! It has taken a year of backwards and forwards, but it is sooo worth it. Has taught us a huge amount as pretty much everything affects the feet so you have to learn!
 
yeah, i'd like to think that it would be simple but im not so sure!! x its worrying and confusing looking at something new! x I don't like the idea that my horses could be uncomfortable on their feet with no shoes! x

When billy pulls a shoe off you would notice because he walks quite happily on it, but then apparently he needs them on the back so they dont wear down? Farrier said if the heel gets too low and uncomfortable then he would have to 'glue' shoes on as there is no room to nail them on and its £80 for two shoes and he'd have to have them until his hoof grew enough to have normal shoes!! :o

So if a horse does a lot of work, will its hooves grow to accomadate this?! x

How do you know if they are getting the right minerals etc from their feeds/grazing?

Am i making it more complicated than it actually is?! x Can you just get them taken off, trimmed and off you go?! Just gradually build up there work?!
 
lcharles said:
yeah, i'd like to think that it would be simple but im not so sure!! x its worrying and confusing looking at something new! x I don't like the idea that my horses could be uncomfortable on their feet with no shoes! x

When billy pulls a shoe off you would notice because he walks quite happily on it, but then apparently he needs them on the back so they dont wear down? Farrier said if the heel gets too low and uncomfortable then he would have to 'glue' shoes on as there is no room to nail them on and its £80 for two shoes and he'd have to have them until his hoof grew enough to have normal shoes!! :o

So if a horse does a lot of work, will its hooves grow to accomadate this?! x

How do you know if they are getting the right minerals etc from their feeds/grazing?

Am i making it more complicated than it actually is?! x Can you just get them taken off, trimmed and off you go?! Just gradually build up there work?!
Click to expand...

A healthy horse will grow the foot it needs for the work its doing.

As others have said ,if your horse appears sore then you will know that something is not quite right.
Forage testing is a good way to assess your mineral balance.
http://shop.forageplus.com/analysis
 
lcharles said:
yeah, i'd like to think that it would be simple but im not so sure!! x its worrying and confusing looking at something new! x I don't like the idea that my horses could be uncomfortable on their feet with no shoes! x

When billy pulls a shoe off you would notice because he walks quite happily on it, but then apparently he needs them on the back so they dont wear down? Farrier said if the heel gets too low and uncomfortable then he would have to 'glue' shoes on as there is no room to nail them on and its £80 for two shoes and he'd have to have them until his hoof grew enough to have normal shoes!! :o

So if a horse does a lot of work, will its hooves grow to accomadate this?! x

How do you know if they are getting the right minerals etc from their feeds/grazing?

Am i making it more complicated than it actually is?! x Can you just get them taken off, trimmed and off you go?! Just gradually build up there work?!
Click to expand...

I'd have a lot more respect for farriers if they didn't come out with scare stories like this. Where are your horse's heels going to go? They aren't going to wear off because his frog is in the way :p His frog should be touching the floor, and it will share the wear. It sounds to me like your farrier can see his revenues disappearing out of the door and is trying to scare you into staying with shoes :o

Provided you do not suddenly increase his workload, your horse will grow foot at the rate that it wears away. If he grows more, you can trim it off, but many horses become self-trimming if they get enough work on surfaces like tarmac and stony tracks.

You may simply be able to have the shoes pulled and get on with it. Many people have been able to do this. But if your horse stays footie on stones for more than a couple of months, you'll need to look at his diet before you can say that barefoot has not worked for him.

If we can help, we will :rolleyes:
 
You have to be prepared to possibly make changes (sometimes drastic ones) and learn to be flexible depending how your horse is. There are pads and boots to help with comfort for thin soled horses for example. Imo you do need someone who can advise where any discomfort is coming from, if there is any so you can make changes that will actually help.

Getting diet right for your horse and enabling comfortable and correct hoof stimulation is vital. Most horses out of shoes have weak internal structures and these need building over time. Treating thrush can be very important.

Learn all you can about healthy horses hooves and how to get there. I always recommend Pete Ramey. His stuff is so accessible and his great articles are free on his web site. Knowing as much as you can is your greatest friend.
 
