Feet - how to proceed?

[cherishedone]

Hi,

I'm currently in two minds about how to proceed with my horses feet.

I have 2 ex-racehorses. One has never had any problems with his feet (touch wood), apart from the occassional bruise when he pulls a shoe off.

The other has been barefoot (on rest, apart from occassional lunging) for the last 10 weeks, because of thin soles and underrun heels, which caused bruising, in turn causing lameness. His feet have improved significantly during this time, using Keratex, home made hoof ointment and Pro Feet supplement.

Farrier is coming on Monday to re-shoe.

I've been doing loads of reading on the 'net (esp. Rockley Farm) and am getting tempted to give barefeet a go (maybe hinds first?).

They get ridden about 3-4 times a week, for an hour or so road hack, with hunting every other week. I would consider buying hoof boots.

I will also be putting them on low starch/low sugar diet.

I will obviously discuss it in detail with my farrier, but any tips and experiences with TB's and barefeet would be appreciated.

 

[cptrayes]

Well done for doing your research and changing the diet early

There is no reason why they will not cope, but TB's are often amongst the ones who take longest to manage without boots. I do personally believe that they have "worse" feet genetically than other animals but that doesn't mean I think that they have any real trouble barefoot. I have taken one out of his race plates with no trouble and another out of steel shoes who was a bit footie behind for a while but did well in boots on the back. This is not as unusual as you might think, I've had several that had more trouble with the hinds than the fronts.

I hunt weekly with a barefoot horse and roadwork is a great conditioning surface so you should have no problem with that. You might lose a few days hunting in the next couple of months though, there is only one person I know who hunts successfully in hoof boots, I would not personally even try it.

Take photos. You will be amazed by the changes and how quickly they happen.

Don't panic if you get some funny shapes of foot, that is just the horse rebalancing his foot to suit his leg. You'll have seen the examples on Rockleyfarm.blogspot.com

Good luck. Ask for help if you need it and we'll try to answer.

 

[tallyho!]

Lots of tips on here, just do a search on barefoot and I think you will have a lot to go on.

Discussing with farrier is a good thing, especially if he is experienced with bf. As you will know, trimming for performance barefoot is much different to just being unshod so don't be afraid to get a second opinion with a UKNHCP or UKAEP trimmer. Usually, they have many performance barefoot horses in thier books, not just one or two. You wouldn't go to the dentist to get your nails done would you...

Round my way there are a few experienced bf experienced farriers so I guess it depends. It is really quite different.

As you've said diet is a major point and it makes you wonder if all those shod horses had a bf diet, thier feet would improve... another story.

All I can say is good luck, make sure you do your own research and don't be afraid to ask.