Difference between Barefoot and no shoes?

Lippyx

Lippyx

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Just a question. I am not saying I do or don't agree and not wanting to start a debate, but is there a difference between a horse having "barefoot" trimmings and just no shoes?

For years at my yard, most of the horses didn't have shoes (no road work) and only the heavies/TB types had fronts. Now the shoeless ones had normal regular trims by a normal farrier and if they had a feed, it was a normal feed, nothing special or barefoot associated.

If there is an obvious difference between the two, then please tell me, as I am honestly interested.

Lx
 
I think Oberon put it in a nut shell for me as personally I'd found the "barefoot" terminology a bit nauseating until I read it.

Something like unshod is a horse without shoes and barefoot is a horse without shoes and a lifestyle (diet and exercise etc) which allows it to work without shoes. It made quite a lot of sense (and I am just saying it from memory, Oberon may have said something different or someone else may have said it:o)
 
Brave question....LOL

Mine are unshod - always used that term, always will....

They see a farrier when needed.

IME those that use the term 'barefoot' are more 'natural' inclined, dare I say it more...evangelical about these things? One way is the right way, and its their way?!
 
I use them both as the same word.

I tend to find that barefoot (wrongly or rightly) carries a cultish feeling sometimes. Led for or against by a few individuals.

But I use both words to describe mine
 
Lippy I'm as bemused by it all as you are! :D I have shedloads of horses and most of them do not wear shoes, not even the ones who go out competing. My horses are all fed similar feeds which is figured out by what the horse needs to hold it's bodyweight not because it has shoes or not. I've kept horses like this all my life, some have worn shoes, some haven't. My farrier trims the horses to their individual needs too. It always perplexes me when I see these threads about barefoot this and barefoot that lol
 
To me its all the same thing. Barefoot/Unshod, it means the same thing, the horse doesnt have any shoes on.
I think sometimes people get very 'overprotective' if thats the right word, about why they call it something or why they feed something etc etc.
At the end of the day if my horse is sound I couldnt care less if she had pink fluffy ballerina shoes on :D
 
I think you'll get as many answers as there are people here with unshod/barefoot horses.

I'm not at all natural in my pov but prefer barefoot as it is the term I would use about myself if like now I am sitting at home with nothing on my feet. Unshod sounds clumsy to me and it seems odd to define something by what it's not rather than what it is. But that is just personal taste and I don't particularly care if other people prefer unshod.
 
CrazyMare said:
IME those that use the term 'barefoot' are more 'natural' inclined, dare I say it more...evangelical about these things? One way is the right way, and its their way?!
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Not true :D

I am the least bunny hugger anyone can imagine. I do it because it works. I often advise people to shoe.

For me, my horses are barefoot because "unshod" suggests that the situation is temporary and shoes may go back on at any moment. I am not "unshod" when I get out of bed in the morning, I am barefoot. So are my horses.

The terms are interchangeable, except that "barefoot" always implies that the horse is, or used to be, performing at a level where shoes would be expected to be worn.
 
CPTrayes - Note I said IME - In My Experiance....

I don't doubt there are others out there that behave differently, I just haven't met them....

FWIW, I have 5 horses here (mine and OH's) and we have 2 sets of shoes, the rest just get trims at intervals that suit!
 
Spring Feather said:
Lippy I'm as bemused by it all as you are! :D I have shedloads of horses and most of them do not wear shoes, not even the ones who go out competing. My horses are all fed similar feeds which is figured out by what the horse needs to hold it's bodyweight not because it has shoes or not. I've kept horses like this all my life, some have worn shoes, some haven't. My farrier trims the horses to their individual needs too. It always perplexes me when I see these threads about barefoot this and barefoot that lol
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SP maybe you would have been able to keep them all barefoot if you had tailored their diets to the individual horse? Some horses are much more tolerant of sugar than others.

I have a horse I could leave out full time in summer and another the same size which would not cope with stones if I did and might even go full laminitic. They are individuals regarding their diet, which may indicate why yours were also individuals regarding their abilities to work without shoes.

I don't know if this is the case with your horses, but please bear it in mind when you are next perplexed about why we post about "barefoot this and barefoot that".
 
CrazyMare said:
CPTrayes - Note I said IME - In My Experiance....

I don't doubt there are others out there that behave differently, I just haven't met them....

FWIW, I have 5 horses here (mine and OH's) and we have 2 sets of shoes, the rest just get trims at intervals that suit!
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Why do you shoe the two?
 
CrazyMare said:
CPTrayes - Note I said IME - In My Experiance....

