Photos - Jay 6 month barefoot anniversary

[Red-1]

Hi,

I have posted once a month photos in Jay's barefoot journey, this is 6 months in. It was a real sense of responsibility taking shoes off a sound horse, but I did and have become a hoof geek!

This month, thanks to MissyClare, I have attended to his bars as well as the general shape. I dread using the knife, I have visions of stabbing either him or me, and the buffer and hammer was hard work. So, I have a new secret weapon - a small rocker shaped rasp to take down the bars a bit at a time, with safety

Any comments gratefully recieved, I have had some great comments about trimming, balance and bars.....

Jay is on a barefoot friendly diet, added salt, magnesium and Pro Hoof. He is happily schooling and jumping on a surface, hacking out in Easyboot Gloves, and hand walking on the road barefoot 3 X a week.

OK, the photos.....

Near fore side view...

Near fore front view

Near fore underside

Off fore side view

Off fore front view

Off fore underside

Near hind side view

Near hind underside

Near hind front view

Off hind side view

Off hind underside

Off hind front view

 

[Nugget La Poneh]

Any reason for taking the bars off?

The rears look a little bull nosed, but I think they will grow out as time goes on as the shape is at the lower part of the hoof.

 

[ycbm]

The advice you were given to remove his bars is, according to Bob Bowker, probably the leading researcher into barefoot issues in the U.S., incorrect.

He points out that any hole in the sole, however far back, eventually grows out at the front of the foot. He has identified the bars as key to the generation of sole, and says that removal will weaken and thin the sole.

There is, quite simply, no reason to remove bars unless they are higher than the hoof wall, when they might need to have some height taken off. Removal of bars which extend down the sides of the frogs, as it looks like yours did, is regarded by both Bowker and Ramey as a definite mistake. Bars like that are scaffolding for a weak hoof and disappear in their own time as the foot gets stronger. By removing them, you have weakened your horses feet. When they come back, as they will, then I beg you not to remove them again. They will go when he is ready for them to go.

 

[Red-1]

Hi, The bars only came off this month, and I had resisted temptation to remove them for all the time before that. I was persuaded as they were rather high, and I could see that with flexing of the foot they were a risk for abscesses with the additional pressure. I also found that when the sole shedded the part around the bars was a different material, and the foot was changing but that portion was stuck and did not shed.

I have done this, and will see the result, Jay has nothing that he "has" to be doing so if it makes him worse he can do little or nothing until they grow back, if that is what he needs.

I was torn, and if it does not work for him then they can stay on in the future. Thank you, I need balance!

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

My farrier does not touch the bars.
I would think he would manage with no boots, is he footy?
\tarmac will rasp the feet very well/

 

[Red-1]

Hi Bonkers, he is fine on the road, and is road worked 3 X a week. I tend to do a long hack with boots, and stop and pull them about 2/3 of the way round. He is fine on the beach, on grass, on arenas, and is getting better with stones on tarmac, but stones on tarmac is currently his nemesis. I can see improvement as now stones on hard core used to be "out" but are now OK as long as there is a bit of give. I think it helps that we have laid pea gravel on the 50m drive, so he does stones a few times a day, going in and out.

The road walking was managing the trimming, and TBH his rears have been pretty much self trimming, but I think he is producing more and better horn now. I have been toying with replacing some of his longer rides being barefoot too.

I know his confidence in his feet is high as we had a FAB jumping session on Monday, he flew a course of about 3'6, made mincemeat of it with gusto and joy

The rears have always been bull nosed when shod. I actually think they are improving.

 

[ycbm]

Thanks for your reply

with flexing of the foot they were a risk for abscesses with the additional pressure.

This is not the case. No horse at Rockley has its bars trimmed and it is rare for one to abscess.

I also found that when the sole shedded the part around the bars was a different material, and the foot was changing but that portion was stuck and did not shed.

Yes, they are bar material, not sole, and they shed when the foot is strong enough to work without them. Some finer horses like tbs have them all the time.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Yes, they are bar material, not sole, and they shed when the foot is strong enough to work without them. Some finer horses like tbs have them all the time.

I never thought about that, but it is true, the bar horn tends to be fairly tough, it helps the strength of the hoof so should be left, the chalky stuff on the sole which flakes of is just the sole adjusting [in a good way] to its use.
I just let my boy select his own path, the road chips on tarmac are often very angular, it took over six months for him to "go anywhere"

 

[ycbm]

I never thought about that, but it is true, the bar horn tends to be fairly tough, it helps the strength of the hoof so should be left, the chalky stuff on the sole which flakes of is just the sole adjusting [in a good way] to its use.
I just let my boy select his own path, the road chips on tarmac are often very angular, it took over six months for him to "go anywhere"

I find them fascinating. If left to their own devices, they eventually peel off as a strip. I've got a photo of one somewhere (and the original is still on my desk drawer!) I'll try and find it.

 

[Red-1]

I find them fascinating. If left to their own devices, they eventually peel off as a strip. I've got a photo of one somewhere (and the original is still on my desk drawer!) I'll try and find it.

I would love to see a picture.

I was concerned that the part of the sole at the back that was bar material was building up, making more of a crevice between the sole and the wall. That part was also standing proud enough that it made it so I could not get the heels low enough for the frog to touch, even though it is quite large. If I lowered the heels then the risen part of bar material was taking all the pressure.

At first when his shoes came off the frog was squashed on the floor, even folding over some, even when I did not trim his heels or wall much, and it limited what road work we could do. Now the frog is still large, but does not touch the floor unless the heels and wall are well trimmed, so I HOPE this is a sign that I am finally achieving the start of the holy grail of concavity!

 

[ester]

Red-1 we did experiment taking Frank's bars off and I monitored with photos how quickly they came back. On the basis that he was not as comfortable for the week after trimming

I do remember a video I think suggesting that pressure on the bars causing discomfort where they go further up into the foot. Not sure it is the case though and they seem to be a topic of current debate among the experts.

 

[Red-1]

Red-1 we did experiment taking Frank's bars off and I monitored with photos how quickly they came back. On the basis that he was not as comfortable for the week after trimming

I do remember a video I think suggesting that pressure on the bars causing discomfort where they go further up into the foot. Not sure it is the case though and they seem to be a topic of current debate among the experts.

Thank you, I have noticed that bars or no bars has been a hot topic. I had resisted removing them until someone told me a good reason to do so, and so I am trying it. He seems just as comfortable, having said that it is windy and raining here, so he is doing not as much as he *could* do!