My tb's feet one week on!!!! Can't believe it.

[Waltzing Matilda]

Once the foot has fully transitioned then the frog has a little 'flap of skin' at the back that looks like it attaches to the heels. When the foot is working properly the shape of the frog helps the foot to act as a brake by the frog 'digging' in to tge mud and the 'flap if skin' trapping it (giveing traction). In very deep mud I have been told that stud can't help much either?? Sorry I have never used then so don't know, but I can say my barefott horses ave.never slipped in ice/ snow if that help with winter drawing in!! X

 

[Waltzing Matilda]

Also there is a vet nr me that team chases barefoot and bitless! X

 

[Gracie]

My vet doesn't believe you can go barefoot with a TB!

 

[cptrayes]

One thing I found useful is monitoring wee. I know, hardly glamorous. If cloudy and smelly, detox needed and diet needs "cleaning". I found Roger Hatch at Trinity Consultants the most interesting and knowlegdeable man. Call him if you need a detox. Global herbs do a good one, but not as good as Roger's.

Morning Tallyho! I just need to point out so that people don't start to panic, that cloudy wee is normal in horses, because horses excrete excess calcium in their wee. It shouldn't smell nasty though, or be too dark.

 

[amandap]

My vet doesn't believe you can go barefoot with a TB!

Tell him/her to do an internet search, there are thousands like this one. http://www.performancebarefoot.co.uk/barefootthoroughbredpaddyspage.html

 

[cptrayes]

Santa Paws i'd love your advice- ive been barefoot with my 4yr old TB for a year now and the improvement in her feet, as a result of intelligent feeding (speedibeet and micronised linseed, soaked hay, appropriate supplements to support gut function -charcoal, pink powder + Calmag etc and daily exercise has been brilliant. However a couple of things concern me, studs for eventing have been described to me as having a similar effect to wearing football boots whilst running across a muddy field. Although her feet should be able to feel the terrain best without shoes, im not convinced she'll have the grip and power she could have with studs in. Do you think wearing plastic shoes (eponas) could be an option?

Secondly id love to go out hunting, but my cavallo's really don't stay on when faced with ploughed and very muddy fields. Even with all the improvement in her feet, she remains footy on stony ground without them. In an ideal world i'd build up work over stony terrain slowly, but the dark nights and long working days mean the only regular exercise options I have are the sandschool and horsewalker. Again im wondering if plastic shoes glued on to the hoof could work, or if there is anything better than the cavallos!

All I can tell you is that I have BE evented 5 different barefoot horses and I have never missed my studs, except on a hard dry dressage arena.

I hunt another horse and would never even consider hunting in boots, though I know someone who does. I think it's a recipe for nasty rubbing at worst and losing a very expensive boot in the mud at best. Remember that you are out for hours and can't just stop and be left behind. It's nothing like a hack with a bit of mud.

If your girl is still footie on stony ground then she possibly still has something wrong with her diet. I think you need an analysis of your grazing and hay. If mineral imbalance isn't the answer then the lack of conditioning on more difficult surfaces might be. Can you find a patch of stones in a floodlit area somewhere and walk her round on that for ten minutes a day? That's what the loaner of my rehab horse did in a similar situation to you, and he got rock crunching in a couple of months.

 

[tallyho!]

Morning Tallyho! I just need to point out so that people don't start to panic, that cloudy wee is normal in horses, because horses excrete excess calcium in their wee. It shouldn't smell nasty though, or be too dark.

Good avo cpt ! Well yes, quite right, don't panic. Whilst I agree that horses wee ranges from cloudy to yellow to clear, my theory is continuously opaque yellow wee is a sign that something is not quite right and water:waste ratio is a bit off.

To put a bit of context into it, I thought M's wee was normal at the opaque yellow range, his feet swelled when stabled and I thought this was normal!!!! Yikes. Ignorance is bliss. Anyway, after some proper advice from someone I trust, we did an LFT and sure enough liver was struggling. I now detox once in a while to help and wee is no longer cloudy & yellow, it is at the end, but not continuously. It's the same as all the other horses now... clear.

Like I say it is a learning curve and I have learned to see the signs - in this case anyway.

Worth a mention though...??

 

[Gracie]

Thank you Santa Paws! Good idea yes we have a gravelled car park, we'll do some circuits each night in the dark! the grazing at my current yard is cow grass and we have clay soil = rich grass, so as much as i love the yard, i might look for an alternative with a different kind of grazing as she is already on limited turnout. Either that or a grass muzzle could help. Thank you again and good point about not being able to stop to pick things up while out hunting!

 

[tallyho!]

Just for comparison... this is M who is metabolically challenged bless him.

He went bf in Aug 2010 (one thing after another, I hit rock bottom with him and decided to give bf a try) after vet said he had navi the prev year - intermittently lame despite expensive remedial work.

Aug 2010, Oct 2010, Jan 2011, Dec 2011

If this chap's hoof can do it, yours can. He's not only on cow grass, he lives with them 24/7. His diet is low carbs, low starch, high in copper, calcium, selenium, magnesium & vit e & Omega oils. Is only fed after working and has a free choice copper block and mag block.

Not perfect as you can see - but what is important is that this hoof works for him despite that flare at the toe which is the effect of boxfoot STILL growing down after all this time!

Started hacking Jan 2011 after a period of 24/7 turnout from Aug 2010.
Started dress in May 2011.
Started Jumping 2'6 in June
Came 3rd in 3'0 local xc in Oct 2011

 

[Angua2]

Well as most off you know, I took the plunge with my tb and took his shoes off because off his awful feet. After much advice on here about feeding, tips etc I really wish I had started his years ago with my horses.
My lad in question is now striding out better than he ever did in shoes and his feet after only a week are a far better shape, honestly I really can't believe it.
Oh and cavello boots are great
I'm really happy and also have a different farrier coming to trim him next time who seems to understand bare foot.
And to think a few months ago I was so anti " no shoes"

that first week is a revelation isn't it!!..... stick with it and you will see loads more positive changes.

Went barefoot with my TB earlier this year and the feeling I got today hacking down the road hearing the "clip clop " of her feet was awesome..... in fact I had to ring the OH and make him hear it too

we had our up's and downs, but she has gone from a stumbling and unbalanced horse, to one that just oozes round the area, is not worried about mud anymore (she would avoid it any which way), doesn't trip or stumble and is a lot more confident coming down hills.

 

[Miss L Toe]

My vet doesn't believe you can go barefoot with a TB!

Correct, he is trained systematically to think inside the box, it will take years to overcome his "learned" ways, if ever.
My vet [ not by choice] is a complete fool in that she won't even listen to the horse owner, she told me all about what to do with a one day old foal [I used to work in a public stud with three stallions and hundreds of mares], went on and on about checking the afterbirth there and then, even if it had to be dug out of the muck heap, at this point I explained the foal was three days old, seemed someone [another vet] told her it was new born! Information is good, but eyesight and insight is better.

 

[Nocturnal]

My vet doesn't believe you can go barefoot with a TB!

Mine does