I have recently taken shoes off of 2, a 33 year old that was shod all his life and I thought he would have to stop work once they came off, its a long story why they are off and not relevant, he is moving better than before and is still being lightly ridden.
The other horse had his back shoes off as not doing much last autumn, he then, like yours pulled off his fronts in the deep mud and I got fed up with having them put back on. So off they came, well I actually just didnt call the farrier back out as it was near Xmas, he is in light work hacking, schooling, he went SJ last week and is very comfortable.
Mine are on a fibre based diet and have been for some time, which I think has helped, my farrier is great and not at all bothered whether they are shod or not he has got my laminitic pony sound with no shoes against vets advice, which was originally pts.
I do think you need your farrier to be on side otherwise I would change.
 
lcharles said:
yeah, i'd like to think that it would be simple but im not so sure!! x its worrying and confusing looking at something new! x I don't like the idea that my horses could be uncomfortable on their feet with no shoes! x

When billy pulls a shoe off you would notice because he walks quite happily on it, but then apparently he needs them on the back so they dont wear down? Farrier said if the heel gets too low and uncomfortable then he would have to 'glue' shoes on as there is no room to nail them on and its £80 for two shoes and he'd have to have them until his hoof grew enough to have normal shoes!! :o

So if a horse does a lot of work, will its hooves grow to accomadate this?! x

How do you know if they are getting the right minerals etc from their feeds/grazing?

Am i making it more complicated than it actually is?! x Can you just get them taken off, trimmed and off you go?! Just gradually build up there work?!
Click to expand...

One wonders how BF endurance horses manage without wearing their hooves to bloody stumps?

You have to condition the hooves to the work they are expected to do.

If you took an overweight, grass kept pony out of the field and took it for a six hour hack - would you consider that fair?

It's the same with hooves.

If you regularly ride on a 'challenging surface' (flint, rocks etc) - then you would increase the amount you do slowly until the horse was fully happy and you'd have some of the best hooves around.

If you school on a soft surface 364 days a year and then suddenly wanted to go on a full days hack on that 'challenging surface' - you'd think about wearing boots for that occasion unless you were confident the horse's soles were thick and tough enough.

The more you abuse hooves - the stronger they become but you have to have some consideration - it's not like slapping shoes on and then giving no thought until the farrier tells you something's wrong.

It would be interesting to see your horse's hooves to look at these heels.

Are they lower than this 'perfect hoof'?

wild_hoof18942859_std.jpg


But you won't get anywhere unless the diet is right. I can guarantee you that. Barefoot horses won't allow you to feed them crap;)
 
lcharles said:
Aww thats interesting! x I may have a read up on those books, thank you! x

I think my mare would do well without shoes but she is the cheapest one anyway and she doesnt pull them off so i dont think i'd gain much from having hers off! x

Billy's heel is quite low but farrier wasnt too bothered until i told him i would be galloping abouts lots to get him fit for team chasing and hunting. Maybe the time period for his feet to get used to it wouldnt be long enough? In fairnedd my farrier is really really good and i wouldnt like to use anyone else. How do you find a barefoot farrier? are there many about?

What has made you lot decide to go barefoot? Should it be so complicated?! x
Click to expand...

Off topic, well in a way, the way to condition and increase fitness for competition is not to do loads of fast work [galloping about] and nothing else, this will lead to a horse losing weight and become susceptible to injury. The tried and tested method is to build up fitness with slow work including road work, by walking on tarmac the horse will self trim, as the horse self trims the horse will respond by growing more hoof tissue.
You should be aware that most people with horses realise after a few years that there is more to learn, and this is part of the interest in the hobby. If you want to compete and no strings the best way may be to put it in to a competition yard and let the professionals advise you.
 
Last edited:
I took my horses shoes off at the end of november. I have a friend who's horse is barefoot and I'd started doing a bit of research. I got him onto a suitable diet before hand and then I gave him about 5 weeks with no work to let him get used to it.

I'm now trying to start getting him used to going hacking with boots but also going for walks in hand without the boots to start him getting used to our very rough lane. He is sound in the school, on tarmac and on grass.

He is moving completely different - far far better than he ever has. I am now loathe to put shoes back on him even though I originally planned to put them back on for the summer.

Its a really steep learning curve though. I dont think I've picked his feet out so much in his entire life :D
 
Skippys Mum said:
I


He is moving completely different - far far better than he ever has. I am now loathe to put shoes back on him even though I originally planned to put them back on for the summer.

