Good reasons NOT to go barefooted???

[Elsbells]

I know this has probably been discussed before but I would like some opinions on the medical down side of going barefoot please.

My saddler came out yesterday and she hadn't seen my then new girl since last year and it was just after I had just had her shoes removed because, well,....they just wouldn't stay on!!

"Ahh" She said, on seeing her, "She looks good now and has shaped up well, when can you have her shod then?"

I quite happily told her that she was staying barefoot as it seemed to suit her. My saddler then replied horrified,
"But you won't be able to ride her on the road, or her feet will wear away!!!"

OK, so shod horses suffer contracted heels, absesses, infections, nail damage, concussion, navacular syndrome and countless other problems that render them lame and very often stable bound and under the vet for weeks? I have had my mare barefoot for a year and although she does get footy at times and on certain terrain, her foot health has improved 100% and I use hoof boots that we can gallop in. She is also a lot less spooky and happier without metal I'm sure as she never refuses to go forward and in her boots, she jogs like a youngster.

But am I not looking at the bigger picture? Could she suffer some, if not all of the above and could I be taking a risk and damaging her feet and not know it? I ask only because although I can clearly see the benefits, could I do any damage?

 

[schneeko]

My horse couldn't go barefoot, he'd be too footy all the time and his feet literally fall apart.

But the pony doesn't wear shoes at all and he's adjusted well

I don't think there are any downsides of going barefoot as long as you don't do too much roadwork and your horse/ponies feet can handle it

 

[smiffyimp]

My 6yo has never been shod - he doesnt know any different. I go on roads, I gallop I jump and he is evented (PN). Ive never had him footsore. Now, I'm not a member of the barefoot clique, each are individuals. He's an Anglo, Arabs usually have remarkable feet. He is very sure footed BUT if I felt he needed shoes/studs he'd have them. I think they are better off without, but we have to accomdate the 'uses' we have for them. They do not live in the wild, they are our pets/leisure/jobs. I think we can be victims of over analysing things sometimes. If your ponio is happy, dont worry, if shes not do something about it, but dont worry about maybes My old boy (31) has been my guinea pig for most of his live and he's survived - looking rather too well I might add

 

[Magic6]

I do endurance riding with my mare and she is not shod - we do 40/50/60k rides and her feet are not worn away. In fact, the more you use them, the more they should grow, as long as the right vits and mins are there.

I actually started all mine on barefoot as I unshod my old mare when I retired her and her big, flat TB feet improved no end and she is actually not as footy as she was when she was shod.

 

[soloequestrian]

I think the bigger picture is that barefoot has to be best if you can manage it - why would nailing bits of metal to your pet be the better option?

 

[Elsbells]

There has to be medical disadvantages though, hasn't there?

Do barefoot horses ever get the well known problems?

I often think of shoeingmy mare for my benefit and due to the frustration of having an occationaly footy mare, but I never get around to actually doing it. So I doubt I ever will unless someone can point out the benefits other than of convenience.

I would really like to know if I am causing, or could cause any future problems, what they are likely be and how to avoid them please.

 

[Oberon]

Education is improving but there are still alot of people out there who are totally ignorant of how hooves work and cling to old myths.

I have a horse who was shod for thirteen years and a horse who has never been shod. Going barefoot has made me improve my knowledge and caused me to be much more proactive about my horse's care. No one can dazzle me with science anymore as I question everything I am told.

Case in point - I have a friend with an older TB. He is shod and owner states he is crippled as soon as the shoes comes off while being shod. To her, he NEEDS the shoes or serious things would happen. In reality the horse NEEDS an appropriate diet, sole stimulation and a sympathetic trim. He is currently sporadic in his soundness, a poor doer and has behavioural problems. Taking the shoes off, and giving an appropriate diet would (I believe) improve his overall health rather than just his feet. As the owner is stuck in the 'horse will be crippled' state of mind - the horse will have to remain in shoes. I am keeping my mouth shut either way.

Alot of people who go barefoot, do so because their horse has problems that conventional methods have not helped and have to do it against the advice of the vets and farriers. Said horses often have so many other pathologies that it is much harder to rehab them - and without the right support it is almost impossible.

