Just gone barefoot!!!

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Tayto

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I have been thinking about going barefoot for a while now and the other day mare was a total witch for the farrier so he suggested just taking the plunge and leaving all her shoes off.

She was barefoot for 6 years and was shod for the first time at age 7. She is now 8 so I am hoping her hooves will recover quite quickly.

She is currently fed spillers lite balancer and haylage - ad lib when turned out for upto 12 hours and 1 net in her stable overnight. I bought a supplement made by a local company with biotin in it that was recommended by my farrier so will start adding that to her feed too. He also recommended Kevin bacon hoof oil which I already had in the tack room.

The farrier was quite confident she would transition to barefoot quite well as she has good feet so fingers crossed it all goes well.

If anyone has any words of wisdom please let me know or if anyone can recommend any good books I could buy.
 
I don't have any words of wisdom, but I have also recently gone barefoot with my one, he had front shoes on and he really disliked having the nails put in and would try to pull away and leap forwards, so decided with my farrier to give barefoot a go. He has been barefoot previously so thought I would give it another try. We are four weeks in and so far so good, no soreness yt so I'm very hopeful, good luck with yours.
 
My new one has just gone bare too. None of mine wear shoes. But this new one will be only my 2nd one who will be in full work and barefoot. I don't put any creams or ointments on their feet though.
 
It's certainly confusing for newbies! I'm 6 months in now, and wondering when/if I should buy some boots for spring just in case.
 
I have been walking her around the yard for 10 mins and then taking her into the school for a walk about on a soft surface. She looks a. It footy on the yard but that's to be expected I suppose. She looks normal when in the school and managed to have a trot round.

How long should I give her before getting back on board?

I am getting a bit worried about her weight as she has been out of work for 4 weeks due to an injury and a lost shoe, so would like to get her back to work ASAP.
 
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I suppose every horse is different but we just carried on as normal, haven't don't much hacking since he went barefoot but more to do with the weather as he hasn't appeared sore on concrete or even on the gravel path to the field since he went barefoot.
 
If your horse is comfortable in the school, then it should be fine to ride there, but do take it slowly and judge how she is doing before moving onto more tricky surfaces.

ETA - don't forget that you can use boots to make your horse comfortable.
 
Think I will try riding her in the school tonight - will just take it easy and see how she feels. I have been looking into hoof boots and will purchase a pair so that we can try a hack at the weekend.

Only thing with the hoof boots - I am wondering how they will fit her as she has feather down to the floor...... I would need a boot that stops at the coronet band so that the feather can come over the top of them. Which part of the hoof/leg do the boots normally come up to?
 
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