I need some help with regard to barefoot!

[Troyseph]

My horse is shod on all 4s, I did try barefoot but didn't keep it up due to a very lengthy reason involving going away for schooling which I won't get into now.

His shoes last on average about 4/5 weeks, this being because where we live it is literally half hour of roadwork before u get to any tracks(and even then the tracks are stil clay stony Eden tracks) so there really is no close bridle ways.

He's on about 25 acres of good grazing, in a herd of 8 horses. He's pretty good condition and his weight is pretty perfect, he's not a greedy horse and as long as he's ridden minimum 3 times a week he doesn't get overweight.

Now I want to go back to barefoot because deep down I believe it's better but I'm coming up against obstacles such as all the roadwork constantly, the lush grazing which the land owners don't allow you to fence off into smaller paddocks.

What would you do in my situation.? Am at a loss.

 

[Shysmum]

I would do a search on here as there are loads of posts giving advice.

Bottom line is - muzzle or strip graze, barefoot diet essential, and get advice of a good farrier

 

[cptrayes]

There are plenty of horses which are absolutely fine on unlimited grazing, it depends on the horse. Your first thing would be to try it. To start off with, with that amount of roadwork immediately, I would recommend boots, and wean him off them gradually. Do a ride in them and take them off ten minutes before getting home and stick them in a rucksack on your bag, they don't weigh that much.

Starting off in boots should also mean that you won't have to disrupt your normal riding, unless he is thin-skinned and rubs.

Feed wise, I would have him on yeast (brewers 50g or yea-sacc 15g) and magnesium oxide (25g) and I would take a close look around local farms for cows that look as if they should be black but are turning red/brown. That's a sign that they may be copper deficient, which is coming out as one of the commenest problems with footie barefoot horses. Supplementing copper is easy, I have to do it.

If he is a horse who can't cope without boots with full access to grass, you might be able to try stabling him during the day. Failing that, boots in summer is still better than shoes all year round.

Good luck. Ask if you need more help. Plenty on here and also on phoenixhorse.myfastforum.org

 

[amandaco2]

Road work is good for unshod hooves.
Can't add anything else really except to make the diet change a month before taking shoes off and keeping the hoof very clean and well treated for thrush.

 

[mynutmeg]

the road work shouldn't pose a problem once he's transitioned to not wearing shoes. My mare has only had one or two sets fo shoes on and we do most of our hacking on roads. She's been out of work recently due to being at stud and then being very ill and the biggest problem I had was she needed trimmed every 3-4 weeks as otherwise the hoof walls were growing so fast she was breaking them constantly. Normally she's on a 8 week trim schedule because they wear on the road. Her feet are used to working or hard surfaces without shoes and so she grows a lot of foot now, over time your horse will also adapt and grow enough foot to cope. The bigger problem will be being foot sore over stoney ground but again the foot will get used to it and compensate.
The suggestion of using hoof boots to transition is a good one and will allow you to protect the foot and gradually increase the work load without anything on the hooves.
Grass wise I've never had a problem as long as their weight is ok but then my mare is a fatty so never on lush grazing anyway.
Good luck

 

[Miss L Toe]

My barefoot diet [15.hh] which he gets all year round
500gm Fast Fibre [basic mins and vit]
50gms micronised linseed
Handfull of Dengie non molassed chaff
salt
magnesium [I feed magnesium calmer from Feedmark at half dose]
half dose of Equimins or Feed Mark Benefit Advance.
In winter I add non molassed sugar beet pulp and more linseed.
I rasp off any chipped edges and keep edges rounded between farrier visits.
The hinds are often easier to transition than the fronts, so try wthout boots then try fronts [Cavallos are cheapest]
Roadwork is ideal for self trimming feet, they grow in response to exercise. It is loose sharp gravel I struggle with.
I clean feet with hoof pick and a small brass brush which cleans out the frog and the collateral groove.

 

[mightymammoth]

I'm in a similar situation myself as my horse had terrible feet (long story)!

I'm feeding one small feed a day of fast fibre and pure feeds fibre balance with pro hoof supplement, micronosed linseed and extra magnesium. My horse is also in a large field of about 15 acres but in with about 10 others so the grass is not "lush".

Taking back shoes off first and very slowly increasing workload currently built up to 45 minutes on tarmac twice a week (I only ride twice a week usually anyway) also walking him in hand down the the smooth tarmac drive about 20 minutes twice a week.

I have some hoof boots with I am using now and again and will use when I increase his workload or go onto stony tracks.

I am taking things very slowly as have tried before and it didn't work.

The main tip I have picked up this time apart from diet, and slowly increasing work is to not let the farrier take away the sole or trim the frog of the unshod feet.

There are some really helpful people on here like cptrayes and oberon there's also a really good forum about unshod horses worth joining http://phoenixhorse.myfastforum.org/ also posting photos of your horse feet and asking for feedback is helpful.