Making the move to barefoot

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catherine22

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My horse has many issues in his front feet (I posted the xrays before) he currently is in graduated bar shoes in front and he has recently had heart bars with wedges put on behind, he has also been diagnosed with spavins (hence the wedges and heart bars)
With shoes now costing £200+ a set every 5 weeks with no guarentee how long term his soundness will be I am very tempted to take his shoes off and leave them to do what they want (obviously under farrier supervision) Farrier agrees he'll struggle to start with but then most likely be sound.
I have spoken to Nic at Rockely farm and would like to try and re hab him at home but I have a few questions for those of you that have done it

1. Do you take all 4 off at once or hinds then fronts?
2. When they first came off did you ride or turn them away, or does it depend on the horse?
3. Whens the best time to do it, I was thinking now as it's winter and I wont miss riding him too much with the dark and horrible weather but with the ground being soft is that better or worse than the summer when its hard?

and finally, as we're currently on insurance would it be better to wait the year until it runs out so major costs are covered and take them off then, or would it be best to do it now, at the risk if he doesnt cope and they need to go back on my insurance will have practically run out

Open to pretty much any suggestions atm!!

Sorry it's long but I do have white wine to offer
 
i will briefly tell you my story and experience with going barefoot and you can make your own mind up :-)
I have a 13 yr old tb who went lame all round and via bone scan was diagnosed with navicular in both fronts, bone spavins in both hocks and Kissing spines!
Lots of remedial shoeing later and no foot left he was still lame. he maybe came sound for a fortnight max! he pulled a shoe off every week! In the end i decided enough was enough and i had nothing to loose!
I spoke to my farrier and he was abit sceptical, the whole hes a tb bla bla! Well i had all fours taken off!
I will admit i felt hurrendous! the poor animal could barely walk up the yard! The only reason i did this at home was because i have pea gravel turnout pens and roads and tracks, basically everything nic has! He was very sore on the yard but fine on the gravel because it cusions the whole foot! his feet started changing within a fortnight and he was fine on concrete! he now hacks with just front boots and is happier than hes ever been! he has been completely sound (although trotting up abit lame but we know why!) he will never wear shoes again!
i didnt ride him when he had them off, more down to the fact he was lame anyway, he had the winter off to adjust and prety much the whole summer off and is now in VERY light work! i will post a couple of pictures for you.
 
before the lameness
Photo-0173.jpg

what the foot looked like during remediel work!
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about 16 weeks ago
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Dont be disheartened if you bet disagrees! i did it against my vets advice, and he actually said to me " i am anti barefoot but i agree with the farrier, do not shoe him again, thats the best i have seen his feet and him move" so was good all round in the end, but every now and again if i have a query he says how about such and such shoes ;-)
speak to nic about diet also. All mine have Low sugar low starch diets. Just high fibre and carefull with the grass aswell. I strip graze mine in the summer to control the grass intake. I love allen and page foods! i dont feed any mixes etc! nor did i feed any fancy supplements. Well apart from magnesium oxide for a short time!
 
Our grass is really rich so I would need to get it tested
He is currently fed hifi and baileys no 4, with his joint supplement and a glug of oil and has haylage in the winter (he lives out all year)
 
White wine gratefully accepted!!!

With a horse with a complicated history as you describe, undoubtedly removing the shoes WITH THE RIGHT HELP and ADVICE is the best thing for your horse right now.

These feet will need skilled care to rehabilitate them, and some theraputic aids in the early stages. In my experience, owners have to take the decision on chosing this path against most vets advice, however if your vet/farrier have already tried everything and you still have a lame horse, they're less likely to be as resistant as they were earlier on in the deterioration of his soundness.

Basically it sounds like the foot has collapsed in the rear and will need protecting and encouraging to regrow. Ask some serious questions of your farrier, get him to be absolutely honest with you on your current course of care, and whether he thinks he will come sound. Also ask him what he'd do it your horse was his. Farriers know a lot, but sometimes feel like they should keep the customer positive, come what may.

Ask lots of questions and don't stop until you hear the answer your searching for, trust your instincts.
 
I would take all 4 off at once. There could be a case in a sound horse to do them one pair at a time but in your case with a lot of problems I would go for the whole lot and try and get it over with once and for all.

You have no idea until you take them off what will happen. Some horses are rideable straightaway but I would think in your case you would do better to be prepared to turn him away for a while if necessary. It may also be a case that you would need some boots to be able to start exercising him. You can reckon on approx £50 a boot (give or take)

Winter may well be the best time but you will need to be prepared if we have frozen ground. He could be very footsore on that so you will need to have arrangements in place to keep him off it if necessary.

