Okay I'm curious........

[Slightlyconfused]

So I've been sat here of the last 15minutes lurking trying to get the confidance open this can of worms and ask.......Why all the arguments about Barefoot and Shod?

I mean isn't it down the the person what they do with their horse and if its not hurting the horse then why argue?

I have four horses, all are shod, three have full sets and one has half because she will kill the farrier if we try to put shoes on the back hooves so left them bare.

All them are fed hi fibire and low startch feeds, well the girls are one just hay and grass the boys are on a small amount of feed, the TB two handfulls of hi/fi lite and quarter a scoop of calm and condition once a day and the Appy two/ handfulls of happy hoof with his meformin mixed in as he has EMS and got very bad lami in Jan.

One of my mares, she is 20 and has DJD in her hocks, we tried Barefoot for six months as we thought it would be better than hammering nails into her and hurting her hocks every six weeks but it turned out she needed the shoes on her back hooves because the way her hocks were fusing causing her to lean forward onto her toe and her sole became thin so vet said try shoes for a six months to see if she improves. I most note that the farrier was also very good at barefoot trim as he had clients for both and she was on supplements to encourge sole and hoof growth. Xrayed a while later and there was a remarkable improvement so teh shoes stayed on.

Now my sisters pony went Barefoot a year before we retired him (Due to arthritis in his hips) and he had no problem whats so ever so much so we took the shoes off my brothers horse. After six months he was so footy that he could only be ridden in the school so shoes were put back on and he was fine.

So what I am getting at is why does everyone get so arsey when this comes up? If a horse is happy barefoot thats fine, if they are happy with shoes thats also fine.

If I brought a horse that had spent the last few years barefoot I wouldn't chuck shoes on it as that is what it is used to, but I also wouldn't whip the shoes off at the first sigh of lameness on a shod horse as it could have nothing to do with being shod and taking them off could make the problem worse.


Okay now I've probably confused everyone so I'm going to go away and wait for a nice person to answer me in simple terms i understand

Please no arguing when replying its flor information seeking only.


Lots of Christmas Pudding and Ice to those that can help my poor confused mind.


xxxxx

 

[Ranyhyn]

I think only because some people are evangelical on both sides. No one horse is the same. No one way is best for any horse. No one minds what opinion you have so long as you don't think it's the answer to every individual horse out there...that's my opinion anyway

 

[Slightlyconfused]

I think only because some people are evangelical on both sides. No one horse is the same. No one way is best for any horse. No one minds what opinion you have so long as you don't think it's the answer to every individual horse out there...that's my opinion anyway

Both my brian and I thank you It got really annoying reading posts when they get highjacked and I needed to empty my brain abit it does struggle sometimes!!


xxx

 

[rockysmum]

Because its winter and we all get bored. There are a number of subject which anyone feeling that way can drag up, guaranteed to start a war. Hey it passes a night

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Because its winter and we all get bored. There are a number of subject which anyone feeling that way can drag up, guaranteed to start a war. Hey it passes a night

xxx

 

[Spotsrock]

I think it's the lengths people go to to force the issue. As u say if u bought one without shoes that was fine u wouldn't put them on it. I recently bought one and have no plans to have him shod. But I regularly hear people talking about it taking 6 to 18 months for a horse, tb type for example, to adjust to barefoot. If it's footy without shoes I believe u should put shoes on and make the dam horse comfortable not force it on for 18 months till it is so short stepping it looks level. Just my opinion.

 

[benson21]

There are a fair few subects on here that if you want to start a heated discussion, you can choose! Parelli, wearing or not wearing a hat, overweight riders, hi vis..... they are all very entertaining!!!

 

[POLLDARK]

I took the shoes off my New Forest a few weeks ago as he only gets hacked out a couple of times a week in the winter. I am lucky as he took to it like a duck to water & will do several miles roadwork with no problem, he hasn't noticed I think. Horses for courses, literally. While we are on strange sayings, some people like to make a mountain out of a molehill. Merry Christmas everyone.