I am inadvertently barefoot rehabbing?!

Buds_mum

Buds_mum

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:eek: I think I may be?!!

My boy is on box rest after he got kicked resulting in a joint flush under GA. Obviously for the GA his shoes were removed.

Now we are home he is 10 days in to 4 weeks of box rest, everyday we walk in hand 3 x a day for 5 mins, this will soon go up to 10 mins and then 15.
I am using the drive (gravely and stone) and the tarmac road.

I have already noticed he is less footy, and today stood on pile of stones to reach some good grass...

I also feel sad seeing his scars on his feet, nail holes, rasp lines...:o

He has been shod for around 18 months and is 5 years old (well on monday :p)

When he is worked we do mostly road work, upto 2 hour hacks and hoping to do (very) low level ODEs and dressage/sj....

Should I persevere with the nudey feet once he is back in work...

Mostly importantly am I brave enough?!

Token pic of the main man....
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And with his fancy bandaged leg...
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Absolutly keep the shoes off. If he is coping without having the shoes on as you increase his workload then you can put them back on but so long as he is comfortable without them why put them back on? It's much better for his feet to be bare.
 
You can always put them on at some point if you need to, but if you never need to your horse will be better off. And they probably won't get navicular either, as it wont be under the unnatural strain shoes cause.

I would go for it and see how it goes.
 
I saw that pic this morning and was reminded of your smart remark about my mare/boots and how you preferred just shoeing yours and at that second I thought it would be rather funny if you kept his shoes off now ;)
 
hmmm that was just a jest fw as I explained at the time... :p

I really never thought I could go down the boots, stockings ect ect route.

I also feel completely unprepared to spot how comfortable he is, how his balance looks....

But something is niggling in me thinking long term it is far better for him........
 
http://www.barehoofcare.com/index.html

This guy Andrew Bowe, is a qualified Master Farrier (old school, traditional, everyday type farrier) and he is blending "barefoot" techniques in with traditional stuff.

He runs a barefoot rehabilition centre and has successfully rehabilitated horses that have their pedal bones protruding from their soles. His website is well worth a read, and he is more than happy to answer questions you have about terrain and building tough hooves. He has some fantastic ideas you can use at home, that won't cost an arm and a leg as well as some success stories with horses he has helped (including a 3*-4* eventers)
 
Buds_mum said:
hmmm that was just a jest fw as I explained at the time... :p

I really never thought I could go down the boots, stockings ect ect route.

I also feel completely unprepared to spot how comfortable he is, how his balance looks....

But something is niggling in me thinking long term it is far better for him........
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It's not rocket science, you will be completely fine :)
 
Just carry on and see what happens. x There's loads of info on here and the internet in general, keep it simple (especially diet) and road work = good.

Btw, he's lovely.
 
There is also the compromise......my IDxTB never had back shoes on. He had fronts, because he inherited tb flat fronts, and was wearing them out, but we used to ride a lot, schooling, and hacking, and some of our tracks are pretty rough, and a lot of road work. he prob used to do 10 hours on average a week. in that time his back feet were healthier than his fronts. Tried going totally shoeless a couple years ago (He is now 18) but didnt work, but do recommend the hoof boots as a compromise for if you go that path and he starts wearing them down more than you want
 
elijahasgal said:
There is also the compromise......my IDxTB never had back shoes on. He had fronts, because he inherited tb flat fronts, and was wearing them out, but we used to ride a lot, schooling, and hacking, and some of our tracks are pretty rough, and a lot of road work. he prob used to do 10 hours on average a week. in that time his back feet were healthier than his fronts. Tried going totally shoeless a couple years ago (He is now 18) but didnt work, but do recommend the hoof boots as a compromise for if you go that path and he starts wearing them down more than you want
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There is no such thing as 'TB Flat fronts'... there is such thing as 'SICK flat fronts'. Flat footedness is not a conformation issue, it is an indication that the hoof isn't healthy and this is usually down to dietary issues...

OP, I would definitely stick barefoot out, be prepared to build his work up SLOWLY and have to think about how much work you do with him on hard surfaces - I have a prett structured excercise regime so my horse gets to work on soft surfaces in between hacks on hard surfaces and I gradually increase the time / frequency of work on hard surfaces. Look very closely at diet and question any changes made to his management if he does get sore before you jump to the easy conclusion of 'he just can't cope'. It might be, for example that when he goes out on grass, he goes a bit footy, so you might have to restrict his grass intake with a muzzle or keeping him in a bit more than you'd ideally like...
 
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