Shame on you H&H!!

[NellRosk]

So today I bought a copy of 'Ask The Vet' by Horse & Hound, never got it before and thought it would be a nice change. There was an article about barefoot which I thought would be interesting.

Small extract:

'A large population of the UK equine population contains thoroughbred breeding. For generations, these horses have been selected solely for speed, often to the detriment of hoof type and conformation. This results in relatively small feet with the potential for long toes and weak heels.'

and:

'Working consistently on roads or stone can wear away both the hoof wall and the horny wall, resulting in bruised and sore feet'

So basically they're making out that tbs have crap feet and working bf horses on roads will wear their feet to stubs! What made this claim so ridiculous was a quote from Nic Barker at Rockley Farm saying her horses clocked up over 800 miles a season whilst hunting!! Disappointing and contradictory article.

 

[Regandal]

Oh dear. Not good at all, is it? I'm assuming all the above was written by vets?

 

[NellRosk]

Oh dear. Not good at all, is it? I'm assuming all the above was written by vets?

Yep Richard Stephenson MRCVS.. I thought things were changing. Clearly not!

 

[SusieT]

I think you are reading into this a bit too much - it says can. not will.

 

[Pen]

Presumably they were trying to be even handed - the possible potential problems being balanced by the positive success of Rockley Farm.
I know that vets find it very hard to revise their thinking about barefoot. My own vet is excellent in most respects but although he has seen my barefoot horses comfortable in their stone and concrete yard over the course of 15 years I know he still does not approve of barefoot - it's strange isn't it.

 

[NellRosk]

I think you are reading into this a bit too much - it says can. not will.

I know, but the general vibe of the whole article just wasn't overly positive in favour of bf! I'm not part of the bf Taliban btw, one of my horses is shod in front

Presumably they were trying to be even handed - the possible potential problems being balanced by the positive success of Rockley Farm.
I know that vets find it very hard to revise their thinking about barefoot. My own vet is excellent in most respects but although he has seen my barefoot horses comfortable in their stone and concrete yard over the course of 15 years I know he still does not approve of barefoot - it's strange isn't it.

Very strange. I got the vet out to my incredibly footy horse when I took him bf... I tried to push for X-rays etc to see what the problem was because he was crippled but I just got told to put shoes on him again. I will get to the bottom of it one day..

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Very strange. I got the vet out to my incredibly footy horse when I took him bf... I tried to push for X-rays etc to see what the problem was because he was crippled but I just got told to put shoes on him again. I will get to the bottom of it one day..

Surely if you are prepared to pay for the x-rays, the vet would do them?

 

[NellRosk]

Surely if you are prepared to pay for the x-rays, the vet would do them?

I guess so but I got the vet and physio out to see what was wrong and they both agreed it was footiness from shoeing and to just get them put back on. It's difficult to argue with professionals' opinions.. and also I needed my horse back as he was lame and getting fat! I'm determined to get to the bottom of the root cause one day though.

 

[Goldenstar]

TBs have rend to have small light feet that's a fact .
J weighs the same as my young ID his feet are half the size .

 

[old hand]

NellRosk I would push for x rays, if you can feel something is wrong it probably is. X rays are a great help to the farrier anyway - the inside is not always the same as the outside!! Have one that the farrier is shoeing to x rays not the feet and he is way better. It was a grumpy , lazy horse is now forward going and happy, despite his navicular - so can be well worth it. would have any horse x rayed before breaking after this experience, it is cheap if you take the long run into account. Sorry about funny signs - computer playing up

 

[NellRosk]

NellRosk I would push for x rays, if you can feel something is wrong it probably is. X rays are a great help to the farrier anyway - the inside is not always the same as the outside!! Have one that the farrier is shoeing to x rays not the feet and he is way better. It was a grumpy , lazy horse is now forward going and happy, despite his navicular - so can be well worth it. would have any horse x rayed before breaking after this experience, it is cheap if you take the long run into account. Sorry about funny signs - computer playing up

Thank you old hand, glad you managed to sort yours out! I was thinking of taking him bf again next year, after the spring flush has gone so I will definitely x-ray if his feet fall to bits like they did last time. I'm on a different yard this time so you never know, a change of environment might help him to cope better.