I know for certain that no horse has ever gone barefoot and had their hooves wear away to nubbs - I love that myth......

The only way forward is for those barefooters to go out there and show what those hooves can do. Then more awarness and education will filter through.

 

[Oberon]

There has to be medical disadvantages though, hasn't there?

Do barefoot horses ever get the well known problems?

I often think of shoeingmy mare for my benefit and due to the frustration of having an occationaly footy mare, but I never get around to actually doing it. So I doubt I ever will unless someone can point out the benefits other than of convenience.

I would really like to know if I am causing, or could cause any future problems, what they are likely be and how to avoid them please.

I can't think of any problems. From your description you appear to have good management in place.

Your mare's occasional footiness should be monitored by you and see if there is a pattern of when it happens and if there is anything she needs to help prevent it. If you are both happy in boots then fine.

The fact that you have a questioning mind serves your mare the best! Don't worry when people panic at the thought of you hacking without shoes - let your mare tell you about her feet - she is the expert!

 

[mrdarcy]

There has to be medical disadvantages though, hasn't there?

Do barefoot horses ever get the well known problems?

I often think of shoeingmy mare for my benefit and due to the frustration of having an occationaly footy mare, but I never get around to actually doing it. So I doubt I ever will unless someone can point out the benefits other than of convenience.

I would really like to know if I am causing, or could cause any future problems, what they are likely be and how to avoid them please.

Shoes are just for human convenience. End of. What possible medical disadvantages could there be from allowing the hoof to function as nature intended, to feeding your horse a healthy diet and providing him with movement in an environment that stimulate his body and his mind?

My horse couldn't go barefoot, he'd be too footy all the time and his feet literally fall apart.

But the pony doesn't wear shoes at all and he's adjusted well

I don't think there are any downsides of going barefoot as long as you don't do too much roadwork and your horse/ponies feet can handle it

All horses can go barefoot - really their feet don't fall apart. I know it's hard to believe but it's true. As long as you get the diet right and transition properly. It's all down to how you manage them. Of course a recently de shod horse will likely have weak hooves that may crack/chip or crumble - but that's because the hoof has been damaged by shoes not because it can't ever function without them!!!!!

And I always want to bang my head against a wall when I hear the road work thing - you can do loads of roadwork with barefoot horses, the more the better.

There are so many myths regarding horses' feet - thoroughbreds can't go barefoot (wrong), white feet are weaker than black feet (wrong), laminitic horses need shoes (sooooo wrong), navicular isn't caused by shoeing (wrong!), shoes don't affect the function of the hoof (again wrong - try wrapping an elastic band tightly round your finger - end of your finger will go numb... exactly the effect shoes have on the hoof).....

 

[Elsbells]

I can't think of any problems. From your description you appear to have good management in place.

Your mare's occasional footiness should be monitored by you and see if there is a pattern of when it happens and if there is anything she needs to help prevent it. If you are both happy in boots then fine.

The fact that you have a questioning mind serves your mare the best! Don't worry when people panic at the thought of you hacking without shoes - let your mare tell you about her feet - she is the expert!

You right thankyou and that's probably why we have come so far already as it was not planned.

I have found a good and local farrier who is happy to trim her my way every 4weeks or so, as the trimmer I was useing travels from miles away and costs £40 a time. The hoof is growing that fast this year and despite all the road work I'm doing with her without boots, it just doesn't wear quick enough and she rapidly ends up with a long toe!

It's the internal structures that worry me the most tbh, as she is not great on unlevel and hard ground such as we have been getting lately, although she is fantastic on the roads.

Are you sure her bones won't drop out on a hack!!
Mad I know, but I've had nightmares about it

Oh yes and I do like the way other horsey peps we meet when out, will look at her feet, notice she is barefoot and proud, but not ask

 

[Jennyharvey]

I think that eventually barefoot will become the norm, and shoeing horses will become a rarity.
More and more people and vets are discovering the benefits of barefoot, so hopefully others will follow and frown apon nailing something solid to a working organ.

I think whats also important is to get our shoeless horses out competing with shod horses. I think people will take it more seriously if barefoot horses start kicking their butts in competition.

Its my aim to get me horse out competing barefoot and bitless, because it really is the best form of advertising. Seeing is believing.

