going barefoot.

[jessicabeau1]

Ted has a medial collateral ligament injury and am thinking of going barefoot...can my regular farrier trim him or do I need remedial farrier to do a special trim or what?? I seriously think that shoes are making him a lot worse. injury occured 2 yrs ago and he is now on/off lame so out of work now, but I would very much like to hack out again!

 

[Fransurrey]

If your farrier does a good trim, then yes, why not have him trim her? It might be an idea to have him teach you how to tidy up, though, as the first few months can produce a lot of chips/splits were the nail holes have weakened the wall. I wouldn't expect him to suddenly be ok, though. If hoof pathologies are causing him to be lame with shoes on, those pathologies will still exist when the shoes come off and will take a while to come right.

 

[Oberon]

I would speak to the farrier and see if he is supportive. If he is not then it is often harder to successfully rehab with barefoot in my experience.

It puzzles me that the experienced and popular farrier I used was no help with my bare horses and did something very wrong, which put me off using him.

I have used UKNHCP trimmers for the last five years with success.

If you are not happy with what he has to say then it may be worthwhile at least speaking to a trimmer covering your area to see if they can help.

Then it depends on who you like the sound of best.