How Long Will There Be Foot Soreness After Going Barefoot??

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Dear All,

Not sure if this is the right forum for this but will have a go anyway...

Have horse with persistent corns although they never seem to cause lameness:confused: Have tried all options regarding foot care but can't seem to resolve it. Recently she has developed a minor bout of thrush in central solcus on the fore feet and this is in no way down to poor hygeine - I am meticulous about hoof care.

I was beginning to wonder whether the rigidity of a shoe was compromising the frog's ability to expand and absorb concussion - hence corns and possibly not allowing air into the deep crevice at the rear of the frog thereby causing the thrush. Maybe a try at shoeless might be the answer but as she is a fairly flat-footed TBx, I know that she will be sore for a while and was wondering how long that might be before she adjusts - can anyone advise at all?

Thanks:)
 
before you start, I would recommend getting a copy of Feet First by Nic Barker - it explains everything you need to know about going barefoot, the most important element being diet. I've found it really good, and keep going back to it.

I hope that helps :D sm x
 
I don't know about the corns, but none of my three had any particular soreness when they came out of shoes. My mare and one of the geldings just carried on as if nothing had changed at all, my other boy has rubbish TB feet too and he was fine on good surfaces but not over rough. They all wear boots at least some of the time to do the really rough stony tracks we hack on - have a look at the EasyCare site. Second the Feet First recommendation, and Pete Ramey and Jaime Jackson's stuff is really good too.
 
How 'sore' they are depends on how damaged their feet are. You say she's a flat footed TB with contracted heels (deep sulcus') so her feet are probably quite damaged and will take time to heal.

Before you start, have her on a lamintic diet for a couple of weeks before hand - very restricted grass and no hard feed. It will make the world of difference to her feet when the shoes come off. People will tell you over and over again - diet diet diet is the key to sucsessful barefoot.

She will be sensitive but shouldn't be lame. Boots will be your friend here. Correct walking (landing heel first) facilitiaes healing and improves comfort. Being comfortable makes her walk correctly. Boots are an easy and effective 'cheat' to get her in the right direction;)

She has deep creises in her frogs because she has contracted heels - because she's never been able to use her heels properly they haven't developed and spread as they should. You will find the thrush and deep crevises sort themselves once she's walking correctly. However, if the thrush is bad it will make her frogs sore. If her frogs are sore she won't land heel first and therefore the feet won't heal, so treating the thrush aggresively now will help too.
 
No horse should be sore for any length of time. Make sure she is on a correct diet to boost her immune system (may be low at the moment, hence infection) and to enable her to grow excellent hoof. Invest in some boots to protect her when you pull the shoes. Get some gauze swabs and cover them in sudocrem, then pack her sulcus with them every day to get rid of the thrush ( that worked on my arab's chronic thrush within a few days).

I would organise a UKNHCP trimmer to come and have a look. I know there is the old farrier v trimmer argument but as you want to barefoot rehab - it is appropriate to call an adviser first.
 
How long is a piece of string as the saying goes. She may not be sore at all but with thrush I imagine it's more likely.
Tbh, I second the advice of getting a good, recommended Trimmer too. Not because they're better than Farriers just that they are trained to help with transitioning horses and will be able to give advice on diet, conditioning programme, support she may need and treatment of thrush etc.
TB flat feet can be transformed by good barefoot care. Whatever you decide in the long term a break out of shoes with proper trim and care will only benefit her feet imo.
Here's the list of EP's. http://www.equinepodiatryassociation.org.uk/
 
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This is all great stuff, thanks very much everyone!!

I have ordered my 'Feet First' book and should get it this week.

'LucyPriory' - I can't get a picture of the corns as I only know when they are there when the farrier takes her shoes off - in fact that's the only way I know she's got them because they can't be seen otherwise and she doesn't show any other signs at all...(hope that makes sense??).