 

[mrdarcy]

I think that eventually barefoot will become the norm, and shoeing horses will become a rarity.
More and more people and vets are discovering the benefits of barefoot, so hopefully others will follow and frown apon nailing something solid to a working organ.

I think whats also important is to get our shoeless horses out competing with shod horses. I think people will take it more seriously if barefoot horses start kicking their butts in competition.

Its my aim to get me horse out competing barefoot and bitless, because it really is the best form of advertising. Seeing is believing.

Well said! I do endurance with mine - see post in Competition Riders. Sunday was also our first ride bitless. At the ride on Sunday (Lindum EGB) there were loads of barefoot horses - there are more and more competing endurance every season. We certainly kicked the shod horses' butts - our average speed was faster than any of the shod horses in our class - probably because we don't have to slow down when we hit tarmac!

 

[Elsbells]

Well said! I do endurance with mine - see post in Competition Riders. Sunday was also our first ride bitless. At the ride on Sunday (Lindum EGB) there were loads of barefoot horses - there are more and more competing endurance every season. We certainly kicked the shod horses' butts - our average speed was faster than any of the shod horses in our class - probably because we don't have to slow down when we hit tarmac!

Whooooooo!! That sounds like fun!! And a very grown up sport!!

Hitting tarmac........................Love it!!

 

[Jennyharvey]

Well said! I do endurance with mine - see post in Competition Riders. Sunday was also our first ride bitless. At the ride on Sunday (Lindum EGB) there were loads of barefoot horses - there are more and more competing endurance every season. We certainly kicked the shod horses' butts - our average speed was faster than any of the shod horses in our class - probably because we don't have to slow down when we hit tarmac!

Well done. Thats nice to hear.

I wish that a few more of my clients actually competed. Only one guy who drives actually gets out in public and competes in trials and carraige driving.
Because i dont have horse transport, he does a lot of promoting for me lol.
Always talking to people, especially when they ask about the funny hoof boots the pony sometimes wears.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

All depends on the horse's feet. My friend's cob went lame immediately and parts of his hooves fell off in the field-horrible to look at. He was footsore for months and she's gone back to shoes.

I was tempted to go barefoot as I don't do much road work but my farrier put me off by telling me it would take 12 months for the feet to 'settle'. I couldn't put him through that and I'm way too lazy to do hoof boots etc.

 

[MissMistletoe]

My 23 year old pony has been barefoot for nearly 4 years and her 3 year old filly will hopefully be following in her hoofsteps.

The old girl only struggles down the track leading out of the farm, it is very rocky and uneven. I tend to ride her down it, and lead her up it on the way home so she dosent always have to potter down it.

Her filly, on the other hand merrily strides out down the track, but her feet have not known it any other way. I havent fully discounted shoes on her, as it's important tht she is comfortable. But I would be sad if she ever did need shoeing and will try my hardest to keep her barefoot.

The downside is the worry. I find that im always thinking of the feet at the bottom of the horse when im hacking out, what is the ground like; is it too stoney/hard, she is footy today; why? etc etc etc... Also, the occasional comments from people, but these are far and few between.

You will become obsessed with hooves and become a serial hoof spy!!. Not just at home, but at shows you will find yourself looking at horses feet, watching M&M workers, SJ classes etc counting away at how many are barefoot!. Picking out a hoof will never be the same, you will start becoming fascinated with how the frog is looking, the white line, the sole and will begin mentally picking the feet to pieces and becomming ever hoof-critical.

You cant beat the sound of the unshod hoof on tarmac either.....

 

[Oberon]

I'm not an expert but the current thinking is that it is much less about the feet and much more about the diet and sole stimulation.

With the more information and education owners are getting now, the trend is becomming that when a barefoot horse suddenly has a problem, the owners tend to look at what has happened to have caused the change (dietry imbalance/wormer/inflammation/vaccines etc). Whereas the previous trend was to just say the horse can't cope without shoes and put them back on.

Fair enough if that's the best thing for the horse, but putting shoes on wouldn't cure the underlying problem.

 

[Oberon]

My 23 year old pony has been barefoot for nearly 4 years and her 3 year old filly will hopefully be following in her hoofsteps.

