Going from shod to unshod!

Omarkiam

Omarkiam

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 November 2010
Messages
148
Visit site
A question that hasprobably been asked a whole tonne of times!

I have myself a new horsey!

Bosscat is a 15.3 TB, he is shod on all fours.
Omie my current boy is unshod, but he does have amazing feet, now as its known, TB's do have problems with their feet, however I wondered what the best plan of action to try him unshod would be?

Should I start by taking back two off at next farrier visit, then see how he copes, and then take front two?
Or should I remove all of them at once and then if that doesnt work, try 2, then back to 4 if all fails?

I havent had a shod horse for quite some time now, so its a case of refreshing my memory.

Also could anyone reccomend a hoof supplement that will help keep hoof walls and general hoof condition in good strength?

Id like to hear peoples stories that haveTB/WB and have gone from shod to unshod successfully.
 
Interested in seeing the replies :)

I have a DWB who I've just claimed LoU on, so she's not going to be doing anything very much. I've tried her unshod before, but from the little reading I've done, I don't think I gave her long enough to aclimatize.

I was thinking that if Dizz shows any footyness (new word :D), I'll get some hoof boots. We're never going to be jumping, so don't need stud holes.

Definitely talk to your farrier, see what his thoughts are on your particular horse's hooves and how he'll cope :). My farrier is grand as he'll happily go with barefoot or shod, but will give his professional opinion, which I will be guided by :).
 
It makes things cheaper for me, allowing more money to put a whole hay bale in his field and stable him etc. I wouldnt take his shoes of if it were to cause him any prolonged pain, nor would I even consider putting him through anything that may be stressful to him. I can chat with the farrier but I don't think farriers always know best, sometimes peoples opinions who've owned horses and made the transition from shod to unshod, have a better experience of it, a farrier just removes and puts on the shows, doesn't see day to day action of the horse with or without shoes.


Edit: Just read your reply MrsMozart, thank you for that.
I havent been happier with farriers I have used for Omie so havent yet found one I like, although there is an apparent ''reputable'' one at the yard, that I have seenand watched and I am going to try him for both my boys, maybe he will give me a better view on farriers. Just never had much luck with them so dont trust them so much anymore!
 
Last edited:
My TB x has terribly slow growing feet. When I got her she was unshod behind, and within a month it was clear that shoes needed to go on.
Her feet have never fallen apart (like you sometimes hear with TB's) but the growth would not cover what she would have been wearing away if left unshod.
WB was left barefoot behind on farrier advice. Shoes just came off, and farrier checked her every 4 weeks for problems. The first 6 months, she needed frequent trims, now its every 8 weeks.
 
O - what region of the country are you in? My farrier is usually full up, but if you're local to us I'll ask him if he can squeeze you in if you want :)

Dizz has a wonky pelvis, so I'll have to check with the vets before I take her shoes off anyway. She currently has road pins in, but even two in each shoe doesn't stop her slipping on hills on the road; I'm hoping that barefoot will give more grip - worth a try me thinks! :D
 
Thanks for all replies, thats rather scary that you know my name?!Id now ratherlike to know who you are!

APM would be nice although I do have someone to try first called peter.

Mozart, my unshod boy still slips sometimes especially if hes had his feet trimmed recently, but it definately helps, he can be riddenin most weather, even snow,as he has good grip.
 
I definately find horses have better grip on the roads without shoes.

I have been trying this with my horses, my warmblood has good feet so I took his hind shoes off last winter and he has been fine, left his fronts on for the summer as we do a lot of jumping and thought they might help him with grip when on grass (and could put studs in if needed), anyway this winter with the price of hay being so high I've decided to take his fronts off to in order to try to save a bit of money! He is doing ok so far, he is fine on a surface or sand, grass etc, to start with he was abit unsure on roads but now he is a lot better, just abit unsure on stoney tracks at the moment, I am hoping his feet will toughen up but have got him some hoof boots that he wears if I am planning to go somewhere where the ground is like that. Hoof boots can be quite frustrating as they don't always stay on but we are trying some new ones at the moment which hopefully will work. Good luck with your boy, I know what you mean about not trusting farriers, I have had a dreadfull time with ones not turning up and so my horses feet getting too long as they have to wait, or farriers just doing a bad job, not trimming feet properly, shaping the foot to fit the shoe etc and so making my horses lame! Hence I've decided it would be a lot easier if I could get along without them.

Edited to add- I know there are lots of good farriers out there, I have just met lots of bad ones lately!
 
Last edited:
Read 'Feet First' by Barker and Braithwaite, look at Pete Ramey's stuff on the web, read Jaime Jackson's books. I have three barefoot - all TB or cross. One wears boots to do quite a lot of his work - look at the EasyCare website for more info. He only wears front boots. Personally, I would just go for it and get the lot off. Most horses are fine behind anyway - you are more likely to see issues with the front feet. Many people now put horses on a barefoot-friendly diet before taking shoes off, but I didn't know anything about that when I took them off any of mine (10 years ago, 7 years ago and 5 years ago respectively) and none of them ever had issues on roads or soft going - its only over stoney ground (which most of my hacks are) that I've had to use boots.
Good luck.
 
Some TBs have poor feet, sometimes genetic but more often just because they have been shod too young and the structures of the feet haven't been able to develop properly.

