Making the move to Long post! Barefoot/Shoeless...advice and help please?!

[orangepony]

Hi, apologies for the long rambling nature and another 'barefoot' type post but any help or advice is really appreciated!

Quick bit of background:
Orangepony has been fully shod since with us, but was unshod when bought due to neglect. Very quickly popped shoes on and has been shod all round for last 6 years. Recent lameness has led us to the 'barefoot' scenario & we are totally novice at the idea of transitioning a horse into 'proper' work again after removal of shoes!
Intermittent RF lameness came out of nowhere and original thoughts were a too light/upright shoeing by non-usual farrier. No abscess/corns found. re-shod by regular farrier, seemed much better. week later, intermittent lame but worse. Vet out, nerve blocked whole foot of RF- sound. X-Rayed 2 days later; coffin joint block= much better but slightly 'off'...palmer block (navicular area) = totally sound. NOTHING on the 11 x-rays at all. " he has excellent bones and joints for age and workload!". Diagnosis was some inflammation of DDFT/navicular area but not confirmed without MRI.
Vet advised taking shoes off, bute for 10 days to reduce inflammation.Then see how he is; if he is sound after 2 weeks light work can re-commence.

Orangepony is delighted to be shoeless, despite feet looking horrid and cracked round the edges! He is now off the bute, sounder than ever and has a totally different movement, and has done a couple of v short walk hacks. He is unbothered by stones which I thought would be a terrible issue, and his soles are different layers, and the wall is sharding off to the nail holes, so have been applying effol in an attempt to moisturise them.
Basically I am looking for some help and advice from people who have made the move to shoeless and can give me some pointers? I am feeding biotin, safe & sound chop and a handful of pony mix to catch him; is there anything I should be feeding/doing to ensure the best 'barefoot pony'?

Any advice is enormously appreciated, and thank you for getting this far down this ridiculously long post!

OP x

 

[Fransurrey]

First of all, don't worry about the wall breaking off around the nail holes - it's purely cosmetic! It might be an idea to ask your farrier to teach you some rasping basics. As the nail holes grow out they will break off more and more and keeping the feet tidy makes a HUGE difference to your chances of success. I trim Henry at least twice in between 8 week visits (just to tidy up chips, not a full trim!).

As regards to feed, there's split opinion on this one in the professional arena. If you're already feeding a balanced diet, then IMO there's no reason to change that - just be aware that starch will have an effect, as will any hormonal imbalances. I've known plenty of barefoot horses to be fed absolutely zilch and be fine. Henry used to get NOTHING in the summer. Not even a handful of chaff. He gets some things now, but he's getting on a bit and has shown signs of insulin resistance, hence magnesium and Pink Powder (he's on very sparce grazing, now, too, so needs hay). When he was fed nothing, he was on much more diverse grazing, but also very fat - which he can't get away with, now.

One option if you find he struggles out on hacks is boots, but my experience has taught me that when a horse is fine one week, then footy the next, it's not a simple case of 'he can't cope', it's dietary/metabolic. So, if I were you, I'd read up on that! Learn to take a pulse, 'read' his lower legs (puffiness, swelling on the coronet band, sunken rings in the horn... that sort of thing).

 

[Kallibear]

If he's comfortable then there really is nothing you need to change! His diet obviously suits him and if he's already comfy on stones that's a major bonus.

Get someone to show you how to tidy up his feet (they'll do it naturally as they shorten and strengthen anyways) but don't let a farrier get knife happy on his frogs and soles: he needs them!

From now on it's lots of work to encourage his feet to grow and strengthen. Initially you need to take care wear doesn't exceed growth and strengthing (it usually takes a couple of weeks for the feet to catch up) and make him sore. Boots can be useful at this stage.

Lots and lots of walking on smooth tarmac is the best possible surface for developing his feet (landing confidently heel first on a hard surface is correct movement=correct development=comfortable feet=walking confidently etc. It's a cycle) so get him on the roads as much as poss.

 

[Upskyc]

If your horse is already comfy and not foot sore, you are pretty much there. Buy a hoof rasp and ask your farrier to show you how to tidy up, but don't be tempted to leave the farrier visits longer than you would if shod, its a false economy. If your horse has flat soles where the mud plates made fall out easily you will need to leave a little more hoof in winter for grip on wet terrain.

My 29 year old Hannoverian has been barefoot for about 8 years, since his years of lameness from sidebone developement, he is now comfortable and happy to hack and even does 7 mile pleasure rides on any terrain, and has better feet than hes ever had, he is fed the usual ponynuts and readygrass, no additives. haylage in winter.

My younger horse was shod yesterday for the 1st time in a year after time off after tendon surgery, oh boy what a difference having horrid shoes on, it will take him time to get used to heavy feet again, but at the moment its a neccessity to be shod, but I think we both prefered to be without.

Good luck with it, you'll soon notice the difference.

 

[laura_nash]

If he's already happy on stones then I would leave the diet alone (if it ain't broke..).

I would stop the effol, putting anything on the hoof surface is generally a bad idea with barefoot (unless it is to kill off an infection), if his feet are struggling with a sudden change from wet to dry then the best thing to moisturise them is water, but I suspect it's just the nail holes growing out and nothing to worry about.

As Fransurrey said, it's really easy to maintain the edge of the hoof yourself between trims and really helps. Not actually doing a trim, just keeping the edge smooth and rounded (a bit like filing your own nails on a bigger scale).

I stuck with my regular farrier, but if you find he's less sound after a trim then you might want to look for a barefoot specialist (whether trimmer or farrier) as some farriers who mostly shoe do tend to take off too much.

Good luck, and if you want to read up on things or have a chat with other "barefooters" have a look at the UKNHCP forum.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

My 18yo IDxTB had his shoes removed at the turn of the year and because of all the nail holes his hooves looked very ropey as he tore pieces off right off to the nail holes. But a few weeks and a good trim by the farrier and they now look like proper barefoot hooves - round not long ovals, much more natural (my 8yo mare has never had shoes as I was lucky enough to get her at 3). So dont worry about cosmetics, all barefoot transition hooves will look dodgy for a bit but it's not long. if theyre coping on stones all is well I reckon and I wouldnt bother with the gold plated ointments, you can get biotin to put in a lo cal feed if extra is needed and unless they have v dodgy hooves they dont need lotions and potions just time and good regular trimming.