Going barefoot with a horse with spavins

tonitot

tonitot

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After posting on thatsmygirl's thread yesterday I decided to start my own thread :)

A few months ago my vet diagnosed Ethel with spavins in her hocks and said she needed to be worked, mostly hard ground work, and wear hind shoes with raised heels. After posting on the thread yesterday I found out that she could go barefoot.

I'm here to find out about what changes would need to be made to her diet and when the farrier comes to trim her would he need to do anything special to her feet?

Currently she has adlib hay, Alpha A Oil, Dodson and Horrell Build Up Mix and Speedy Beet. She's out during the day and in at night.

Any advice will be very much appreciated :)
 
tonitot said:
After posting on thatsmygirl's thread yesterday I decided to start my own thread :)

A few months ago my vet diagnosed Ethel with spavins in her hocks and said she needed to be worked, mostly hard ground work, and wear hind shoes with raised heels. After posting on the thread yesterday I found out that she could go barefoot.

I'm here to find out about what changes would need to be made to her diet and when the farrier comes to trim her would he need to do anything special to her feet?

Currently she has adlib hay, Alpha A Oil, Dodson and Horrell Build Up Mix and Speedy Beet. She's out during the day and in at night.

Any advice will be very much appreciated :)
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Are there any pics of her hooves? Side, ground view and solar view?
They are not better than seeing in the flesh, but sometimes you can spot obvious dietry problems from a pic.

If she has nice, straight growth down the wall and she has good quality wall and a tight WL, then the diet is great and you don't need to change a thing...

As your horse has access to turnout and ad lib hay she will be getting almost all the nutrition she needs from that - the fibre, vits A, D, K, E, all the Bs, protein, glucose, fat and most of the minerals will come just from that.

What tends to be missing or unbalanced from our over grazed fields is a couple of minerals....that's all.

So just use a supplement that provides said minerals, mix it in the unmolassed beet you already feed....and save yourself a fortune!

If you want to add an oil and for shiny coat and joint aid - add micronised linseed for your omegas that may be low in the grass during winter.

Regarding the trim - it's impossible to say without seeing the hooves really.
 
Thanks :) As I'm injured I can't get any pics of her feet just yet, but will try to sort that out when her shoes come off on Thursday :)

Any more advice?
 
The special thing that your farrier needs to do to her feet is to completely resist the temptation to make her feet level. My experience of spavins is that she will deliberately build for herself an inside heel which is higher than the outside one and he should not try to alter this, because it's what she is doing to make movement more comfortable for herself. Do plenty of work on roads if possible with these short days, to let her model her foot for herself and prevent your farrier from having to actually trim her at all.

Good luck!
 
So when the farrier comes do I just explain to him what I'm trying and what my horse should do for herself. Should he make her feet level and see how they grow after that? I have been told to do lots of hard ground work with her which is difficult with the short days and long hours I work, although currently off at the moment after dislocating my shoulder getting legged up onto a horse at work. I could take her for a walk in hand though, she's pretty sane and I could have someone come with me if I felt I needed them.
 
Dont know about the farrier it depends on your farrier I suppose and how supportive he is. But I think I would walk her in hand if you can with hurting your self I'm no expert but it seems to be recommended on here a lot to start off in hand.
 
Its pretty much been said, cut out as much sugar as poss, add mag-ox and investigate minerals.
Don't let the farrier touch her sole or frog then do as much work as you can manage that is within her capabilities, whilst you've been told that hard ground is best any work has to be better than no work at all - again let her guide you as to what she can and can't manage. Good luck - keep us posted. :)
 
I don't live online :) I was feeding horses and then asleep!

My advice would be. If you can get her plenty of walk on a road or similar, don't touch her feet for several weeks and wait and see how she shapes them for herself. Take off chips with a rasp, that's all.
 
Santa paws - yay you came back!!! :D So, farrier will whip her shoes off this week and then after that I just leave them apart from the chips? I will get some pics taken of her feet when they're done on thursday and will see how we get on :)
 
I think you could do with some support from a good barefoot trimmer/expert.

As if barefoot is going to work (which is very likely and possible) you will have the best chance with help from someone who really knows their stuff.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Lucy Priory of Barefoot South. If you google Barefoot South you will find her. She also comes on here.

Sucessful barefooters succeed because of the hardwork and lifestyle changes they make for their horses.

The biggest impact you will have will be diet and exercise with trim last on the list.

A basic and very successful diet for barefoot soundness is: Speedibeet, pink powder, cal mag or mag-ox. That is the base. Add Micronised Linseed for horses in work or non-native types, plus sunflower oil for more calories if needed.

Dont feed anything with Alf Alfa in it and remove all sugars and starches.

You should feed the above with ad-lib soaked (12 hours) hay and keep an eye on the grass in spring. (If horse goes footy when grass grows, then restrict grazing).

Other things to add possibly are charcoal, when grass is rich/droppings go swollen/wet/slimy/smelly. And Yea-sacc helps with tummies too.

Work wise, you cant go wrong with walking in hand. But with shoes removed let horse let you which surfaces are comfy. Be guided by horse and build gradually to work on hard stoney ground. You will notice stoney surfaces the most challenging and sandy menage the least (most likely). I know you need horse to work on hard ground for hocks, which will happen, but the first few days or a couple of weeks will require patience.

I love my boy being barefoot, and see no need at all to ever shoe him again. He has been barefoot 9 months and his twisted pidgeon toes have now disappeared. He grows hooves to balance his own legs. If he had stayed in shoes (balanced by farrier) his joints would have been knackered by being forced into unnatural positions. He is now sound as a bell on 10 metre circle on concrete.

Good Luck with everything!
 
tonitot said:
Santa paws - yay you came back!!! :D So, farrier will whip her shoes off this week and then after that I just leave them apart from the chips? I will get some pics taken of her feet when they're done on thursday and will see how we get on :)
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Obviously someone on the ground who has actually seen her feet might advise that there is work that needs to be done. But on the whole, if you can get her moving on abrasive surfaces and let her wear the feet herself, it's likely to give you a better result more quickly. I think the idea of getting a good trimmer in is a good one, unless you feel confident that your farrier understands what you are trying to achieve when the shoes come off. Showing him the pictures of self-trimming rehabs on rockleyfarm.blogspot.com might help.
 
My cob too has just been diagnosed with spavins and though when I asked the vet whether removing his hind shoes would help, I got a simple 'it might' answer back:rolleyes: I had my farrier remove them about 2 weeks ago and *touch wood* things are going well. He has always been complimented on his good feet so my farrier said to give it a go and if he wasn't comfortable, he would just come back and put the shoes back on. He was a little unsure when he first walked on his naked hind feet (the first time in over 8 years) as if to say 'what the hell is this about?!' but apart from being a little sore on stones for the first couple of days, he walked out on the roads within 3 days and was comfy. Though it hasn't been long, I can already see how his feet are changing to suit him. He is only walking out on the roads a couple of times a week as he's lame in trot but it has shown me the vast difference between the shape foot my cob wants and the shape his foot was with a shoe. You already have a good headstart if you say your horse has good feet! My other little pony is fairly cow hocked and also grows his front feet slightly more on one side, but my farrier is good and just tidies the shape my pony creates:) As long as your farrier knows what your trying to achieve you should have no problems.
 
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