How long would you expect to wait? - barefoot

ImmyS

ImmyS

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So my ex racer has been barefoot for nearly week now so obviously not expecting any significant chances by any means just yet, but I was wondering how long you would expect to wait to see a significant difference, providing horse is on correct diet, doing correct exercise etc..

Her feet are very flat with very under run heels. In the short time she has been barefoot I can see some small differences, like her frogs have widened a little and her heels look a litte less contracted. She's now sound in the field and since being so I've taken her out on short in hand hacks round the roads every day ranging from 15-30 minutes which she copes with no problem. Sometimes has an ouch moment on a sharp stone but does well on small stones, uneven drives etc..

The key change I'm really looking for is for the heels to come up and lengthen as her heels practically sit on the floor atm and the toe to shorten. I know i am looking at months here but I was just curious if anyone with experience of transitioning flat flared feet could give me some info and hopefully pictures of before and after.

Thank you
 
If you have a look at my blog there are all Buddy's pictures. he had pancake flat feet and I did do a comparison when he came back from Rockley..

This is week 1-12
Buddytrack_zpsa6e7d4ad.jpg


Then this was wk20 I think
WK1520LFsole_zps106021dd.png


I'm overdue a comparison for the blog but they are getting more and more concave as his new hoof grows down and, with that, more functional.
 
Leg_end said:
If you have a look at my blog there are all Buddy's pictures. he had pancake flat feet and I did do a comparison when he came back from Rockley..

This is week 1-12
Buddytrack_zpsa6e7d4ad.jpg


Then this was wk20 I think
WK1520LFsole_zps106021dd.png


I'm overdue a comparison for the blog but they are getting more and more concave as his new hoof grows down and, with that, more functional.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that. Really helpful, I would probably say my girls are even flatter, like flipper feet so looks to be a long road ahead for us but good to have a rough guide.
 
Careful that you are not doing too much riding too soon on newly bare feet. Have you boots,for the fronts at least?

If the horse wears boots it is comfortable and they can use their foot correctly without the danger of bruising. Once they are used to wearing boots and they are introduced slowly, like any new tack or equipment, then you can do lots of work in them, and that is the best thing for strengthening the feet.
 
Very interesting thanks for the photos! Definatly agree with boots, got some today for my newly barefoot lady and she's so much more comfortable on the stones. Will be interesting to watch your progress ImmyS :)
 
Orangehorse - I'm not riding her at all, just in hand work. She has been barefoot behind since october and is fully sound on those. She has front hoof boots which she wore the first couple of days for turnout until fully field sound. Will use them again when I progress to riding but atm she is comfortable walking barefoot on short road hacks
 
Have just taken my boys fronts off, hes been barefoot on his hinds for nearly a year and does great.
Now fronts are off, he can get a bit tip toe on stones etc, how long does that usually last for ?
Have got some Cavallo Simple boots for his fronts too, mind you he hates them, stamps his feet when there on, an tries to get his head down to chew them off little ****** ;)
 
Hi, my TB ex racer has been barefoot now for approx. 10 months and its been a long haul. The quality of the horn was poor and the hoof fell apart up to the nail holes within the first month, he spent time on and off lame last summer, his soles were very thin and would flex when pushed, he was always sound in the field (from day one) but was unable to walk out from his stable onto the yard to be tied up because he was in too much pain and we had to pop boots on Cavallo simple boots. Initially size 3 but, now size 2 - some horses come out of shoes and hardly blink but others are like WTF! and find it very hard to cope, its also a fine line between encouraging movement and walking out on hard surfaces and the horse become foot sore because they are not ready, although they will soon tell you if they are struggling. We have totally altered his diet and add bioton, magnesium and micro linseed. 10 months on, is much better, he is schooled barefoot in the schooling ring and jumps (sand surface) but I do boot up when out hacking. He is absolutely fine walking around the concrete coral on the yard and lands heel first. There has been massive improvement in his feet over the past 10 months. I have begun to hack out barefoot on the tarmac roads and this he is able to do but, struggles on gravel/stoney areas and will limp. His whiteline is still not as tight as I would like and he does get gravel stones wedged which I have to remove after hacking. I don't know if he will ever be able to hack totally barefoot but we have a sort of compromise, iron free in field and schooling ring but, booted to hack out.
 
My ex racer has also been a long haul, we have been bare for 14 months now!
he is fine in the field and yard and will happily go out bare on tarmac, but anything with stones and he has to be booted!
He has made progress slowly but his soles could be thicker and he does have some separation on the quarters on his fronts, but considering how bad his feet were when the shoes came off, we are not doing too badly!:)
 
Taffieboy1 said:
Does anyone use Keratex Hoof Hardner on the soles ?

Any good worth a try or not ?
Click to expand...

I personally don't put anything on the hooves to not mess around with any moisture levels or anything. Just strengthen from within by using a good supplement and linseed :)
 
I saw changes in the caudal hoof area and at the coronet where it was easy to see the new angle of growth after 5 weeks of going barefoot, since being at Rockley the difference is very clear. He's now been there for 7 weeks, so a total of 13 weeks barefoot.
 
Just make sure that you are giving adequate mins and vits etc - I have stopped making my chemistry set feeds and gone for ForagePlus myself (it's honestly just too much faff to do the individual mins and vits)
 
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