She's on a laminitic diet already as I don't believe in 'over-doing' feeding if they don't show they need it and she's on a pretty bare paddock. Her feet seem really good - well to look at anyway!! They have good walls with no crumbling or rings, brittleness etc and they seem to have the 'required' angles - provided I'm looking in the right places! But, I definitely feel that she's not using her frog properly and a rigid shoe is not helping so I'll get her assessed by a trimmer, get some boots and see how it goes!

Thanks again everyone.:D
 
I hope you'll find the book helpful. It can take months to rehabilitate feet, but it can usually be done. Please let us know how you get on. I just use my farrier to trim my boy's feet every 8 weeks - he had really bad thrush when i got him, and had dreadful feet, but now they're fabulous. sm xx
 
^^ agree - farriers have spent years training to qualify, and a good one is just as happy to look after bare feet (and very well in Shy's case) as a shod horse. And it costs me £20. My farrier is worth his weight in gold. ;)
 
Hi again,

Yes, have spoken to farrier and will probably stick with him as he has been very good and tried all options, but will get some details from a trimmer as well just to see what's what. I'd like to have all the info available and make an informed decision then.

Next farrier visit is in three weeks and I'll keep you posted:)

Thanks again!
 
Farriers train for 4 years two months and should be happy to discuss barefoot options but imo if the barefoot option involves a period of pain its not on. Shoes are there for a reason. I have two horses, one fully shod, one shod only in front because he only works in an arena but he would never ever be able to go without front shoes. My ponies are mostly barefoot again depends on the pony. And yes I am married to a farrier!
 
My farrier thinks it takes about six weeks for them to totally adjust but if after a few days there isnt much imporvement then they probably wont manage without, and he always says not to worry about theri feet chipping and looking horrible for a little whiel casue its just the poor hoof coming off
 
It will take as long for your horse to be comfortable walking across stony surfaces as it takes her to grow a sole that is thick and hard enough to protect the sensitive sole corium (like the laminae, where the sole grows from) and the bones inside the foot, and to grow strong enough heels to prevent her frog from taking too much pressure, and a packed frog to cope with the pressure it does get.

It can be no time at all, even in a TB straight out of racing (I took the aluminium race plates off one of mine and he didn't have a sore day) or it could be months if your horse has compromised feet (one I have which has insulin/dietary issues has recently come sound on stones at five-six months).

In the meantime you'll need to keep your horse only on surfaces that she is comfortable on, or use boots for more challenging work. Keep photos - you will be stunned at the changes which you see even in a horse which looks as though it has good feet in shoes.

Be prepared also for her to be initially comfortable and then get worse after one to three weeks. This is very common and is attributed to nerve damage/numbing caused by shoes, and when those nerves repair and start to feel things again the horse looks as if they are getting worse when they are in fact getting better. You most certainly cannot tell how well your horse will manage if they are sore after a couple of days. A very high proportion of horses who are great barefooters will be sore on tough surfaces at first.

Neither can you judge by what your farrier tells you, unfortunately. He may have trained for over 4 years but he has trained to work metal and to put shoes on performance horses. He has not trained to keep a performance horse hunting and jumping without shoes on because until the last few years there was almost no-one who ever did that. I evented a horse which a farrier with 30 years experience and another newly out of training and bang up to date told me would never work without shoes. They said this because he was one of those horses who "just can't do it". You know - the ones who have to be shod one front foot at a time because they simply can't stand with both front shoes off at once. They were wrong. He took 8-9 months to be back to jumping fences 4 ft high at speed.

Horses that "can't do it" are almost always getting the wrong diet, though that is not to say that it is necessarily easy to identify what the "right" diet is, or to provide it if you do know what it is. The one I mention above with dietary issues, for example, cannot eat grass at all, it weakens his feet. Not everyone has the time or money to keep a horse happy totally without grass. (If it wasn't for the fact that he is made ill in other ways too, most people would consider it a bit mean to keep him off grass completely.) Many barefooters will not be sound on stones in spring/summer/autumn unless they are restricted in their access to grass, in particular daytime grass when the sugars are highest afternoon and evening.

But if you get all that right, the rewards in hoof health and other ways are really satisfying. Good luck!
 
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