Recently got rid of back shoes..

[Tern]

And all my horses have always been shod all round.. this is a Welsh D who is very good on all surface with shoes apart from slips with the back, we have got rid of the back shoes and hope to get rid of front ones eventually too. I do hope to event her - will this effect her traction? As she simply puts her feet wherever they land and often she slips and slides around the place.

Currently fed Happy Hoof as hots up on feed quite easily.. is this suitable for barefoot and what can I use to help harden the hoof?

 

[Palindrome]

They tend to have better proception when barefoot so they know better where their feet are. I have found a better traction on tarmac but not on grass so that could be a problem, although they are now a lot of people eventing low level barefoot without problem. I thing your best bet is to see how it goes and shoe for the season if needed.

I think Happy Hoof contains alfalfa so can make some horses footy but if she does well on it no reason to change. Micronised linseed is a good one to add as lots of omaga 3s and amino acids. It is also generally good to add salt and magnesium oxide, not sure how much she gets from Happy hoof/salt lick.

I have used Naf Rock hard as hoof hardener but not sure if it made a difference. The hooves will harden with times and work (if not you can have another look at the diet).

 

[maccachic]

Took my fella a while to work out his feet when I took him barefoot despite spending a few years sitting in a paddock with no shoes on. Once the balance / condition of the feet was sorted he had awesome grip hunted in all conditions and same with jumping / xc and never once did he slip.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I have head a few BF people refer to Happy Hoof as Crappy Hoof - you can read into that what you like!

Topical treatments don't do much IME and it was cutting out as much carbs from the diet as I could that had the most effect on the new hoof growth (you're not going to make the existing horn better, but you can usually grow down better horn and a better shaped hoof capsule). I feed good old oat straw chaff, unmolassed sugar beet, oats and micronised linseed plus a BF friendly vit&min supplement.