Help with barefoot feeding

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alex_mac30

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Hi All

I posted this in new lounge but they suggested people might be able to help in here
I am after some advice for helping my horse go barefoot, he is 13 15hh and a tbxcon. He has been without his front shoes about 4 months now (backs off a year with no problems) be is fine on concrete and in the field but over stones he is still really footy. He looks really lame and pottery then fine once over the stones. If possible I would like to keep his fronts off.

He doesn't have great feet they don’t seem to grow much. I am putting cornucrescine on a couple of times a week.
He is out 24 hours at the moment on grass in the day and the winter field at night (still has a small amount of grass) I feed him once a day. He gets 3/4 scoop of dengie (either the hi-fi lite or the hi-fi good do-er) and on the top spec lite balancer plus some magnesium.
He is currently in light work but even when that’s upped he has never struggled for energy, he is a pretty good doer. He looks good at the moment, just the hit of ribs when he moves and no fat pads so far this year.
Any suggestions on what I should add or take away from his diet?
Thanks
M
 
Hi I have mine on dengie molasses free, the less sugar and starch in their diet the better, so have a look at the percentage in both. I would also recommend a pair of hoof boots to help with the transition it took my mare about 12 months. X
 
Well, if out on grass 24/7 then he is getting lots of energy and vitamins etc. it is also contributing to the footy ness I suspect. Save your money on the feed. Get the grass analysed for minerals and then give a supplement that tops up the lacking ones. Forageplus do testing. Perhaps it's copper that's lacking. My boy lacked copper so even though he was out 24/7 I gave him extra copper and no extra feed. We still competed at weekends and had a lesson every week and hacked everyday. He had to have a muzzle on in the day as he was STILL getting too fat! He he!
 
HI

I have had my horses barefoot now for three years, one of the horses is a warmblood and her feet are great, she is not footy at all, but my other horse is older and had shoes on till he was 15 years old, it took me two years to build his feet up, I started by hacking him with boots on in front whilst I build up his back feet, I then slowly rode for 20 minutes at a time on a hard surface, building it up slowly. I also feed him thunderbrook equestrian horse feed - their mineral mix, they have that and a large handful of no molasses grass, the mineral mix gives them all the minerals they need, also helps with a healthy gut. Their feet are stronger and the coats are really shiny since switching to this, but it all takes time. I personally also believe that the right sort of barefoot trimmer helps, personally I use a specific foot trimmer, that deals with only barefoot trimming only, his website is www.steve.vendyback@googlemail.com / www.aanhcp.net, he trims the feet slightly different to a normal farrier, allowing the hoof to grow in the right way, enabling the horse going barefoot in the future. if you want his number I can forward on to you. hope this helps
 
Hi
Thanks for the reply's, i have looked at the forageplus and that looks really interesting. I am moving yards in a few weeks so its not worth me doing that yet and the grass/hay will be different there. But will look at it after I move. Has anyone done the feeding plan? does that include analysis or is that extra? Also what sort of cost is the specialised feed, is it about the same as their winter balancer.
M
 
i think the other thing to remember is that standing on a sharp stone and saying *ouch* is normal!

being footy on soft surfaces or smooth tarmac is not a good sign but if they stand on some sharp lumps and are cautious i wouldnt take that as a bad thing.

ours are rock crushing sound and by that i mean can walk over gravel easily and trot up sound on tarmac. One show centre near us has a lorry park seemingly made out of crushed limestone and broken up bricks and they walk over that ok but if they stand on a large sharp stone sticking out above the rest they still step short and are then cautious over the remainder and that i think is normal?

Ours are in hard work so fed a largely commercial diet as a *barefoot diet* would not provide them with the calories they need IMo (especially as neither will eat large quantities of short fibre or oil). Because they work hard, and work their feet hard, i feel we can get away with more than a leisure horse in minimal work. They are burning off a lot of the sugars and starches through good honest work!
 
My Friesian hadn't been in work for 3 years when I bought him last year. He had front shoes put on, which he had on for about 10 months, but had not been shod on hinds for years. I took his front shoes off last November. Since then he is fine on flat hard surfaces, but on stones he is footy for about a week after being trimmed. Apart from that he seems to cope reasonably well, but not 100%. He has good feet and I'm pleased to hear that tenderness on the stones is not such a problem of barefoot horses. I'm not sure how long it takes for a horses feet to 'harden' after taking off shoes, has anyone any ideas?
 
I have a problem with concrescence.
It may well speed-up the wall growth but IMO it is due to it working like a mild blister, thus encouraging blood to the area, therefore you get a faster growing but poorer quality hoof growth.
The only thing I would ever put on a horses foot is clean water and a wire brush.
If the foot is not of the right quality and is balanced with the action of the horse then my first stop would be DIET
Save your money and put it towards good quality magnesium.
All healthy horses will grow good horn, it is how we interoperate ‘healthy’ that creates the problem!
As for a horse being footy on some surfaces, don’t forget ’pain avoidance’
This may help: http://www.rockfoot.com/lameness.html
 
Black Jack said:
My Friesian hadn't been in work for 3 years when I bought him last year. He had front shoes put on, which he had on for about 10 months, but had not been shod on hinds for years. I took his front shoes off last November. Since then he is fine on flat hard surfaces, but on stones he is footy for about a week after being trimmed. Apart from that he seems to cope reasonably well, but not 100%. He has good feet and I'm pleased to hear that tenderness on the stones is not such a problem of barefoot horses. I'm not sure how long it takes for a horses feet to 'harden' after taking off shoes, has anyone any ideas?
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To me that indicates that the farrier is trimming too much, I had one who insisted on making both hooves perfect and one who allowed for his natural imperfect conformation. When I rode him after farrier one I could feel "unlevel" but the other farrier, there was no difference from day before and day after trimming.
My aim is to manage the feet for self trimming, it took four or five weeks for feet to toughen up, but diet played a part ].... [soaked haylage when he was stabled for a few hours per day [to slim and to reduce sugar intake]
The feet changed in shape becoming more defined ......... collateral grooves and concavity, also there was a lot of chalkiness on the soles at first.
I increased magnesium and minerals and micronized linseed, previous years he had little or no feed in summer. After removing shoes, he got fed all year round, skin was no longer itchy, and coat was dark bay all year round.
I don't think there is a timespan for barefoot, there are too many variables in the sugar content of the grazing and the sensitivity of the individual.
 
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Thank you Mrs D for your very interesting information on my barefoot problem. I have never had a horse that has gone barefoot before, so I'm learning as I go. Yes, my farrier does use a knife on the hoof and on the frog. He is not a barefoot farrier, we don't seem to have one locally. However, I did use him when my horse was shod up front and he was fine. I will now look into the other information you gave me on feeding, as he has also had an itch problem which I ended up having the vet for. Fortunately it seems to have subsided after injections from the vet. Could possibly be the sugar as he loves carrots and apples................ oh dear. Thanks again.
 
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