Ok barefoot peeps...advice?

MissSBird

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Hey guys

At the end of the summer my personal circumstances are changing, and I need to look at ways of cutting costs for the next three years. I'm hoping to avoid having to sell my boy (though it may come to that :( ).

Whilst mulling over what I could do, I wondered if going barefoot might be an option. The potential savings would be quite a lot over the course of three years afterall.

He's a 6 year old connie who was originally barefoot when I got him as a just backed three year old. I remember he spent his first winter barefoot, then got shoes heading into spring as his back feed were cracking slightly. He had been doing a lot of road work as I was pretty muhc just hacking out at this point to get him thinking forward.

He's had shoes since then and has good strong feet - he's only ever lost a shoe once. His work load come autumn will be light/medium work, a mixture of roadwork and schooling in a woodchip arena.

Do you think his feet would be able to adjust? Have you any advice for me going down this route?

All thoughts appreciated :)
 

Hippona

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Well....I'm no expert but none of my horses have shoes.....the arab has never had any on. The highland came to me with a front set- the mare was always fully shod.....


We just took them off......and have been fine. No problems. Its a good couple of years for the 2 which did have shoes on now....admittedly the mare doesn't do much but the other 2 hack/school/jump fine- no problems at all. They cope well with rough stony tracks, roads- everything- in fact they slip less on roads as they have better traction that with shoes.

Their diet was a fibre only diet anyway- I feed Badminton Easy Rider plus 'Think Pink' and magnitude, hay in the stable, grass in the field ...I don't put anything on their hooves except water.....and yes- saved a fortune I guess over the years.....:)

( yes I know I could give them Mag ox chepaer but one of them just won't touch it:mad:)
 

MissSBird

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At the moment B is just on a low cal balancer and straw based chaff, soaked hay when in and the odd carrot. He's a bit of a good doer. I didn't consider if his diet would need chaged for going barefoot...
 

abitodd

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If you have ever ventured onto a barefoot thread before you will know that diet is an important key to barefoot success. The good news is,a good diet does not mean expensive,in fact a forage only diet is ideal.
You may need to supplement minerals. Magnesium is commonly given to barefoot horses. However some horses need carefully balanced minerals which can be quite expensive.
With plenty of roadwork(building up gradually-fitten the feet as you would the rest of the horse)and work over loose stones you may find your pony will self trim which will cut down the number of times he needs professional attention.
I know several connies and conniextb who are going great guns without shoes,but I also know their owners have to be a tad careful with the grass intake to keep them rock crunching.
 

MissSBird

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In theory his diet should already be pretty balanced. As he's always on a low calorie diet I've been careful to make sure he gets broad spectrum minerals.

It's good to know that there are connie's out there doing this sucessfully :)
 

Waltzing Matilda

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Going barefoot shouldn't mean feeding ur horse any dif to being shod. High fibre low starch is advisable all round! Barefoot can work out cheaper, but I would advise going to an equine podiatrist as they specialise in barefoot (not shoeing), and can give u the best advice for staying barefoot sucessfully. They do charge around £45-50. Horses tend to b trimed every 4-6 weeks on summer as their hooves grow quicker and 6-10 weeks in winter, depending on how much work u r doing. To b fair if the hoof is balanced correctly then pressure stimulates growth so tge more work u do tge quicker the foot will grow, so don't b fooled into thinking u will need the hoof trimmed less often! X
 
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