You will also have to consider what you are going to do if he is affected by diet, that is usually grass. Will you be able to restrict his grazing/muzzle him etc? That is why I would choose winter as you can usually get away with more grass wise in the winter. If he goes footy once the spring grass comes it is very easy to see where the problem lies.

As for insurance then obviously get whatever you can out of them but I can only see that you will get improvement once you get the shoes off. Therefore I cannot see the point in continuing to keep him shod just to keep the insurance happy. The sooner the shoes come off then the sooner you can start making progress.
Before the shoes come off and whilst you are researching and preparing I would deal with the thrush. That will make things easier and be one job less once the shoes are removed.
 
Have a look at old mac 2 hoof boots, i took all shoes off my gelding as he was getting through a set every 3 weeks and his front feet crumbled away.

i left him for 3 weeks in the field for his feet to settle and then brought him back into full work with the front boots only on.

depending on the hoof shape the boots work out a lot cheaper then shoeing. My first pair lasted 18 months for £120 from ebay with free gaiters. Give me a PM if you need more information etc
I hack in mine, Show jumping in them local dressage etc

Jos xx
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Yep his heels have collapsed, hence them being built up with the graduated shoes but my gut instinct is saying if we're having to do this much to 'change him' it is surely going against what his body is trying to do and altho hes sound at the moment, how long will with be for which no one seems to want to estimate atm
Boots at £50 a boot sounds very appealing (as long as they last longer than 5 weeks!!)
If he was to get footsore on the hard ground could he wear the boots in the field?
I'm pretty sure if I do it, he will have the winter off as if he loses one shoe he acts like his foot has fallen off so with none on..well who knows!!
I wonder if I speak nicely to the YO I could put some pea gravel in his field for him
 
with the gaiter with the boot I posted above, you can leave it on in the field, unlike boa etc... the old mac is bucked up and velcro. the soul is as thick as a wellington boot tread. It offers full hoof protection and I believe you can get inserts as well to support a crumbled foot underneath.
i'll see if I can get you a better pic of it
 
I'm not much cop on the advice of taking the shoes off as my girl was / is sound and with good feet when I took shoes off

Re the boots - look at the easycare website - there is a list of all the boots they make and their shapes. It is really important if you want to go for boots to get the right ones for your horses feet. Also the easyboot range come singularly, so if like me with my old horse they have slightly different size feet you can buy the best boot for each foot.

I have the easyboot epics for fronts of my girl and the bares on the back. I used them regularly for a lot of longish rides (8-10 miles 4/5 times a week) and they lasted about 18 months. I expect the ones I have now will do much more as we are doing more work with no boots - just short rides at the mo and building up to longer ones without boots. Tbh I don't think my mare will go entirely barefoot with my set up, but I'm quite happy to do this for the time being, and the boots work out quite well for us and have lasted well

Good luck !
 
Havent had a problem with the wires at all. I use a hoof pick to lift up the lever arm thing and loosen the wires when taking them off. On my last boots I didn't change the wire in the whole 18 months I had them. And was using them pretty much every day.

I also prefer the easyboots to the old macs (which I had before the easyboots) as they sit below the hairline and so there isn't anything to rub which was a real problem I had on the TB I was using them on.

Also the easyboots have the gaiters built in and actually help to keep the boot in place. I've been through some pretty sticky mud in them and they've never moved at all. Tbh I wouldn't have dared try that with the old macs

I really wanted some of the gloves, which have no fittings on the fronts at all but their shape is slightly different and didn't suit my mare. I think spookypony did have some if these - but I haven't been on here much recently so not sure if she still does.

I am an easyboot convert for sure and when these boots eventually do get worn out (not for a while I'm quite sure lol) I wouldn't hesitate to get the same again :)
 
A word of caution that you need to be VERY careful about turning out in boots. Even in gaiters, some horses are rubbed by boots. Left in a field for even half an hour too long you could end up with some very serious sores if your horse is one of them.
 
my horse has now been lame on and off for the past 15 months. partly due to suspensory damage behind and partly due to some diagnosed (as in no mri) pain in the front feet that blocks mostly to the heel regions. He's had 6 months of remedial farriery and whilst his heels have improved dramatically, he's still not right. about 2 months ago, i decided to bite the bullet and go barefoot and he is off to rockley on Wednesday for his rehab! which I'm so excited about and Nic seems absolutely great when you talk to her.

my only piece of advise is re insurance. mine (shearwater) have agreed to pay out to cover the rehab, but as it falls unde my 'alternative therapy' cover, for which i only get £750, most of that has already been spent on remedial farriery work, so in effect i've only got £300 to cover the cost of the rehab. which obviously is better than nothing, and im happy enough in my mind that if anyone can fix him, Nic can, so i'm willing to pay the rest out of my poor bank account. But i suspect in a few months time i will be wishing i went for it earlier and i distinctly think that if this works, none of my horses will ever have shoes again! i know you want to rehab at home, but may be worth seeing if insurers will cover the cost as it may help influence the do i go for it now or not. definitely worth checking the small print on your cover e alternative therapies though ;)

Really hope it works out for your horse!
 
