Going barefoot & booted on a TB

[Kafairia]

Hi,

This isn't your typical TB to begin with. He (touchwood) has only thrown 1 shoe since having him, (wet, sticky mud combined with him skidding around, tanking it after moving yards caused him to step on the inside of his hind shoe and pull it off horizontally - silly boy!) which is much less thrown compared to my good footed forester. I'm also comparing him to my friends TB - who is your typical weak hoof, low heels and pancake / club fronts. I believe there farrier is improving his situation slowly but surely, and he used to have a shoe off per week. Mine is not like this, he still has quite a low heel though. But he hasn't really ever given me a cause for concern. He had abscesses in both front feet last winter (I think it didn't help he was really run down from being so thin despite the enormous quantity of food he was being given) and was in such a pickle we could barely get his shoes off (playing up) let alone on, so he had to have them off for a week and he was absolutely crippled! Barely would move, we had to place his water next to his feed and hay as he refused to move, would occasionally hobble over. Clearly didn't like it but I'm not sure if it was the pain of the ancesses making him like it or being actual barefoot! It does make me nervous for the transition should I go ahead though. He's ridden 2 times a week atleast through the year, but much more during nicer weather and is a happy hack on a mix of tarmac and off road hacking through anything from stubble to grasses, stoney terrain, forestry and woodland. He is grazed on 4 acres (not all at once) shared with a pony and a mini, and I'd describe it as herbal meadow grasses.

Per my farriers recommendation- if he is coming off shoes this year I'm doing it in winter when the ground is soft and mushy and more forgiving! I'd be doing his hind feet first, then if all went well it would be his front feet after, and I'm hoping to go down the booted route. He is a poor doer (BUT - this year I have double the grazing & probably quadruple the quality / quantity because I moved yards, so hopefully he will continue to put on weight and stabilise in winter rather than drop it like last year - basically no grass all year round as there was too many horses on too little land, you know the story I'm sure) so I wouldn't be able to follow a strict barefoot diet as the conditioning feeds I use through winter come with sugars & high starches. Nothing I can do about it I'm afraid really as it's honestly a matter of life and death keeping weight on him through this time, however supplement recommendations for the hooves are welcomed. Time off during winter is expected as he's done a lot this summer and it will help keep his weight on.

Oh, and I'm planning to use Keratex hoof harderner routinely before and after to help keep his hooves strong. I've never used it on mine before, but have seen the results in other people's horses when I've used it and I'm sold enough to shell out on it again but saying that I'm open to others people believe in.

I have a few questions:

-does my horse sound a good candidate (photos to come for better judgement) for a barefoot and booted lifestyle?
-how long can I leave boots on before thrush conditions are likely to become an issue?
-any thrush busting tips? I already use the brilliant product Frog Health by Nettex. I messed around it with Stockholm tar for years and this alongside hibiscrub for bad bouts will usually clear it up overnight to a few days. I've heard about baby powder too for in the boots.
-how long did others need to turnout in boots for until hoof soundness was no longer problematic?
-sitting here right now, I've just remembered about the Red Horse Field paste. I've borrowed some before, and it helped keep thrush at bay and stayed in for AGES. What do you think about putting this in the hooves prior to putting the hoof boots on for turnout?
-I'm going for a bigger, clunkier, less sleek boot style, not something like Renegades or whatever as I was planning to get originally due to my so far small research has told me that these are better for changing hoof shapes. I'm looking at Cavallos, and if they last me a year I'll be absolutely over the moon! Eyeballing his feet - he has round fronts for sure and possibly more oval hinds. Specific measurements would be taken, don't worry, but I heard sometimes these can be off anyway, so if there is a fit kit for these or something you recommend for getting the right fit I'd love to hear it.

And I'll probably think of some more later. Any stories good or bad of your transitioning welcomed. Any other tips too!

Am I mad? My main driving reasons is a) I look at his feet and the nail hole damage alone is enough to make me think otherwise of shoeing. B) I noticed so bruising near his heel bulbs on his hinds on the frogs after a long hack. He wasn't footy or lame, but obviously bruised there... I was hoping cushions in the boots would provide more comfort for him. I'm definitely not into the expense of pour in pads or whatnot! It's also appealing to be more natural for him. C) I'm hoping to cut down on some expense ! Shoeing prices have gone up for me due to the pound / Brexit and I'm on a part time (student) budget. I can AFFORD it should things not work out, but cutting down wouldn't hurt my bank for sure...

Thank you!

EDIT: I have these photos showing his sole from his last shoeing but none as of yet looking at the hoof down.

 

[Beausmate]

If you want to have the best chance of success, you really will have to lose the sugary/starchy feeds. There are much better conditioning feeds out there, such as micronised linseed, copra, rice bran and even adding vegetable oil.

