Going Barefoot... advice please!

mainpower

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 May 2008
Messages
1,648
Location
Biggin Hill
Visit site
Two queries re going barefoot, any help/ideas much appreciated!
I have a ID/WD gelding, four in April, played about with and backed last summer but not actually ridden as very immature and croup high. Waiting for weather and light to improve to get cracking with him. Not shod,hoping to keep him that way, any tips? He has walked out on a variety of surfaces, never any "ouches" on stony or frozen ground.

Query 2! My other horse is 19 this year, I've owned him from birth, and he has been shod since 4 years of age. He is WD/Tb. About five years ago, due to me not riding for a few months, I had his shoes taken off, and when I started working him again I tried to leave him without shoes, but he seemed to get very sore in the sandschool, although was fine on flat roads and grass, so I had him reshod. Now like most people, finances are taking a battering, everything goes up bar my wages, so partly due to that but also because he's only going to be working lightly this year, I'd like to try again to have him barefoot. Due to myself having a hand operation,so time off riding, I had his shoes off three weeks ago, and I won't be riding for another 3/4 weeks. My farrier seems to think he will cope, he seems to have very hard and healthy feet, but he's definitely "wincing" at times, and this morning he was most unhappy about walking across the field after a hard frost in the night. What can I do to help him? Or has he been shod for too many years to be able to go barefoot now?

Both horses come in at night on shavings beds, I have very little grass in the winter field, so have overnight ad-lib hay,and two feeds of chaff, unmolassed sugar beet, hi-fi cubes and some oil.
Thanks for reading, and in advance for any help offered!
 

LucyPriory

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 October 2008
Messages
1,421
Visit site
As an analogy, it can help to think of the hooves as a 'muscle'. I know they are not! But some similar principles apply.

For your younger horse. Maybe think of the hooves as beginning a weight training programme. You need to build up the capability over time, and in a consistent fashion. Many people struggle with barefoot with youngsters because not enough time is allowed and the work is inconsistent. (Mind you this applies to older horses too).

For a horse that has been shod for most of its life, transition to barefoot performance is equally possible, but it may take longer and require more preparation and thought.

Two 'biggies' I come across all the time. A shod horse may have a thin sole - this is often happens as a consequence of shoeing - and not because the farrier has overly thinned the sole, but more to do with circulation, hoof stimulation and the effect of the shoe on the hoof.
Sometimes it is enough to take the shoe off, trim properly and with a bit of patience let the foot get on with it.

Other times the sole is so thin that I prefer to use hoof boots for exercise, until the sole has been restored to sufficient health to work without.

Biggie two is previously unnoticed dietary/health issues. Taking a horse barefoot can expose issues which owners have been previously unaware. This happens a lot. Stretched white lines, sometimes with a lot of blood, holes through feet, collapsed soles, water lines that have disappeared, infection - even maggots. Sometimes these are easy to fix, other times not so much. But usually they can be resolved, but a bit of detective work and application may be required.

Wincing can be from thin soles or inflammation of the solar corium (usually dietary caused).

Also remember soles build in layers which require work on a variety of surfaces to get really dense and solid. Slopping around in mud all day is ok, if you make sure they get time out on the road or similar several times a week. Arenas can be a horrible surface for a thin sole, depending on what the surface is.
 

Emma S

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 September 2010
Messages
597
Location
Northants
Visit site
Keratex Hoof Hardener is fantastic for firming up the feet when you take shoes off, all of my boys are barefoot 2 are tbs and one of the TBs had his shoes off last year at the age of 14 having been shod since very young being an exracer, we had a month and a bit of 'ouching' and now he doesnt bat an eyelid at any surface.

Sometime you do have to sit it out a bit and give them chance to harden up :)
 

Shysmum

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 February 2010
Messages
9,084
Location
France
www.youtube.com
My boy is 4 and barefoot, and I have used the book "Feet First" by Nic Barker as my bible. I go back to it again and again, especially for diet advice, which is an about 65% in successful barefooting. Hope that helps.

I would not use keratex until you've read the book btw sm x:)
 

maybedaisy

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 December 2008
Messages
294
Visit site
I took my two barefoot last November. They were a bit footy at first but quickly became field sound at all paces. However when the ground is hard and frozen one of them is crippled lame. She has thin soles and is 21 so her foot growth is slower than my other mare. I bought them both Easyboot rx boots which are for turnout. They only need them in front but they are easy to get on and are a godsend on frosty ground.

The other day a 21 yr old shod gelding would move in the field. The ruts were hurting his feet. Another one with thin soles. I took a pair of my rx's into the field and put them on. We were then able to lead him in.
 

mulledwhine

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 March 2010
Messages
9,002
Location
head in the clouds
Visit site
No real advice... just do it.

My old boy was 19 when I deecided to as he had terrible feet and was loosing shoes left right and centre. It was he best thing I did. I did not change anything, and he went from having the worst feet on my farriers feet to absolutly normal. And it saved a fourtune, I kept up with trimming appointments, but he was very good on his feet and only needed trimming once a year!!!!! cant promise that for you, but all I can say is try it!!! and good luck
 

mainpower

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 May 2008
Messages
1,648
Location
Biggin Hill
Visit site
Thanks to those who gave advice.... I'm trying not to waiver as with the frozen rutted field my older man is feeling very sorry for himself :( , so have turned him out in the school. Although it's frozen it's not rutted so better than the field. :)
 

mainpower

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 May 2008
Messages
1,648
Location
Biggin Hill
Visit site
OP - do you know if your horse's soles are thin, if there are any event lines on hoof or a stretched white line?

To my eye, his feet appear quite "text book" and my farrier always says his feet are like concrete, and certainly his apprentices have always broken into a sweat when removing his shoes!. There are no rings around them, the white line looks normal (but having shown "shortness" in the sandschool when I tried before maybe that is where the problem lies). When shod he's always been a horse to stride out, and never "pecked" on stony ground which is why I'm surprised he's finding it difficult! He doesn't grow massive amounts of horn, except when we have a bit of a grass growth spurt, but his feet don't crack between shoeing, which was every six weeks. He's been off work since the beginning of December, firstly because of the snow, then because of my hand op. and the shoes were taken off on the 7th of Jan. He doesn't loon about in the field so his hooves havn't had much of a workout lately!
 
Top