I will check my small print as I'm sure it's similar to yours, then decide from there whether to send him or keep him home
cptrayes - thank you I have no experience of hoof boots so wasn't sure if it was even possible for him to wear them in the field
I have had a bit of a look on the websites but his feet dont seem the right shape for any of them, I know they're just over 6' width but don't have the length meaurement yet but none of them seem to go that wide (that I've found)
Will do some ebaying today and see what I can find and speak to my vet and farrier again to get their opinions
 
I took all my horses shoes off at once in Aug 2010. He had also been having remedial farrierry to no avail. So called a barefoot specialist with years of experience in bf and nutrition and is a lecturer on the subject.

I turned away that autumn/winter after a thorough detox and change in diet. Had a setback - lami in Nov. Recovery was much quicker without shoes and much less deformity. I'd advise against boots for turnout - more stimulation the better. I have a pair of Cavallos which are probably the easiest on the market - but check fit.

Started walking out in January, then rode in boots on stony tracks in Feb but bare on tarmac. Soles were very thin still so had to condition them bit by bit.

By March, I think we were hacking without boots but I could by this time tell if he needed them or not, plus he was muzzled as he is a laminitic.

In April we started dressage and a bit of jumping in the woods for fun and by this time in work almost everyday dressage or jumping or long hacks barefoot. He was very fit!

By October, we were doing 3ft xc & ht barefoot. Not big as I am a wuss!!!

Right now, he is out 24/7 with a herd of boys - sometimes muzzled depending, but a far cry from strict stabled routine he had and he is much happier with pretty, functional, strong feet :)

photo0114-1-1.jpg


7 months apart and they are much better now even but no new photos... must remember to take some!!
 
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I think the thing with barefoot rehab is that every horse is individual and the only right way to do it is the way that's right for you and your horse.

I'd say now is a pretty good time to remove shoes as the ground is nice and soft and the mud will provide some support. leave it too late and you run the risk of having to deal with frozen and then dried out ground.

I wouldn't expect to ride your horse immediately after removing shoes but with the correct diet and management you should be able to start some sort of exercise regime fairly soon.

My BF trimmer reccomends walking out in hand for gradually extended amounts of time over various surfaces to condition the feet. This has to be done with purpose though - no dawdling along.

Have you considered consulting a barefoot trimmer? - maybe to work alongside your farrier? They may be able to share a wealth of knowledge in order to give your boy the best chance.

As for boots for big feet - take a look at boa boots ;)
 
Hi, unless your horse is a heavy draught breed, 6inch wide feet is huge, and tells me he has a lot of flare in his feet as well as the other issues. This should be addressed before you go investing in hoof boots or you'll be sporting a wardrobe of boots in no time!!

I use the Old Mac G2 boot regularly and find it great. But I wouldn't use any boot as a turnout boot, like other posters advise, its better to let them get used to being barefoot at grass in their own time, and use boots for riding as and when you need them.

Good luck.
 
He is ISH so feet shouldnt be huge.
This is the pic I had to take before he had his graduated shoes on but how much extra will the shoe add? and this isn't even the widest bit (as you can see)
2011-10-01145147.jpg

I will wait until they are off to measure properly for boots
Thank you
 
You cannot measure for boots untill the shoes are off and he has had a fresh trim. i would almost wait untill the second trim and measure again before taking the plunge and buying the boots. You will find his feet will change shape.
 
Found this thread really interesting. I am currently contemplating taking my mares shoes off. Shes an ISH and seems to have pretty good feet. She's fed a low sugar diet, just hay and hifi cubes. We have a little barefoot cob, but he came to us that way so we didn't have to make any decisions about it. He seems to be doing really well and doesn't have hoof boots at all.
Like some of the other posts I don't know if to do it now, or wait until spring/summer when we have better turnout.
 
fishy said:
Found this thread really interesting. I am currently contemplating taking my mares shoes off. Shes an ISH and seems to have pretty good feet. She's fed a low sugar diet, just hay and hifi cubes. We have a little barefoot cob, but he came to us that way so we didn't have to make any decisions about it. He seems to be doing really well and doesn't have hoof boots at all.
Like some of the other posts I don't know if to do it now, or wait until spring/summer when we have better turnout.
Click to expand...

It's usually easier to do it in winter, when the grass is less sugary (although, mindful of frosts and grass). Spring and summer is where the grass can cause horses to be uncomfortable if they're sensitive and it just makes the whole process more fraught for both horse and owner.
 
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