I think turning out in boots in wet conditions is a recipe for thrush and rubs. I managed a fortnight (in Cavallos) before rubs started, with my crap-footed, Cushing's thoroughbred after he abscessed in both front feet at the same time. I took them off and swapped over the pastern wraps for dry ones in the morning and brought him in to take the boots off for a couple of hours to dry his feet out in the evening. If you don't have a stony field, you may well find he can cope on soft grass without boots at all.

Red Horse products are excellent. I have used the Hoof Stuff and Artimud to clear up thrush and sole cleanse to keep it away. The Stronghorn, I found to be more effective than Keratex and it is much, much more pleasant to use!

So, you will almost certainly need a decent balancer (Forage Plus, Pro Earth, Equimins etc.) and leave out the sugar and starch. Start with the diet before you take the shoes off.

You don't say how old he is.

 

[Kafairia]

Thanks for your reply.

Yep, our fields are just grass with no stones at all.

The feed I'm using is Saracens Conditioning cubes and EquiJewel, which is rice bran based. I'm trying so hard with that - unmollased chaff with it, but high in fibre. I'm not really prepared to change it, because I can't quite express the difficulty of keeping weight on him. However currently, he is on a low sugar balancer and the unmollassed chop and sugar beet, and I change it as it gets colder. I tried all those apart from Copra, which I would be willing to look into, aslong as it would be able to supply him with the same energy / fat as the other feed I use.

... stabling isn't an option either: because I don't have one and my horse will not be stabled. The stress / aggregation for both of us isn't worth it and I moved to the yard because there was 24/7 turnout available, he will not stable. However it did get me thinking - if I took the shoes off in less wet weather? I totally get where your coming from. I'm not sure how he may cope without anything on - but you have got me thinking.

As I said, he's currently on a good balancer and in winter he gets enough scoops per day to be receiving a balanced diet, although I'd consider adding extra vits /mins / hoof supplement to make sure he was getting everything.

He is 12, nearing 13 in Jan. Too old do you think?

Thanks again

 

[ester]

What's a good balancer, we need more specifics .

Def not too old, F was 19!

Now a note a bout boots - those that are more forgiving have their place but generally compromise on breakover and for this reason I would not use them long term - I have cavallo simples and sports that I used for poulticing and although the sports are at least lighter I really wouldn't want to be working that much in them- but they might do the job while you wait for the hoof go grow down.

fwiw Frank had easyboot gloves - so totally not forgiving and although his hoof shape has changed a lot he is still in the same size gloves. What is best is to contact some of the retailers with good photos (and some with a tape measure on for width/length) and see what they suggest (so urban horse, hoof bootique, cannock chase, saddlery shop).

Boots off as much as possible - if they are needed on way to field take them off when you get there.
Red horse products for thrush, cleantrax if really bad.

I would try him on some copra, but also plenty of horses do do ok with not '100% perfect' diets, but some don't , if he's struggling you might need to look at options again but I understand if you have found something that works you might want to stick with it to start!

 

[Goldenstar]

I think you will struggle on that diet TBH .
I would needed to work out why the horse is difficult to keep weight on .
I am a tb Person and I never owned one that was difficult to keep the correct weight unless something was not right with it .
You need to check if your balancer is going to do the job compare it to a bare foot friendly one like the forage plus performance balancer .

 

[Kat]

I manage my poor doer on a barefoot diet and she is much better kept off sugary starchy rubbish and feed high fat food for calories. She currently gets copra, linseed and alfa a molasses free with a barefoot friendly balancer (progressive earth or forage plus). Her weight is better than it ever was on a "conditioning feed" and her feet are better too. If a diet like this is still not enough whole oats are barefoot friendly.

I also have Cavallo Simples boots, they are easy to fit, no need for a fit kit, you can pad them if the horse is sore and they are a forgiving fit. I have done lots of hacking in them but have never turned out on grass in them. They lasted me over a year of regular use and I never bothered getting new ones as she works bare now but if I was riding in boots long term I might have considered swapping to Renegades once she didn't need pads.

Easiest way to measure for boots is to stand your horse on a sheet of cardboard and draw around the foot and measure the outline 😊

 

[Kat]

Oh and I kept mine stabled until she was sound enough to turn out bare. She was hand walked in boots and allowed turn out on a sand school whilst not getting turnout. I then increased to riding in boots and pads. She stayed in all winter (she had her shoes off due to lameness with bruised thin soles and flat feet in the october ) and was turned out again in March by which time she was sound bare on grass. She was doing full 6 days a week work by then bare in the school and booted on roads. You have to get many many comfortable steps to build up their feet.