 

[Ronalda]

I know that vets find it very hard to revise their thinking about barefoot. My own vet ... still does not approve of barefoot - it's strange isn't it.

Not really. To quote my vet,"I make a lot of money out of fat and shod horses".

There is simply too much at stake to revise any thinking.

 

[JFTDWS]

I know, but the general vibe of the whole article just wasn't overly positive in favour of bf!

Why should it be? Just because you are in favour of "barefoot" doesn't mean every vet in the world has to be. Both statements are supportable with evidence - TBs do often have poor foot conformation, and, if hoof growth is insufficient, roadwork will wear away the hoof and lead to soreness. This doesn't mean all TBs have rubbish feet or that all unshod animals cannot work on roads.

 

[NellRosk]

Why should it be? Just because you are in favour of "barefoot" doesn't mean every vet in the world has to be. Both statements are supportable with evidence - TBs do often have poor foot conformation, and, if hoof growth is insufficient, roadwork will wear away the hoof and lead to soreness. This doesn't mean all TBs have rubbish feet or that all unshod animals cannot work on roads.

I don't especially favour it, I have a shod horse as he is most comfortable with that. And I have a bf horse because I got her as a 2 year old and just never put shoes on as she didn't need them! But if she did I wouldn't be adverse to shoeing. Sorry, I might not have put my point across clearly enough but it made out that a lot of roadwork was not suitable for unshod feet as they wouldn't be able to cope when it's been shown that if the horse is built up to it, then they can manage with as much roadwork as you throw at them. Which is shown by endurance horses! He just seemed to have the same attitude that I've come across with so many farriers/ vets which is that they can't cope with roadwork and the vet in the article was saying that the BF horses he had seen were only worked on soft arena surfaces or in fields.

 

[fatpiggy]

I don't especially favour it, I have a shod horse as he is most comfortable with that. And I have a bf horse because I got her as a 2 year old and just never put shoes on as she didn't need them! But if she did I wouldn't be adverse to shoeing. Sorry, I might not have put my point across clearly enough but it made out that a lot of roadwork was not suitable for unshod feet as they wouldn't be able to cope when it's been shown that if the horse is built up to it, then they can manage with as much roadwork as you throw at them. Which is shown by endurance horses! He just seemed to have the same attitude that I've come across with so many farriers/ vets which is that they can't cope with roadwork and the vet in the article was saying that the BF horses he had seen were only worked on soft arena surfaces or in fields.

The trouble is, vets and farriers can only make statements about the things they have either seen or less likely, have read about. Every farrier I've ever spoken to about TBs feet have said they are weak, small, badly formed - all the result of inbreeding and that I could believe. Of course there are exceptions to the rules - I personally think Irish TBs have much better feet than English ones. I wrote to H&H a couple of years ago to complain about an article they ran about horses that have seizures. It was frankly, rubbish and was full of information that has long since been discredited but some German vet who dealt with the German dressage team said this was so, and so it was. He admitted he had never come across a horse that had seizures - unlike me who kept an epileptic mare for nearly 18 years. Of course I didn't get any response from H&H. I get contacted by other owners from right around the world asking for help as their vet had said there was no treatment, nothing they could do etc etc. Now I accept that I might have been freakishly lucky, but if you don't try you don't succeed. Some vets still think that anticonvulsants will choke the liver in 6 months and kill the horse anyway, so no, they won't prescribe. Most vets will never come across a case of a horse having repeat seizures but you would be surprised how common the problem actually is, so not even bothering to keep up to date is no excuse in my eyes.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

TB's - even English ones - can have wonderful quality horn and well balanced hooves.