We have a TB in the yard atm, had his shoes off in the summer. The first day you would have said no way, he was trembling and very footy, but inside a week was walking and trotting sound in the sand school and hacking out short periods in Old Macs G2s. He is now hacking out for an hour barefoot with no problems. We have transitioned several TBs successfully.

We did change his feed to ad lib hay, Purabeet and Lucie nuts, with a Himalayan salt lick, this had an amazing effect on his temperament as well as his feet. We tried him for a few days on soaked oats, and he went back to being wired to the moon, so we took him off them again and he is great.

It's all in the balance of trim, exercise and feed, but I suggest you find a qualified trimmer, who can advise you on your own individual horse.

But don't go barefoot just to save cash!
 
Mrs M our DWB is unshod, we took it slowly and carefully after what the vet thought could be navicular but luckily was just soft tissue damage. She is better now than she ever was shod, we have a very good farrier who is fully competent in trimming and who takes great pride in seeing her so sound. Many friends said we were mad to have her unshod but are now coming around to our way of thinking after seeing how much better she is.
 
There are numerous threads on here about going barefoot from shod. Lots of posts giving very different descriptions about individual horses reactions to going bare foot, and very different opinions and interpretations by owners of how their horses react to the change.

Many people with experience of TB's in particular cite genetic weaknesses for the poor state of TB's feet and their supposed inability to cope without shoes. Whilst it is true that some TB'S may take longer to adjust to barefoot, many thousands go barefoot every year without major problems.

Before even considering barefoot, as has been said look at the likes of Nic Barker, Sarah Braithwaite, Lucy Priory, Pete Ramey and Jamie Jackson. These people have submitted a wealth of information about barefoot onto the web and you should have some understanding of what barefoot entails.

Many people talk of the 'workload' and conditions that their horses have to cope with when justifying keeping their horses shod. Much of this is erroneous and opinions are very often influenced by some vets, farriers, trainers and co owners many of whom are of very fixed opinion regarding barefoot, and are unwilling to accept changes despite the mounting evidence and experience to the contrary.

What must be appreciated is that before setting of on the road to barefoot, it is a complete package, where diet and exercise play a larger part in a successful transition than merely taking off the shoes and trimming the feet.

Only this week I was lucky enough to see some dissections of horses feet both shod and barefoot, which covered differing ages and types of horses, and horses which had never been shod and horses which had been shod for different periods of time, from months to a lifetime. Obviously, I am quite convinced that barefoot is the way forward from a personal view point, but to see inside the hoof was a revelation to me of the differences to a hoof that shoeing can make.

This brief window into the internal condition of outwardly healthy shod hooves displayed all manner of degenerative disease affecting the internal tissues as opposed to that seen in corresponding barefoot hooves.

I am now more convinced than ever that barefoot is the best way forward for any breed of horse.
 
hi we have just took our horses shoes off, she was trimmed by a bare foot trimmer, she seems very happy with out the shoes on. At first was a bit sore, but is getting lots better on week 3.
 
Just my opinion - use it dont use it stuff. You need to speak to your farrier (hopefully he isnt against going barefoot otherwise you will get a biased opinion - please consider using a barefoot trimmer for the trimming though as unfortunately most farriers do pasture trims and not wildhorse trims), but it is also your decision at the end of the day. Once a horse has been shod to repair the damage that shoes have done takes many months, just like a horse completely regrowing its foot, some pass the transition stage quickly others take longer, the reason why TB's are usually deemed as having bad feet as most of them are ex races and therefore been shod since they were 2. They are not born with bad feet therefore with the correct diet, patience, hoof boots there is no reason why they cant eventually go barefoot, remember in the beginning you need to trim every 4 weeks which will encourage growth (you are basically regrowing the foot without the holes and it will grow back harder) and also keep flare down and balance correct, chips will start to appear if there is flare and then it becomes a vicious circle. Cornucresine encourages hoof growth as does Keratex assist with hardening up the hoof (do not put on the frog or coronary band). You really need to be prepared to give the horse at least 6 months before you decide okay barefoot is not for him. 3 months is just not long enough. Good luck. Mine has been barefoot now for 3 months having been shod for the past 10 years - lots of work ahead.
 
Forgot to say, i wouldnt take them off now because the ground is just so hard it will cripple them, wait now for the ground to get softer and feet are supposed to grow more in the summer anyway. Use this time to change diets and start getting vits in and no reason why you cant start using cornucresine now..you will have done 1/2 of the job before you take them off.
 
I have both my WB's barefoot, one has a badly underrun heel on his nearside fore and having him trimmed by an excellent EP has helped him hugely.

I would say that most horses can do very well BF, but there are always a few who just can't cope, so go into it with an open mind (it sounds like you have one already).

Diet is extremely important, but so is conditioning work, to give your horse the best chance of transitioning, you do need to put the work in. Walking on tarmac is excellent for this, also on sand.

My friend is an EP and has a useful FAQ's page on going BF, it might be a useful read: http://hoof-help.co.uk/faq-hoof-help-bristol.html
 
Thank you toeveryone who has replied!

Sorry its taken me so long to reply, been very poorly

I agree with what most of you say and I know it wont be a quick fix thing, and no I wouldnt go barefoot just to save cash, Bossy's health is in my best interest.

Im still not too well so not going to ramble on, but thank you again to everyone who replied,I shall check out the people you have suggested!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top