Just an observation...

badgermyers said:
There are alot of help barefoot posts about barefoot horses not being sound, not coping with work barefoot ect

There are much much less about shod horses having the same problems.

Anyone else notice this?
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We can start a thread about all our barefoot horses who are happy, sound and coping fine with all sorts of work if you like? It's not a problem....
 
Can't say I had, in fact I can think of plenty of lame with shoes posts the last few weeks as well.

Mine are unshod, don't think they would be classed as barefoot as I don't really feed a special diet except to one who doesn't really eat it, so they just eat grass and hay mainly and are sound in full work ;)
 
i dont actually sit looking for posts it was just an observation. I know there are lame horses that are shod, but they arnt lame because of shoes?

But I do see posts from people with barefoot horses who are lame because they are footsore ect


Its just interesting thats all :) Not a dig at anyone. Just wanted to know if I was the only one who thought this
 
Both of mine are un-shod and they're ridden/do the same work as others on my yard that have shoes - no special diets either ... two happy horses :D
 
This is interesting. Maybe people just post when there is an issue then rather than good. I have one barefoot pony btw. No special diet either and hes sound and happy!

I just noticed alot that arnt and people still wanting them to continue barefoot despite problems.
 
Mine is without shoes and footsore at the moment, but then she was footsore with her shoes and had them taken off by the vet.

She's more comfortable in boots than she was in her shoes.
 
There are also a lot of posts about people having all sorts of problems with their horses, mud fever, sweet itch, ridden problems, handling problems... That's the nature of forums, people come to ask advice when they're a bit lost. Unfortunately for some HH'ers who hate barefoot threads, I think people are realising that there are some people here who are very knowledgeable about hoof health, thus the increase in posts asking for advice. Seems fair enough to me, it's just another aspect of having horses.
For what it's worth - I've got 3 sound barefoot nags!
 
Mine hasn't had shoes on since I bought him a couple of years ago. I am sure at some point in the future he will suffer from some form of lameness at some point (statistically speaking) but I am pretty sure it won't be because he is barefoot.

Isn't really much to write a thread about ATM though!
 
badgermyers said:
i dont actually sit looking for posts it was just an observation. I know there are lame horses that are shod, but they arnt lame because of shoes?
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This is a point that can be argued... If a horse is sore in shoes because of poor foot balance/nail bind/heel pain etc etc then that is more than likely due to the fact it's shod or how it's shod..

I have a navicular diagnosis horse who is now sound out of shoes, plus 2 others who are very sound and in work, having seen what happens to feet once shoes are removed and the changes I've seen I'm reluctant to ever shoe again.

I'm no 'hippy', my horses have a job and they need to do it, but I believe that being barefoot is best for their welfare. If you want to shoe then do it, it's none of my business but I do wish people would leave my decision to go barefoot alone.
 
Scarlett said:
This is a point that can be argued... If a horse is sore in shoes because of poor foot balance/nail bind/heel pain etc etc then that is more than likely due to the fact it's shod or how it's shod..

I have a navicular diagnosis horse who is now sound out of shoes, plus 2 others who are very sound and in work, having seen what happens to feet once shoes are removed and the changes I've seen I'm reluctant to ever shoe again.

I'm no 'hippy', my horses have a job and they need to do it, but I believe that being barefoot is best for their welfare. If you want to shoe then do it, it's none of my business but I do wish people would leave my decision to go barefoot alone.
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Oh yeah I know about nail bind ect. I am interested in both sides as I am studying currently I just see more ' my horse is barefoot and sore, sore on stones, ect ect' than my horse is shod and im struggling to work it because it has shoes threads.
 
It's because people generally post when they are having problems and need help not when everything is going right.

Also alot of people are taking shoes of as a response to foot problems when nothing else is helping so it's not the easy uncomplicated horses that trundle along happily whatever you do to them that are being discussed.

