Pass him by.

We have gone the other way with one of ours She was tense and snappy on her feet has been barefoot all her life until last week and now has front shoes on She is far more relaxed is going forward and is comfortable. It wouldnt have been my first port of call and she is 8 this year but it seems to be making her far more relaxed and comfortable so she will stay shod at least in front from now on. The rest are barefoot
She has very peculiar shaped feet when barefoot she wears her toes to the quick and goes lame with shoes her toes are protected
 
I'm on the fence with this.

I did have a TB who had been shod while she raced and her shoes were pulled once she retired from racing. She was rock crunching on all surfaces for years except for one blip which was caused when I changed farrier. When I got a different farrier, she returned to her rock crunching ways. So I know that with a good diet and sympathetic trimming, a formerly shod horse can have great hooves (even if it's a TB ;)).

Then I had terrible trouble with my anglo's hooves and she was taken BF to recover and ended up never needing to be reshod.

Here's the however... I've really got into arabs now and only buy them young. IMO a young arab with good, well cared for hooves really shouldn't need shoes and I wouldn't want to buy one with bad hooves IYSWIM. Yes, some people shoe as soon as a horse starts ridden work regardless of whether the horse needs them, but when I'm scanning the ads things like 'unshod as has excellent feet' do stand out as a positive and would help the ad make my list of possibles.

No, I wouldn't want to buy a horse with a high worm burden either.

For those after scientific research into the detrimental effect of shoeing over four months read here - http://www.eurodressage.com/equestrian/2012/08/28/effect-horse-shoes-equine-hoof-shape

ETA - some of the shoeing jobs I see make me shudder and I seem to be in a poor quality area for shoeing. Under-run heels and long toes with contracted heels seem normal and having gone through what I did with my anglo, I would not buy one with shoesick hooves for all the tea in China.
 
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I'm not mad keen on shoes BUT I prefer to look at the individual horse to be honest. My youngster doesn't have shoes and, for as long as he remains happy and sound once he starts work this year, he will stay unshod. If he needs shoes then I would probably have to look at why etc.
I believe the horses feet are one of the most important things to consider....after all "no foot, no horse".
 
Seems a bit extreme, and rules out the vast majority of horses. Oh well, if it floats yer boat..........

(oh, and all mine are shoeless, but I'd certainly not refuse to look at one if it had shoes on. You can always take 'em off).
 
Hooves can be poor if a horse is never shod, it depends on the nutrition, general health, movement and overall hoof care a horse has received from birth! Actually I expect the dam's health and diet is also crucial to a good start!
 
RunToEarth said:
Oh yes, I get the feeling that there are a certain camp if people who pitch their life on it. It's a bit like parelli...
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Its not really like parelli it just some of the people who believe in it are a bit like some of those who do parelli .
There's a lot to Like about the bf approach .
 
amandap said:
It takes a lot to insult me but you've managed it. Good on ya!
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To clarify, I am not against the decision to go barefoot - your horses are your own. What annoys me are the posters who have some desire to shove their barefoot opinion down everyone else's throat.
 
I also believe shoeing is bad for their limbs, the concussion just isn't natural and must cause some bad effects as a result. I don't go out of my way to look for unshod horses but if they come to me shod I ask myself if they need them (and the farrier if they need to stay on for any reason). If not, they come off. Generally, I only shoe to compete at a certain level - I usually start off competing without but once they go up the levels eventing / showjumping on grass then I feel its too risky to go without studs. But I make sure they're taken off over the winter when they're not needed and the horses seem to always appreciate the break from them. It totally changed the action of one of my horses when he was shod, he's a Luso x and his front leg action was far higher when shod for some reason.

I don't get why people still seem to shoe automatically, if you dont need to shoe then why on earth would you choose to do so. It costs a fortune! Its nothing to do with "parelli" or that rubbish, its simple common sense which so many horsey folk seem to lack!
 
um actually..nothing against unshod...but those who rave about the "natural way" are technically incorrect as there is no one true "natural" shape/structure to a horses hoof...as proven by an australian government commisioned study in to the health of the hooves of wild horses in 2011. the study included 14 different herds, ranging from 12 to 100 head in a variety of environments (eg sandy, grassland, rocky etc.) the variety in hoof structure was immense literally no two horses had the same hooves...plus in this study they only found ONE near-fore that was not suffering from any form of ailments and was sound... i can't remember the exact numbers off the top of my head but the vast majority (and i'm talking towards 90 %) were found to of suffered with chronic laminitis. among other things this study concluded that the hoof of the wild horse was not a model fo domesticated equines.

by all means go barefoot..its your choice but please don't discredit a horse because it has been shod and don't claim that what your doing is true to their "natural" state

just to add every horse is different so i will choose to shoe or not shoe as seems to suit each particular horse i own best
 
That sounds really interesting LRR, although I have an irresistible urge to be the annoying one who points out horses are not indigenous to Australia.

It would be fascinating to extend the study to include herds that have been running wild for centuries.
 
criso said:
Ha ha - I see it more like being an atheist.
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Very apt. :)

I can understand why people get fed up with BF posts, but when you've had a horse that was nearly PTS with hoof problems, come sound without shoes (having been told that they'd never manage without them) you do want to let people know that there is this option. Especially for horses with a navicular diagnosis that have failed to improve or stay sound with remedial shoeing. Just look at PistolPete's progress at Rockley.
 
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I'd be more concerned with buying a youngster that has mostly lived out rather than been stabled for half it's life. I don't think they develop properly physically or mentally if they don't get chance to be babies out in a field, preferably in a breeding herd.
The whole barefoot debate perplexes me, horses were never shod anyway unless they were doing a lot of roadwork, yet the 'Natural' brigade seem to think they have some new radical revolutionary ideas. Newsflash, we used to call them 'unshod' the horses that were, well - un shod... And they've been around for years.
 
RunToEarth said:
To clarify, I am not against the decision to go barefoot - your horses are your own. What annoys me are the posters who have some desire to shove their barefoot opinion down everyone else's throat.
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With you on that. it's like the saying "Religion is like a pen1s. It's fine to have one, but please don't take it out in public and shove it down everyone's throat".

Mine has his shoes off at the moment, and is perfectly happy hacking out unshod, so i have no fundamental issue with the shoeless lifestyle. However, despite being unshod behind for YEARS, it took remedial shoes to sort out long term soundness issues, which were all but resolved by two shoeing cycles in sports bars. He was 3/10 lame before they went on, sound afterwards, and has remained functionally since. So , equally, i have no issue with full on remedial shoeing either. I still don't have an answer from a barefoot expert as to how a horse can be lame behind for years without shoes, then sound with, and after remedial shoeing, if bar/any shoes are so bad.
 
I don't think much of the term barefoot either (and I hate the 'barefoot taliban' thing - it's awful IMO), but I can see the argument that BF tackles diet and isn't just about not having shoes. Also 'unshod' does imply that shoes are the default, as seen in the Veterinary text that included the shoe as part of the horse's leg/hoof anatomy. :p
 
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