Preparation for taking shoes off...

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Christmas Crumpet

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I have to say, I am quite amazed by the reaction I have got!! So positive from the farrier who agrees shoes off at the beginning of March is a very good thing.

I went to see the man at our local horsefeed shop to discuss changing diet to low sugar/starch diet and he totally agreed and talked me through all the possibilities. He was hugely positive and highlighted how feeding such a diet really does benefit the feet. We discussed what she would eat hunting next season in order that she stayed low sugar/starch but had enough energy to go hunting 3 days a fortnight. I felt really chuffed that he was so knowledgeable and took half an hour to talk it all through. I do know him quite well anyway as I'm in there so often but even so. So we have already changed sugar beet to Purabeet, chaff being changed today to a hi fi one but can't remember which one. And for hunting he suggested using Saracen Relieve - any thoughts on that from anyone?

I am considering a hoof supplement as well to get some growth in her feet. Any thoughts on that too?

I am thoroughly overexcited about it all - I have no idea when her shoes were last taken off. She kept fronts off last summer as she was recovering from check ligament injury and vet advised they stayed on. He is the one person I am not sure who will be quite so positive about shoes coming off but if the farrier is really positive then it can only be a good thing.

So she will hunt till end of Feb, shoes off and holiday in field and then we'll see how she does without shoes. We are getting a little Shitland for our daughter and so will be going on small rides round the lanes. If horse can cope with that with no shoes on, we might well think about doing a little bit more and keep reassessing. Luckily where we live, there aren't really any stoney tracks at all. The only time I am grateful for where we live. We moved from the most amazing place with fantastic tracks but it was flinty. Thank god for the wet clay where we are now.

I do understand it will be quite a challenge but I feel as though I've got over the first hurdle by getting farrier's total and utter agreement!!

I will report as and when things happen.
If anyone has any thoughts good or bad to add, please do.
 
Hehe! Exciting! Sounds like you are doing all the right things. The only thing I would say is Im not sure if the hi fi stuff is good. I know its got the lami sign and stuff but Ive read on here that its still not great for barefoot so might be worth re thinking. Id maybe just go with the speedibeet instead and leave the hifi altogether. I might be totally wrong though as its a bit hazy but Im sure others will let you know.

As for supplements I would go for mag ox or cal mag. Cal mag does have a taste so if you have a fuss pot like me then they might not like it and the annoying thing is its cheaper. Linseed is also good for feet. I use the above but mix with fast fibre which is also another alternative to speedibeet.

Jus remember to build up slowly but what will help in the beginning is ten to fifteen min walks out each day in hand on stony/concrete surfaces. Also remeber that the foot does take a couple of weeks to wake up and start working properly so you might find horse is ok at first but then get footy. Its important not to over do it in this initial period.

Otherwise just take it day by day and see how you go.
 
Ok so we'll leave the chaff out. I think I normally only feed it to bulk out her meals.

Feed shop sells linseed at £35 for a 28kg bag. Is this good or not (pricewise)?!!
 
Is that micronised? I buy mine from charnwood milling but my feed merchant gets it for me so it costs £21. I was buying it direct so it took the price up to about £28 for a 20kg. So I guess thats about right what you are paying there if its micronised.
 
cool. I ususally geet my mag from naturalhorsesupplies online or else im pretty sure prograssive earth do it too. Good luck on your journey! If you are ever in need of boots a long the way then I can recommend the equine fusions.
 
Sounds like you've got some great support - that's half the battle :D.

Diet changes sound good. I think Nikkimariet and her sister feed saracen's releve to their dressage TBs with good effects. It is molassed, though, with some slightly questionable ingredients. I'd say try it whilst the horse is working hard, but I'd probably avoid when not hunting. Saying that, I fed a few bags at a couple of scoops a day the winter before last - horse was turned away at the time, so I couldn't say whether it made him footy, but there were no visible ill effects on his feet.

Supplement-wise there's Pro Hoof/Pro Balance, the Forage Plus balancers and Equimins META balance (though I've heard some strange things about the Equimins customer service lately :eek:). Each of these are good. Or you can have your forage analysed and feed bespoke minerals.