I don't doubt there are others out there that behave differently, I just haven't met them....

FWIW, I have 5 horses here (mine and OH's) and we have 2 sets of shoes, the rest just get trims at intervals that suit!
Click to expand...

Double apologies Cary Mare :) , I assumed since you are on this forum and I am a prolific poster on barefoot issues and a fully paid up member of the barefoot taliban, that I was one of the people that you were talking about. I am frequently assumed to be a bunny hugger just because of my views on barefoot.

I shall put my ego back in its box :D
 
cptrayes said:
SP maybe you would have been able to keep them all barefoot if you had tailored their diets to the individual horse? Some horses are much more tolerant of sugar than others.

I have a horse I could leave out full time in summer and another the same size which would not cope with stones if I did and might even go full laminitic. They are individuals regarding their diet, which may indicate why yours were also individuals regarding their abilities to work without shoes.

I don't know if this is the case with your horses, but please bear it in mind when you are next perplexed about why we post about "barefoot this and barefoot that".
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No I just moved. I haven't had ANY horses shod for a decade. None of them. Not the broodmares, not the ridden ones, not the competing ones, not the retired ones. I very rarely do any road work these days as I don't have to and that's the only difference afaics.
 
Because I want to?

And why should I have to defend my choices? I have good reason, and two farriers that would both rather just trim than shoe if it works for the horse.
 
cptrayes said:
Double apologies Cary Mare :) , I assumed since you are on this forum and I am a prolific poster on barefoot issues and a fully paid up member of the barefoot taliban, that I was one of the people that you were talking about. I am frequently assumed to be a bunny hugger just because of my views on barefoot.

I shall put my ego back in its box :D
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Apology accepted.

I have no idea who supports what, just that I do what works for me here....
 
I think its a bit like Natural Horsemanship. Some people hate the term but use aspects of the approach, not because they follow NH but because it works, and worked long before someone decided to make a career out of it.

Barefoot is the new cult with a whole lifestyle club. Some people like to be part of a club because they think its something new.
I do not use the term because it makes me cringe. Mine are unshod and manage to do be ridden on roads, grass and mud etc, with their farrier 'pasture trim' (yuk- how to insult a farrier !).

A good diet and hoofcare is not exclusive to the barefoot cult, its simply good horsemanship - to maintain a healthy horse and enable it to work as required without being shod.
Mine don't need hoof boots either to work unshod.
 
Well I wouldn't really put myself in the "natural and evangelical" crowd. It isn't a religion for me, but with my one mare Heidi the difference has been huge. I was just out looking at her feet now and comparing them to the September pics when they first came off. Shocking and unbelievable are good words to use. I can't believe the changes. She is so sound now and I wish I was a bit more clued in early on. But no I trusted a farrier that said nothing could be done with her feet and she needed shoes at 2 before she ever had a saddle on. I was big into "miracle" balancers back then and grass was grass.

I also spent a lot of time being nasty about bare people and thought them a little looney. What did they know. No way my previous horsies could go bare. And then something amazing happened, little miss know it all opened her mind. I actually started listening. I started researching. I'd already had a decent diet and watched grazing but I could do better. It's an effort but then it becomes the norm.

When Heidi was heading towards wedges I said right that's not happening. She had just been shod a week earlier and came in a little sore. We thought abcess and pulled shoe to treat. Nothing found. I didn't get my BS straight away to put shoe back on as I was going to need him again soon for others. And over a 2 week period I watched the unshod foot start to change and I said that's it, the other one is coming off. After that shoe came off I went to riding again and it was like a new horse. Lightbulb moment.

My 17 yo who I got at 9, failed at every other bare attempt. Now he's flying. I did fail with 2. But one is back out of shoes for a break over the holidays. I did more tweaking with her diet and so far so good. I will wait on the other one until I have this one good. I got a little keen at the beginning and set myself up to fail.

So you know sometimes you just try something on a whim and then you're so glad you did. And you start learning more. I love learning. But my horses do come first and I'm not ever black or white. If my horses aren't coping and need the shoes again until I can figure things out so be it. They will not suffer.

Terri
 
Cptrayes do you not wear shoes at all? :) cause if your getting out of bed and say your barefoot surely this is saying your not expecting to put any kind of footwear on, else you would be unshod.

