Going barefoot all at once?

[tanitabellon]

Can anyone give me some feedback on whether they had all for shoes removed at the same time when going barefoot or the hind ones off first and front a few weeks later?

 

[sbloom]

I think it depends so much on what's in front of you, what ground you have etc. Many people have already taken hind shoes off before they decide to "go barefoot", it's less a decision about doing it slowly. I would have a trimmer, or really good pro barefoot farrier (not one who'll put shoes back on at the first sign of problems but looks at solving the why), look at the current horn quality, hoof balance and function, diet, exercise and surfaces and make a decision from there. You may need hoof boots of course too.

 

[Red-1]

I have done 3 times, no issues. Having said that I did it once the ground was softened by autumn each time, plus every horse had good feet to start with.

I also had an all weather place to turn out and took them out of hard work for a while to adjust. I started hand walking for 100 yards on the road and built up from there. I also had them on a barefoot diet before they were actually barefoot. I also trimmed 3 X a week, just a smidge each time, but did not trim at all for 4 weeks, so they settled slowly and naturally as the roadwork increased.

All 3 horses had a few weeks where they were a bit footsore on stones, but always sound on the school. They all went on to compete barefoot.

ETA - Actually, one of them had the fronts off first: I was removing the shoes myself and the fronts had raised clenches and were easy, so I whipped them off to use the Cleantrax, but the rears were tight on, so I left them another 10 days or so until they looked easier to pull. It was only because of that though, not because I thought he needed it. The other two were pulled all at once.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

If you are planning to keep riding on hard and rough surfaces then do it 8 weeks apart and when the carrier takes off the shoes just a rasp no length taken off.

If you have soft ground or are riding in a surface then you can take all four off usually quite successfully.

It’s the inability to ride that makes most people whack the shoes back on. It’s not a quick fix and it takes a year for a new hoof capsule to grow so be patient

I’ve done it and it was the best thing I ever did and I’m sure it preserved the soundness of my old guy.

 

[Sasana Skye]

I did this a couple of months ago. My horse (ISH) had shoes on for almost 10 years non-stop. I had every intention of taking backs off first and leaving the fronts on for a while but my farrier said to just go cold turkey given the fact that she has really good feet.

I knew for sure that I was taking the shoes off about 2 months before I actually did so I prepped her with powder balancers with all the zinc, copper, magnesium, yeast ratios which I think helped massively. Apart from the odd ouchie on a big stone she's doing great and I'm sooooo glad I made the barefoot plunge with her.

Pictures: #1 is front hoof immediately after taking shoes off.


#2 Same hoof 5 weeks apart. Her heels are opening right up:

#3 shows how much her whole front hoof shape is changing since going barefoot, toes shortening (we're getting a good 2 inches of growth coming off every 5 weeks now)


#4 change from flat to heel first landing:


Sorry picture overload I just get very happy looking at this and I honestly believe I may have added some years to her life by taking the shoes off.