Its a really steep learning curve though. I dont think I've picked his feet out so much in his entire life :D
Click to expand...
Oh, err, I don't pick out the feet, just brushed off with dandy brush especially at first as they do alter a lot at first, I am over the novelty and only look at them once a week or so.
My boy does a good hour on tarmac every day. did ask my farrier to call, that was a month ago, not much different today, I will rasp off the edges and see how I go, another farrier will be around this week.
 
I have half a mile to go up a really rough lane before I get to the tarmac so we are having to do things a bit slower :D. Mind you, farrier came on monday and all he did was roll his toes slightly :D
 
Skippys Mum said:
I have half a mile to go up a really rough lane before I get to the tarmac so we are having to do things a bit slower :D. Mind you, farrier came on monday and all he did was roll his toes slightly :D
Click to expand...

For anyone else in this situation Cavallos are light, relatively cheap and very easy to put on. You could put them on for the first half mile and carry them for the rest of the ride if you got one of those pocket saddle cloths Robbies sell, or ride with a little rucksack perhaps. Or hide them behind a hedge and put them back on for the return journey :cool:
 
Oberon said:
It would be interesting to see your horse's hooves to look at these heels.

Are they lower than this 'perfect hoof'?

wild_hoof18942859_std.jpg


But you won't get anywhere unless the diet is right. I can guarantee you that. Barefoot horses won't allow you to feed them crap;)
Click to expand...

Oh Oberon :( ! How silly of you :o That's wild horse hoof - don't you understand that we have bred decent feet out of all modern horses and that they can't carry the additional weight of a rider without shoes :p ? That is, all the ones except all the TB's, huge hunters, horses written off with navicular, long distance winners, etc that somehow we seem to be managing it with.

(Sorry, there's a wind chill of minus fifteen or so here :eek: and I'm going stir crazy this morning. )
 
cptrayes said:
For anyone else in this situation Cavallos are light, relatively cheap and very easy to put on. You could put them on for the first half mile and carry them for the rest of the ride if you got one of those pocket saddle cloths Robbies sell, or ride with a little rucksack perhaps. Or hide them behind a hedge and put them back on for the return journey :cool:
Click to expand...

Lightbulb moment here - I've got boots (Cavallos for front and borrowed gloves for back) and it didnt cross my mind to take them off:o
 
Good to hear of positive stories from people choosing to go barefoot! x

Think i'm even more interested now.

Miss L Toe: I didnt mean i only gallop about lots lol x they have a massive variety of work to improve fitness, they are both already fit as fiddles but i do tend to jump in preparation for a sj competition, xc school for xc/team chasing and part of their fitness is going to gallops or just going across the fields. I know at hunt yards, the horses do 80% road work but are hunted twice a week x I was told by the farrier that as i had planned to do fast work and team chasing, that his heels would wear down really quickly which was my main concern for not going barefoot.
 
Well,
Ours both do heaps of roadwork and work over alot of different surfaces (at a bloomin' good clip too, fast work is no barrier to working barefoot!). They compete too - dressage and sj for us.
 
lcharles said:
Good to hear of positive stories from people choosing to go barefoot! x

Think i'm even more interested now.

Miss L Toe: I didnt mean i only gallop about lots lol x they have a massive variety of work to improve fitness, they are both already fit as fiddles but i do tend to jump in preparation for a sj competition, xc school for xc/team chasing and part of their fitness is going to gallops or just going across the fields. I know at hunt yards, the horses do 80% road work but are hunted twice a week x I was told by the farrier that as i had planned to do fast work and team chasing, that his heels would wear down really quickly which was my main concern for not going barefoot.
Click to expand...
OK. :lol: , , well I think you will find farriers are not often barefoot gurus, if you feed for feet [see other posts] and exercise in a balanced way the heels should not wear down, [they do wear but the horse compensates by growth], the toes may need shortening, ie the hoof may or may not need regular balancing, it is a matter of try it and see, I bought my own little rasp to round off the edges, which tend to chip at first, also the sole seemed a bit chalky but this wore off after a few weeks, the horse was never footy, but is sensitive to sharp gravel on tarmac, other than that he is fine. I don't make a song and dance about barefoot, but people always tell me "the farrier is coming this week", and I say, OK, I will ask him to look at the feet, they just assume one day he will be shod, and even though I let them borrow my book "FEET FIRST", they never open it, or they would realise I was turning in to " Barefoot Taliban "
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top