Good luck :)
 
Sounds good! As others have said, there is no need to feed a chaff if you don't have to but if you do, I would feed hi-fi Mollasses free rather than the lite version (still coated in sugar!!) I prefer to avoid both anyway as they contain Alfa-alfa which my boy is intollerant of.

Agree with others on the micronised linseed - just a mug a day so a sack will last you 4 months!

I feed Dodson and horrel ERS pellets for energy - similar product to Saracen Relieve but I was put off relieve as it contains both Mollasses and Alfa-a two things I need to avoid with my boy as he is so sensitive. The morral is - always do your homework - look at the ingredients and if they aren't visible on the bag / online - phone the relevant company and request a breakdown.

If you need a bit more energy still, it is usually perfectly safe to feed a few oats - my boy gets a couple of mugfulls a day to keep him ticking over but I could potentially increase these.

You may need to provide some additional nutritional support in the form of a supplement. I would reccomend either pro-hoof or one of forage plus's balancers which have been devised with the bare hoof in mind :)

Be careful with turning out in the field to let her get used to it - particularly in march when the grass will be coming through. You may need to stable / restrict grazing for some of the time :) particularly if she isn't doing any work...

Good luck!
 
Thank you everyone for info.

Feedman said I want to be feeding a diet similar to an ERS diet so the D&H pellets sound good for hunting. As do the oats.

What I am curious about is... she will have a proper holiday when shoes are first taken off because she needs one after hunting hard all winter and she is now 16. When she is out of work, do I literally feed her enough to put supplements in? I.e. perhaps ProHoof and also her Newmarket JS she has?

Last summer, she was fed nothing in the field at all.
 
I feed Re-leve to my b/f boys to give them enough 'oomph' to do their jobs. Although it's molassed it's still very low sugar and starch - 5% and 8% respectively IIRC - and I've had no issues feeding it.

Unfortunately I've found for many that an ideal b/f diet doesn't always fulfil the energy needs of a horse in hard work so there is a good bit of trial and error required to find what works and sometimes you have to sacrifice what might not be ideal on paper for what works.
 
If she doesn't need any hard feed when turned away, then yes - I'd just give something small and fibre based to put her supps in.
 
carolineb said:
Thank you everyone for info.

Feedman said I want to be feeding a diet similar to an ERS diet so the D&H pellets sound good for hunting. As do the oats.

What I am curious about is... she will have a proper holiday when shoes are first taken off because she needs one after hunting hard all winter and she is now 16. When she is out of work, do I literally feed her enough to put supplements in? I.e. perhaps ProHoof and also her Newmarket JS she has?

Last summer, she was fed nothing in the field at all.
Click to expand...

The ERS Pellets are great... and my boy loves them :)

I would just feed her a very small amount of unmollassed beet with her supplements in - my boy has a very small scoop of fast fibre with his, which is just enough to mix the supplements in well (he has quite a large quantity of powder as we mix our own).

While I understand her needing a rest, do keep a check on her soundness over various surfaces - walk her in hand over concrete and then stony ground on a daily basis to make sure she isn't too footsore or increasingly so (this would be an early sign of laminitis which you wouldn't have been able to see before due to her wearing shoes)
 
I think you may find that when she is hunting, you can pretty much feed as much carbs as you like. I feed mine 5 kilos of cubes per day, plus 300 ml of oil and enough full fat sugar beet to mix his supplements in and his feet are stonking. He only does one day a week, but is super fit because of my hills, and that seems to avoid any problems with carbohydrate overload.
 
Can I ask, what is this 'full fat sugarbeet' people keep mentioning? I didn't realise sugarbeet had any fat in it? Or is that just because I've only seen the low fat kind?
 
It's what I said Caroline, when the horse is working really hard, like a hunter does, it can cope with a lot more carbohydrates, so in winter I don't bother soaking the sugar out of the beet. In summer I soak and drain it twice to remove the sugar, but not in winter.
 
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