The old girl only struggles down the track leading out of the farm, it is very rocky and uneven. I tend to ride her down it, and lead her up it on the way home so she dosent always have to potter down it.

Her filly, on the other hand merrily strides out down the track, but her feet have not known it any other way. I havent fully discounted shoes on her, as it's important tht she is comfortable. But I would be sad if she ever did need shoeing and will try my hardest to keep her barefoot.

The downside is the worry. I find that im always thinking of the feet at the bottom of the horse when im hacking out, what is the ground like; is it too stoney/hard, she is footy today; why? etc etc etc... Also, the occasional comments from people, but these are far and few between.

You will become obsessed with hooves and become a serial hoof spy!!. Not just at home, but at shows you will find yourself looking at horses feet, watching M&M workers, SJ classes etc counting away at how many are barefoot!. Picking out a hoof will never be the same, you will start becoming fascinated with how the frog is looking, the white line, the sole and will begin mentally picking the feet to pieces and becomming ever hoof-critical.

You cant beat the sound of the unshod hoof on tarmac either.....

I know - barefoot turns you proper geeky, doesn't it!

 

[MissMistletoe]

I know - barefoot turns you proper geeky, doesn't it!

Indeed!. Im sudying at uni to be a podiatrist (of the human kind) and we are encourged out and about to watch people walking, their feet and their footwear choice..... but it's spreading to horses now!.

Freak one must think!!!

 

[Oberon]

I am currently doing my externship to be an Equine Bodyworker. I have to study gait analysis. I am staring at legs and hips now as well as feet.

I was so busy staring the other day I walked into a wall.......

 

[soloequestrian]

Are you sure her bones won't drop out on a hack!!
Mad I know, but I've had nightmares about it

Coincidentally, I actually had a nightmare last night that someone had my horse shod while I wasn't looking. I went MENTAL in my sleep, shouting and screaming that they had destroyed all my hard work building up callouses. It was really horrible, so real that it took me a few minutes to realise it wasn't true when I woke up, and what a relief that was!
I've turned into a total hoof anorak.........

 

[cptrayes]

I have had my eventers and hunters unshod now for over five years and had no downsides, only benefits. I worried myself sick when I first started jumping big fences, I thought their feet would fall off. I did mile after mile of roadwork wondering when their feet would wear out and they never did. When they got footie I did a lot of research and changed their diet and now they are rock crunching all year round. After all this time with high performance horses I have come to the conclusion that medically, there simply are no downsides, and that shoes were invented to allow us to work horses that are not fed optimal diets and/or not kept in optimal environments and/or not worked consistently on the kind of terrain we want them to be sound on.

 

[maggiesmum]

Not a downside as such but its more effort on the owners part to pay more attention to diet, soundness, grass etc Far easier to leave the feet to the farrier.
Am currently tackling infection and scrubbing feet at 6.30am ain't fun, but knowing my horse will be better for it keeps me going.
As they say its not the horses who need shoes but the owners! LOL ;-)

 

[devonlass]

I was tempted to go barefoot as I don't do much road work but my farrier put me off by telling me it would take 12 months for the feet to 'settle'. I couldn't put him through that and I'm way too lazy to do hoof boots etc.

I am taking my lad back to barefoot (shoes come off tomorrow yay!!),and I would most certainly not expect it to take 12 months for his feet to 'settle'!! Not even 12 weeks I shouldn't think,and that's for roadwork,I suspect he will be 'settled' for off road work within day's.
Is you farrier saying that because he's a farrier and wants the work or is there a problem with your lad's feet?? He always looks like the type to have perfectly good feet and that could go barefoot easily,but they are all different and there could be an underlying problem of course that is not obvious.

I use renegade hoof boots BTW,take about 30 seconds to put on,no longer or any more of a faff than picking out a shod hoof before riding really.I too thought that I couldn't be bothered with with boots,but then I found renegades,totally dispelled the myth that hoofboots are a faff.

In answer to OP question,I have had several horses barefoot and can't honestly think of any good reason not to go barefoot.My lad is currently shod (long story),but shoes come off tomorrow and can honestly say I have no reservations whatsoever about taking his shoes off,but I had several about having him shod in the first place!!