There also seem to be alot of how can I help my horses hoof quality for shod horse posts and the how can I stop my horse pulling shoes off.
 
badgermyers said:
Oh yeah I know about nail bind ect. I am interested in both sides as I am studying currently I just see more ' my horse is barefoot and sore, sore on stones, ect ect' than my horse is shod and im struggling to work it because it has shoes threads.
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A shod horse can still be footsore, the shoes just mean you don't notice it.
 
Well I can start a thread about how my BF horse is hunting and is fine and that's a bit boring for everyone and would just become a BF bun fight.
BF horses are just the same as other horses they will have issues and problems just like them they just dont have problems caused by shoes .
Managing horses in hard work BF is a learning curve and I do think you get a lot of people coming on here for advice.
I have one at the moment who has a slight bruise on one heel he's been BF I think five / six weeks now and got a stone caught in his heel on Friday .
Many horses are taken BF because of shoeing related lameness so you will get lots of threads around that.
 
badgermyers said:
This is interesting. Maybe people just post when there is an issue then rather than good. Of course they do.. if it is all going well you don't need to ask others for help do you? I have one barefoot pony btw. No special diet either and hes sound and happy!

I just noticed alot that arnt and people still wanting them to continue barefoot despite problems. sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture and take your animal's history into account
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and with regards to: my horse is shod and im struggling to work it because it has shoes threads.....

I think I may have written one some time ago!
 
Possibly because whatever you think of bf, its common sense hoof issues will be noticed sooner unshod.
Plus as already said, I don't think threads on horses with rock crunching unshod hooves, who've always been sound like that are that interesting.
 
Maybe a thread of horses who were lame in shoes and sound out of them would be of interest? For many horses who are lame in shoes the shoes may not be the specific cause of the lameness but they are not helping make the horse sound, if you know what I mean...?
 
Scarlett said:
Maybe a thread of horses who were lame in shoes and sound out of them would be of interest? For many horses who are lame in shoes the shoes may not be the specific cause of the lameness but they are not helping make the horse sound, if you know what I mean...?
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Yeah I know what you mean. Would be interested in something like that as I have no experience with it and cannot find any studies into this
 
There is a comprehensive barefoot study going on now I believe, but so far all evidence of it helping is anecdotal.

I'd like to know how many horses who are diagnosed with navicular/front foot problems are shod at the time of diagnosis, and how many are barefoot when diagnosed. There seems to be an epidemic of horses having foot issues - we need to look into preventing it from happening IMO, not just the best way to cure it.
 
My research background is behavioural science, and I find the internet a fascinating place :D

I do use it for research purposes, but there are a number of things that I ALWAYS bear in mind.

Firstly, people go to fora (such as, but not limited to H&H) for a number of needs. One of these needs is advice, because they're having a problem. One of those needs is reassurance, because they lack knowledge/skills/experience and are concerned they are dealing with a problem in the wrong way. So this tells me that there are large groups of people who are experiencing no problems at all, but who just don't use the internet :D

Second, people who are in a position of isolation tend to seek support and reassurance more frequently. In particular, the internet has allowed people who are in a minority group to find others in a similar position, where before they would not have had access to this group. People with shod horses are everywhere, and they have access to farriers, plus are usually surrounded by lots of other people with shod horses whose opinion and support they can canvass.

People with barefoot horses are still in a minority. It is still quite common to find only one person with a barefoot horse at a yard, and trimmers are much fewer in number than farriers. Hence, if you want advice, information or support, you need to look further to find it, and if you have a problem, you need to look harder to find a group who experience similar issues to yourself.

Finally, and not least, we all tend to see what we believe to be true, and miss what we don't (it's called confirmation bias). Which leads me to ask BM whether she has missed the constant stream of threads mentioning a vague problem with a horse, and then (usually some time later in the thread and on the request of a knowledgeable barefoot person) followed by pictures of real problem hooves. With shoes attached to them ;). Perhaps that's just my confirmation bias at play :D but at least I'm aware of what I'm doing...
 
