Going barefoot at long last

[Topaz Tiger]

With holes I soak some cotton wool in tea tree oil and poke in the hole, nail helps to get it in nice and tight, keeps grit out and tea tree is good at killing bugs.

That's a good idea, will get some tea tree. Feeling a bit bad for her with the footyness, luckily I just have a 100 yards of hardcore drive to lead her over to go out hacking, the riding itself is fine, but she's def feeling it more than she did..... :-/

 

[Holidays_are_coming]

My mare went through this phase it doesn't last too long. All of a sudden it was just ok. I don't worry too much about the grit in the white line as another bit just gets stuck in there and it has never been a issue.

 

[Topaz Tiger]

That's good to hear h_a_c hopefully this stage won't last too long. I've started leading her back over the lawn instead, hopefully my other half won't notice, he's a bit precious about his lawn...

 

[Scarlett]

Dont stress about the footiness now, I've got 4 barefoot TB's and they all went through that, get her out moving as much as you can, with boots if needed and it will pass. My vet told me that he believed a lot of the footiness at this stage is from the feeling coming back into the feet and the circulation increasing so its a good thing if a little worrying for us to see.

Sometimes it's not as easy as just pulling shoes, but I've found it worth it. My horses now have great feet and much improved movement. I've also been very surprised by how much grip they do have and hope this will stand them in good stead for eventing. My first attempt at Xc schooling barefoot was in the rain and we had no issues.

Good luck and keep taking pics - we'd love to see them if you fancy sharing? This barefoot malarkey has turned most of us into hoofgeeks....

 

[rising_promise]

Dont stress about the footiness now, I've got 4 barefoot TB's and they all went through that, get her out moving as much as you can, with boots if needed and it will pass. My vet told me that he believed a lot of the footiness at this stage is from the feeling coming back into the feet and the circulation increasing so its a good thing if a little worrying for us to see.

Sometimes it's not as easy as just pulling shoes, but I've found it worth it. My horses now have great feet and much improved movement. I've also been very surprised by how much grip they do have and hope this will stand them in good stead for eventing. My first attempt at Xc schooling barefoot was in the rain and we had no issues.

Good luck and keep taking pics - we'd love to see them if you fancy sharing? This barefoot malarkey has turned most of us into hoofgeeks....

Funny you should say that- I used to come on HHO and go straight into Comp Riders, now I'm straight into the hoofcare section!

My previous horse evented at BE100 barefoot and I never had any problems with her slipping in any of the phases, even in the rain. I took her to LMEQ in real heavy rain for XC schooling and again, not one slip.

OP sounds like the best thing you could have done for your horse and good luck with it. My mare had her shoes off 3 weeks ago and I can see a real change already. She's having a winter break at the moment but I've just purchased our first pair of hoof boots ready to bring her back into work just before Christmas

 

[chestnut cob]

My mare had her shoes off 3 weeks ago and I can see a real change already. She's having a winter break at the moment but I've just purchased our first pair of hoof boots ready to bring her back into work just before Christmas

Same here - mine had his off about 2.5/3 weeks ago. I'm lucky as he has great feet anyway but I'm amazed at the change in them already, it's phenomenal. His are only off for the winter, just to give his feet a bit of a break and because when I can only manage to ride a couple of times per week, I don't see the point of paying for shoes he will get little/no wear out of! He isn't perfect to be ridden on stony tracks yet, though he is happy walking out over our stony track to get to the field. Happy and striding out on tarmac, and fine in the arena. It's interesting to see how he wears his feet naturally too, he doesn't wear the fronts quite straight unlike when he's in shoes with toe clips which make him move straight. But he's happy and I think he's actually working better without them. They will go back on next year for competing, if needed.

 

[rising_promise]

Same here - mine had his off about 2.5/3 weeks ago. I'm lucky as he has great feet anyway but I'm amazed at the change in them already, it's phenomenal. His are only off for the winter, just to give his feet a bit of a break and because when I can only manage to ride a couple of times per week, I don't see the point of paying for shoes he will get little/no wear out of! He isn't perfect to be ridden on stony tracks yet, though he is happy walking out over our stony track to get to the field. Happy and striding out on tarmac, and fine in the arena. It's interesting to see how he wears his feet naturally too, he doesn't wear the fronts quite straight unlike when he's in shoes with toe clips which make him move straight. But he's happy and I think he's actually working better without them. They will go back on next year for competing, if needed.

Yes I might end up putting my mares shoes back on for the competition season but am looking to give her a break of at least 5/ 6 months to improve the quality of her feet. Mine's OK in a straight line on concrete but not so comfy on the turns. Fine in the school but when she starts hacking in a few weeks I think she'll need something for the bridlepath we use as there are some stony parts.

 

[chestnut cob]

Yes I might end up putting my mares shoes back on for the competition season but am looking to give her a break of at least 5/ 6 months to improve the quality of her feet. Mine's OK in a straight line on concrete but not so comfy on the turns. Fine in the school but when she starts hacking in a few weeks I think she'll need something for the bridlepath we use as there are some stony parts.

I think it's a good idea. When I first mentioned to my farrier that I wanted to take them off for winter (mainly because I am fed up with killing myself every winter to ride enough, so I have admitted defeat early this year, plus am not hunting this time so he really doesn't need them), he said he thinks all horses benefit from having a break of at least two shoeing cycles, if not longer, every year. Good luck

 

[rising_promise]

I think it's a good idea. When I first mentioned to my farrier that I wanted to take them off for winter (mainly because I am fed up with killing myself every winter to ride enough, so I have admitted defeat early this year, plus am not hunting this time so he really doesn't need them), he said he thinks all horses benefit from having a break of at least two shoeing cycles, if not longer, every year. Good luck

Definitely, I am hoping it will have a good effect on her.

Good luck with yours too

 

[Happy Hunter]

Leg_end its funny you should say that - There seems to be 2 camps, one saying trim every 4-8 weeks, one saying leave them and only trim when needed.

Ive been barefoot about 6 days now so we shall see!!! Hopeing for little/minimal footyness, as she has a DDFT lesion shes just getting over - so im paraoia personified!!

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Leg_end its funny you should say that - There seems to be 2 camps, one saying trim every 4-8 weeks, one saying leave them and only trim when needed.

Ive been barefoot about 6 days now so we shall see!!! Hopeing for little/minimal footyness, as she has a DDFT lesion shes just getting over - so im paraoia personified!!

SIX DAYS rofl

 

[Kati*89]

Don't get despondent if she goes a little footie in a few weeks time, it's normal. I would describe it almost as if things 'wake up' inside the feet.

Take photos, you'll be astonished by the changes and we can all share your hoof porn

I'm glad you posted that it is quite normal for them to get a little footy after a few weeks....mine had his shoes off about a month or so ago, and was perfect to start with, no bother out on his first hack or two...then this last weekend he seemed really uncomfortable on the bobbly bits of concrete...not too bad on a complete flat surface so I was a bit worried...so that's normal, why is that?