Tbh I don't care, iv got horses without shoes who will never be shod as iv had them since foals and they have good strong feet as they are allowed to deloped properly without shoes and have good hard rock crunching feet but iv got a mare going back into shoes next week as she's not happy in boots and she's telling me she isn't happy in hers eyes but she's been shod for all her life and I feel shoes have done the damage and I would find it hard to take her totally barefoot so at the mo she's unshod to me. My lad on the other hand is barefoot as he will never have shoes back on due to the damage they have done to him but it's not proving easy and again shod since he was a yearling in racing so my thinking is that by banging on shoes his internal struture has never been allowed to build properly and I honestly think the damage is done and he will never get as good as he could if he was never shod to start with.

I do wonder if shoes were not allowed for a set amount of growing foals ESP tbs how their feet would be in years to come, and fed a decent diet not high cereal crap. Sorry bit of subject
 
CrazyMare said:
Because I want to?

And why should I have to defend my choices? I have good reason, and two farriers that would both rather just trim than shoe if it works for the horse.
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You don't. You posted, I asked. Why do you describe it as "defending"? If I'd asked you what type of rugs your horse wears you wouldn't have described it as having to defend your choice, would you?


But your answer would be illuminating if it were clearly not the truth. Surely no-one would pay a farrier £800 a year (in my case) "because they want to" :D ?
 
thatsmygirl said:
Cptrayes do you not wear shoes at all? :) cause if your getting out of bed and say your barefoot surely this is saying your not expecting to put any kind of footwear on, else you would be unshod.
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I wear shoes because I do not like dirty or cold feet.

Plenty of humans in this country and millions worldwide never wear shoes. As with horses, the feet grow callouses, and appear to be much healthier with fewer foot and leg issues than the rest of us.

No person has ever described themselves in my hearing as "shoeless" when getting out of bed, it is not conventional usage of the word for humans.

I use the term because I like it and I think it best describes my horses. For goodness sake stop getting so hung up about the word !
 
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I dont see the reason everyone gets so worked up over it !! If you horse can cope without shoes then so be it, mine is barefoot ir unshod, whatever you want to call it, persoanlly is say barefoot as it rolls off the tongue easier than unshod
 
Equilibrium Ireland what a fab post, put so well and like what iv been through but put so much better than I could ever word it.
Like you I'm now taking it slower, I set myself up to fail with doing to many at once, hence mare going back into shoes. Iv got 4 happy bare with no issues, working on my lad and in time will try my mare again but when I'm ready.
 
cptrayes said:
You don't. You posted, I asked. Why do you describe it as "defending"? If I'd asked you what type of rugs your horse wears you wouldn't have described it as having to defend your choice, would you?


But your answer would be illuminating if it were clearly not the truth. Surely no-one would pay a farrier £800 a year (in my case) "because they want to" :D ?
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LOL, no, I don't particularly want to, but I want to hunt - sometimes several times in a short space of time, and my 20 year old has very good, hard feet (that the farrier curses because they are so tough) but she seems to be an utter princess and goes very short, stuffy and grumpy (so clearly sore somewhere) without them. I also have road studs in her shoes as she is a bit on the nuts side and they help. I had her shoes off when she had a foal, and I did try to hack her out then, but felt she wasn't as secure, or as confident as normal.

My OH's horse has very fragile feet, that he is working on improving, which they are - slowly...so for now he is shod and happy - one day OH may try him without
 
Crazymare yep I also want to hunt hence shoeing my mare as well, she's not up to hunting bare and I don't feel confident hunting in boots so shoes going back on. Once my lad is fully up and running and can take over a bit I will than work with her. After all I'm paying a lot of money out and missing all the fun at the mo.
 
CrazyMare said:
LOL, no, I don't particularly want to, but I want to hunt - sometimes several times in a short space of time, and my 20 year old has very good, hard feet (that the farrier curses because they are so tough) but she seems to be an utter princess and goes very short, stuffy and grumpy (so clearly sore somewhere) without them. I also have road studs in her shoes as she is a bit on the nuts side and they help. I had her shoes off when she had a foal, and I did try to hack her out then, but felt she wasn't as secure, or as confident as normal.

My OH's horse has very fragile feet, that he is working on improving, which they are - slowly...so for now he is shod and happy - one day OH may try him without
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One of the good reasons for shoeing, as I listed in something I wrote a couple of years back, is that some horses just don't cope with a variale workload. If I wanted to hunt my guy three times in 14 days, but only once or twice a year, I'd propably have to keep him off the roads for the whole time in between and I still might get problems.

And fragile feet are a problem because you really do have to watch the horse hobble if it has to cross frozen mud, for example.

I'm not writing this to give you my "permission" to do what you do, by the way, I am writing it to explain to lurkers who read these threads that there are times that horses need shoes, and you have two of them.
 
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