Going barefoot?

rowy

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Thinking of going barefoot with all mine.
Firstly, my tb has really good feet, if anything they are too pony like and upright, she doesnt get footy when she doesnt have shoes on. I only ever do dressage and hacking along country lanes. She has always been shod though. She is 19 next year and she has always been shod the 7 years I have had her and probably a long time before that- so would she be ok?

Also, my rising 5 year old has good feet, if anything his heel is a tinsy bit too low. But when he didnt have shoes on, he got really footy. We have a half mile drive which is made completely of stones and when he was barefoot he used to hate walking on it and even got footy in the field when we had that drought where the ground was rock hard. Saying that, he is mainly in the school as a dressage horse and goes out for hacks about twice a week. Would it be cruel to make him go barefoot? Thinking about it now, it could have been the fact he was a bit of a chubb and on good grass which made him footy. I think though that his paces were better and he was less heavy footed when he was barefoot which is why im considering going back.

So do you think either of these would be ok barefoot? and any advice for keeping barefoot horses. I do currently also have an exmoor barefoot and she copes really well with it.
 
I guess you can try them out and see how they go. My horse is 6 and has never been shod and he seems fine (he's only done hacking out since I had him a few months ago). My farrier says his feet are really good and he thinks he will be ok. I've used this farrier for nearly 18 years and really trust him - if he said the horse would be better with shoes, I'd get him shod. I'm having him trimmed every 12 weeks - but when he came a while ago to trim, there was barely anything worth trimming, so he just sort of gave him a manicure. It's worth the money for the "trim" though as I am obsessive about hoof care and know that the farrier would identify any problems.
 
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