Got my first barefoot horse... How can I keep it that way!?

muckypony

muckypony

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So I've never had a fully barefoot ridden horse before, my new one is 5 and has never been shod.

His feet are pretty good however he hadn't done a lot of work before i bought him so they aren't very hard and he gets a little footy on stoney ground. They were left untrimmed for a long time before I bought him so are currently very splayed but my farrier has done a fab job on him on the first trim.

I trust my farrier implicitly and he has said he has good feet and can go barefoot but if I want fronts on (if I hack him a lot etc) he will put them on. Personally, I would like to try and keep him barefoot.

How can I help his feet? He doesn't get a feed at the moment as he doesn't need it and is out 24/7. I've been using bog standard hoof oil everyday since I got him and I do think its helped a little. What can I use that is better?

Advice pleasee :)
 
You shouldnt need to put anything on his feet if you feed him some mineral sups and give him regular exercise to stimulate good quality growth. I think an opportunity to stand in water is supposed to be beneficial. Search barefoot diet on here and you should get lots of info. Also be really patient because it has taken 9 months to see a real improvement in my horses feet.
 
Don't forget that you can always boot for stony rides. :)

Build up your hacking slowly. Start with short routes as the hooves need time to adjust to the new level of work (they will actually grow faster), then up the distance when he's ready. Also stick to comfortable surfaces (eg, grass, tarmac) and as the hooves improve you can move onto more difficult surfaces.

Diet is key as WB said.

I don't use any oils/balsams on my horses hooves as it's the diet that causes good horn quality, not a paint on topical treatment.
 
As Faracat has said plus get a decent mineral supp down him, either Forage Plus or Pro Hoof, not the generic off the shelf in a tackroom that has a pinch of minerals to a put of wheet feed ;)

Take pics of his feet fter each trim and keep a blog its really useful then you can see how changes o his diet/environment and stimulation affect him.
 
Dengie do a hoof supplement and chaff which I've seen good results for.

As said, build work up slowly and hooves should adjust. One of mine couldn't do 5 mins of work over uneven ground, but within 3 weeks was happily striding out over un even stoney ground. I also made sure for the first 6 months he saw the farrier every 6 weeks to help keep any chips/cracks at bay, after that my farrier came out every 10 weeks.
 
As long as you boot for a few rides a week, you will not have to put shoes on, a horse will grow his feet at a rate of how fast he wears them down.
 
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