Newbie in need of barefoot advice

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BWa

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Hello folks,
I have been lurking here, using your wisdom and advice, for several years now so now I feel it is time to register and say thank you and to carry on learning from you. :D
So I have a 21 year old, big ID type who came to me for an easier life after 15 years at an equine college where the work load had got to much for him to continue soundly. He is now my happy hacker around our farm and he is gently hacked out about 5 times a week in Summer for anywhere between 30mins to an hour and a half if we have company, in Winter I just ride at weekends. However I am noticing that he isn't striding out as well, he can trip if he is just mooching along and he is reluctant when walking down hills and banks. After much research (I am a bit of geek!) I am starting to think that years of being shod have not helped him and that barefoot would be a good option to keep him ticking over, so he can maintain a healthy waistline!

So I have read to books and all the threads I can find on here and I am starting to make changes to his diet:
He has been on Brewers Yeast since the Spring, I have introduced Magnesium this week and I picked up my first bag of Fast Fibre tonight which will be the base and replace his Hi Fi Lite. I have also got some Micronised Linseed to introduce when his oil is finished so hopefully I have covered the diet, however I am wondering in there are enough Minerals in the FF to support hoof growth and change or should I add a supplement like Pro Hoof?

I would also like to know about his shoes first come off. I am planning to get his back shoes off when the farrier is next due and his fronts later on as there is a little nail hole damage in the hoof wall that I would like to be more grown out before the fronts come off. So should the shoes just come off and no trimming done? I know the frog and sole should be left alone but do I just ask the farrier to tidy up the edges? (I haven't had chance to speak to my farrier about this yet, as he often comes when I'm at work and just gets on with it. I am more than happy to get a barefoot trimmer out if necessary but I'm hoping my farrier will get onboard coz he is ace!)

And finally can an big old boy like mine manage this change, or am I expecting too much too?
Any previous experiences or advice would be gratefully recieved.
Thanks for reading my essay!
 
If he is showing signs of dicomfort (i.e not sriding out/tripping) your first call needs to be to your vet to establish where he is in discomfort-it could be totally unrelated to the feet, anything from spavin to navicular.
 
Since taking the shoes off is overwhelmingly the most successful way to stop a tripping horse tripping*, I am unsure why anyone would not take off the shoes before paying to call a vet to a sound high mileage 21 year old horse who trips when "he is just mooching along" and finds hills more difficult than a sprightly youngster.

MWa in answer to your question about age, my friend took the shoes off her 25 year old high mileage mare and she never even noticed that they were gone. What's more, she used to grunt with every step going downhill and she stopped immediately, and her sunken back rose noticeably within a couple of weeks.

Your diet changes are spot on, I hope it all goes easily for you.


*barefoot forums are littered with "I took the shoes off and he immediately stopped tripping" anecdotes, far too many to be a coincidence.
 
Of course if your vet then needs called out as the tripping/problems continue then the recent change to unshod is going to cloud the diagnostic procedure. Give him a call before making major lifestyle changes that may or may not be addressing the core problem...
 
Your diet changes sound good, Pro Hoof or Pro Balance + would be a good choice for a mineral supplement.

Each horse is different in how they manage the transition; it will depend on how healthy your horse's feet currently are, and how sensitive to sugars he is.

Good luck :)
 
I consider Fast Fibre plus linseed meal to be a basic [daily] feed, I add more specialist minerals to the diet, including magnesium, about half the recommended amount, he has great feet.
Feed is a bit bland, so he gets a few oats and some non molassed chaff [Dengie] I add non molassed sb in winter, just another source of fibre.
 
SusieT said:
Of course if your vet then needs called out as the tripping/problems continue then the recent change to unshod is going to cloud the diagnostic procedure. Give him a call before making major lifestyle changes that may or may not be addressing the core problem...
Click to expand...

If the tripping continues and the horse is not comfortable enough to do a lameness workup without shoes on, then you put the shoes back on and let the vet do a lameness workup Susie :)
 
BWa - I've just taken shoes off our 'old boy' (ok, he's 14 but if he were a car he'd have 300,000 miles on him and probably be considered an old banger!). He would trip quite a bit in front - he's reasonably well schooled and fairly forward going so not just a product of him being lazy - and he's loads better...! I noticed a big difference in my other boy too, who would stumble a lot. I put it down to them landing on their toes in shoes and their heels without.

I've now got 3 out of shoes, all of them had shoes pulled and a very light trim, then we left them alone to see how the foot coped and to encourage them to self trim. It's worked a treat, although the first 2-3 weeks were spent doing work in hand up and down as many different surfaces as possible.

Good luck with your farrier - I found my farrier, and another locally that we tried, supportive but still too brutal with their trims and it made the horses lame :( I ended up with a fantastic trimmer who has done a brilliant job so far and all 3 of mine are sound - inc my 'navicular' diagnosis mare. They are also all TB's with 'typical' TB feet so that's no mean feat! :)

Feeding is a minefield, if you do too much research your head will explode :) I personally have had great success with Equine Answers 365Complete supplement which is far cheaper than most, has 'more' in it than some supps and is for the whole horse, not just the feet. Be prepared to take abit of time to try different things if needbe to find the perfect diet...

Good luck and let us know how you get on!
 
Wow, thanks for all the replies folks, I have seen you help others before but for some reason I'm quite touched by all the advice:) Should have registered earlier!
So in response to a few things (I should quote I suppose but he ho) Vet due out next week for jabs anyway so will run it past her, however I would be surprised if he didn't have Navicular type issues based on his past work load on his joints and tissue. I have decided that I would rather try the barefoot route first as the case studies I have read support my thinking. If/ when he requires Bute to keep him sound for ridden work he will be fully retired as he doesn't owe anybody anything and it would be selfish for me to continue for my own reasons. So thanks for the advice re tripping and shoes. And I don't feel it is a major lifestyle change for him.
He wolfed down his sample of FF tonight but I think I will add so molasses free chaff as it looks a bit plain, he is a good doer so I don't need to add anything to keep condition on but thanks for the ideas re feeding.
I am pleased to hear that other oldies/well used have managed it. I am going to clip his heels tomorrow evening so I will take some photos then and attempt to upload them. I am confident that his hinds will be fine as I took them off last winter after my husband accused him of 'ploughing up the paddock with his big shod feet' and he was fine but his fronts have had years of shoeing and look a bit under run and wide which I hope isn't too much flare.
Anyway, sorry for the essay again and thanks for all your ideas and advice.
 
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