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Isn't there some sort of link between barefoot and laminitis?

 

[Oberon]

No.

Barefoot owners have made a link between too much sugar/grass and increased sensitivity. It has coined the phrase Low Grade Lami (LGL). It is thought that this occurs commonly with all sensitive horses but that shod horses are oblivious until it becomes an acute attack.

So far the veterinary field has refused to accept this as a real disease.

 

[touchstone]

Isn't there some sort of link between barefoot and laminitis?

The only laminitis my mare suffered was when shod, the shoes masked the symptoms until her pedal bone had dropped. The vet recommended heartbars, but after seeing her feet deteriorate in them I bit the bullet and took her shoes off. Now I can tell straight away when she's had too much grass, get her off it and within a day or so she will be back to normal.

I used to worry about the amount of work I did, but after years of being shoeless I don't even think about it now.

As for pedal bones 'dropping through the hoof' then I think this is much more likely when the sole is suspended by a rim of metal leaving the structures just hanging there, at least with barefoot there is support through the whole hoof as nature intended!

I wouldn't consider shoeing now.

 

[soloequestrian]

Isn't there some sort of link between barefoot and laminitis?

As well as the early warning people get with barefoot horses mentioned above, I think many people finally decide to go barefoot as a last resort for horse with chronic foot problems and therefore at the moment there are probably a higher proportion of barefoot horses that are prone to laminitis. Just my theory.

With regard to vets and LGL, the vet who operated on my mare earlier in the year did warn me about LGL - so did recognise it - BUT said that the solution would be shoes..........

 

[Kallibear]

Love the 'the feet will fall apart' theory Because obviously the shoe is the only thing holding the foot together

Can't think of anything that barefoot 'causes' - stone bruising is more likely in the intial stages but much less than barefoot once the the foot's toughened up.

The ONLY reason I'd consider having shoes out on (and Kalli is getting shod in a couple of weeks for this reason and this reason alone) is for studs.

Yes, barefoot horses have better proprioception than shod horses but there is nothing to beat a whacking great set of spikes when jumping on wet grass.

I have and still do jump on wet grass but you need to be more careful and it doesn't always work - Kalli went splat last month (right over onto her side, rolling on her rider ) on wet grass. She was being careful and working well, she just slipped If she'd had studs in she'd have been fine.

You can get studs for boots but that requires you to HAVE boots: I don't use them because I cannot get any that fit very wide large feet as both my working horses have.

You will become obsessed with hooves and become a serial hoof spy!!. Not just at home, but at shows you will find yourself looking at horses feet, watching M&M workers, SJ classes etc counting away at how many are barefoot!. Picking out a hoof will never be the same, you will start becoming fascinated with how the frog is looking, the white line, the sole and will begin mentally picking the feet to pieces and becomming ever hoof-critical.

Yep, and you become very critial of the state of shod horses feet. I had someone the other day expounding on how lovely her horses feet were - no cracks or chips and 'lovely and neat and small'. I had to bite my tounge firmly to keep myself from saying they were some of the worst shoe-sick' feet i'd seen in a while - horrifically contracted heels, far too small and very long in the heel too, making them 'tube-like'. But no chips or cracks, I'd agree

It's horrifying how many people don't know what healthy feet (shod or otherwise) should look like.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Re the barefoot/lami link myth as well another point is that native ponies tend to have good feet and therefore be left unshod, they are also the types that are at higher risk of lami and so there appears to be a link to barefoot, whereas its just reflective of the type of horse.

My Haffie is barefoot (never shod) and all our hacking is (bootless) on roads and really really rocky tracks in the Scottish highlands. She chooses her ground where possible but is happy and sound on all of it and recently did first endurance ride and we were the fastest non members.

She wears her hooves down so farrier hardly has to rasp them, he just neatens any jags, but she hasnt ever ended up with no hoof, despite having wide shallow feet. I think they just grow to match the wear up to a point.

The only horses I think that really need shoeing are carriage horses on roads all day, or SJ/eventing horses where unnaturally tight cornering at speed with rider on board is required. Shoeing came in in an era where horses worked damned hard day in day out and so was needed, the sort of light work leisure horses do now is as different from that as I can imagine.