Is now the best or worst time to go barefoot?

grandmaweloveyou

grandmaweloveyou

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I have lost a shoe today (well, not me personally - my weekend hasnt been that exciting
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the boy has. The field is a mess - getting in and out of it, and segregating and strawing isnt helping. So tell me please, in your opinion, is now the time to go barefoot? He only has fronts on anyway. Will it be damaging to him with it being wet or no different? Thoughts please and thanks.
 
My TB just had all his shoes off as I've turned him away for a couple of months whilst I have my baby. My farrier seemed to think it was the best time as the ground is quite soft and would therefore be an easier transition for him......
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If someone knows how to create a poll on here please do! My wonderful farrier just text and is coming out first thing tomorrow, he is so so good and his shoes stay on longer than anyone i've ever had before, so I need to decide tonight!
 
Why not have a good chat with him? He's the one who knows you and your horse the best and should be well placed to give you an honest opinion as to how he thinks your horse would cope....
 
yes please to the poll mimi_and_lottie.
cazzah yes we did chat tonight and he made a suggestion to fit them tighter -he has spent a few months repairing some cough splutter work from the previous guy and has done an amazing job so i do trust his thoughts.
 
well mins went barefoot back in summer she only had fronts on at the time but as she's out of action for the forseeable future she's actually doing really well barefoot, but it depends on your horse too...my old lad couldnt be without shoes on...so so foot sore
 
It's a good time if you don't have the horse out 24/7 and you can get the feet dry for a period every day. Feet wet all day every day can have bad thrush problems and feet that are weak may abscess if they are wet all the time (so do shod horses).

It's a good time because you won't get confused about whether your horse is sore from not having shoes on, or sore from having too much grass. If he is sound all winter and then goes footie in the spring, it will be the grass and you may need to keep him in during the late morning and all the afternoon. (ignore anyone who tells you that it's because the ground has gone hard. Barefoot horses have no problem at all with hard ground if they are sound in winter and fed, worked plenty and kept right)

It's a good time because if your riding is a little restricted while he gets used to barefoot, the weather and the light are against you anyway. On the other hand, he needs work to build strong feet, so it's not good in that respect.

I hope that helped. If you want to learn more log on to uknhcp.myfastforum.com and buy the book Feet First - Performance Barefoot sold on Amazon.
 
Sorry, I think that its a bad time.

I tried it with my mare at this time of year and it did not work for her.

I thought that she would be fine as she normally has very hard feet which also grow very quickly. Unfortunately the wet ground made her feet softer so they wore more. Also being winter time there was not as much new growth to replace what was worn away.

I tried from November to the end of February but then gave up and had shoes put back on . There just wasn't enough regrowth to replace what she was wearing away.
 
A good time...

My tb has his shoes off every winter at this time, there is no way I could ever try to do this in spring or summer as he would be crippled.

I think its far kinder to swap when the ground is softer.
 
I second CPTrayes - now is a good time. Just remember barefoot has more to it than just taking the shoes off.

I've never had a horse that I could wear the feet off barefoot when the transition was properly made and the diet and environment were appropriate for the horse. Good luck with what ever you decide to do.
 
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Sorry, I think that its a bad time.

I tried it with my mare at this time of year and it did not work for her.

I thought that she would be fine as she normally has very hard feet which also grow very quickly. Unfortunately the wet ground made her feet softer so they wore more. Also being winter time there was not as much new growth to replace what was worn away.

I tried from November to the end of February but then gave up and had shoes put back on . There just wasn't enough regrowth to replace what she was wearing away.

[/ QUOTE ]


Mabelsmum was your horse lame, or were you just concerned about how short her feet got?

It may not ahve been the case for your mare, but I know a lot of people get very concerned about their horses losing all their hoof wall and have them shod to "save" their feet from wearing away. Barefoot horses actually walk on their heels, frog and sole, so if your horse was not actually lame, she was simply wearing her feet into a correct shape. Of course if she was lame, something else was wrong, but like the last poster, no amount of work will wear my barefoot hunter's feet beyond what he can regrow.
 
My horse went half barefoot this time last year then fully barefoot in February. I fully intended to have him shod again come the summer but he is still barefoot and hasnt been touched (has been checked by him though) by the farrier since Feb 09. How good is that. He hacks out, SJ HT, everything really. His feet are perfectly shaped and he moves better. Horse for courses though. I am just lucky to have a horse with superb feet. Farrier isnt impressed though, he hasnt had any money out of me for almost 12 months now!
 
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