I have one that was shod for 4 years, when I took his shoes off he didn't seem to notice at all, beyond a slightly lengthened stride. He has worked without shoes since, no special diet at all & has been fine. People use the forum looking for advice so you only hear problems, if you went on this half the horses in the country, napp badly, buck a lot, can't be caught, won't load etc etc. People aren't going to ask for advice because things are going too well !! People ask about barefoot because this is about the only place to get info, well done all those of you who supply it.:)
 
Brightbay - yep that's what forums are for! Its a great way to connect with people who may have experience to share and to seek support. Some on here are professionals with training others are owners with welfare of their horses at heart and years of practical experience.
FWIW I took the shoes off my TB mare 14wks ago, we're following a transition programme and baring one random (unrelated) lameness issue, she has been sound throughout (so far!) with very little change to our workload - just using boots and different surfaces to balance the wear on her feet as they toughen up. I have posted a couple of times to 'celebrate' my success so far but of course that's far less interesting than posts from peops having probs :D
 
badgermyers said:
i dont actually sit looking for posts it was just an observation. I know there are lame horses that are shod, but they arnt lame because of shoes?

But I do see posts from people with barefoot horses who are lame because they are footsore ect


Its just interesting thats all :) Not a dig at anyone. Just wanted to know if I was the only one who thought this
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my understanding is that shoes often hide a lameness but they dont treat the cause thereby allow long term damage to be done-often resulting in things like arthritis and concusion to the joints-that said i do think shoes have there place but i think barefoot options are not always explored
 
unicorndreams said:
Brightbay - yep that's what forums are for! Its a great way to connect with people who may have experience to share and to seek support. Some on here are professionals with training others are owners with welfare of their horses at heart and years of practical experience.
FWIW I took the shoes off my TB mare 14wks ago, we're following a transition programme and baring one random (unrelated) lameness issue, she has been sound throughout (so far!) with very little change to our workload - just using boots and different surfaces to balance the wear on her feet as they toughen up. I have posted a couple of times to 'celebrate' my success so far but of course that's far less interesting than posts from peops having probs :D
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I'll celebrate your success :D

It has also been my observation that people who go down the barefoot route tend to be intelligent, independent thinkers - and people who train as trimmers are often very intelligent indeed, it seems to attract people who love research, innovation and problem solving.
 
Brightbay said:
I'll celebrate your success :D

It has also been my observation that people who go down the barefoot route tend to be intelligent, independent thinkers - and people who train as trimmers are often very intelligent indeed, it seems to attract people who love research, innovation and problem solving.
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Interesting observation, and now I think about it, also quite true. But I suppose it could also be argued that you need to be an intelligent, independent thinker to buck any trend that attracts so many negative comments.
 
badgermyers said:
There are much much less about shod horses having the same issues
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Unfortunately you are incorrect in your assumption. I know of several horses that have been lamed because of poorly fitting shoes and poor farriery, my horse being one of them. All you need to do us look at all the navicular posts on here and according to vets 80/90% of lameness is in the foot. I'm convinced now from my own research that the majority of these issues come from being shod and not having a break from shoes - I didn't know anyone 20 years ago who had a horse with navicular when I was on bigger yards, now I'm on a yard of 9 horses, 3 have a navicular diagnosis and 2 other owners had navicular horses that were PTS...

I have decided, along with my vet and farrier (new one) that Buddy is going barefoot. I am lucky enough that he can go to Rockley to start his work and start to correct all the damage that as been done purely because of shoes. However I don't know anyone who has a barefoot horse so I am on a steep learning curve as I want to do the best for my horse and want as much information as I can get so books and the Internet are a valuable resource to me.

I must admit, since i made the decision, I have noticed far more BF posts but I think that's purely because I'm looking for them and it is becoming a valid treatment path for some lame horses so it is becoming more popular - much like the matchy matchy threads in CR ;)
 
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