Shoeing and rubbish feet what would you do?

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catherine22

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Hi, I am relatively new on here but I have a 17hh ISH who is 7. His feet however are rubbish, I have been advised by a coulpe of farriers to take his shoes off for a bit and give his feet a rest and see how they naturally wear down.
My question however is, we do mostly hunter trials and unaff dressage and bt of Sj atm hope to affiliate nxt year/end of this season, do I take his shoes off no for a couple of months over the summer when theres no hunter trials and the unaff dressage in on a surface or do I wait like I was originally going to until november after the hunter trial season ends again and the gound is softer but I will miss out on a lot of hunting?
Furthermore, I am hoping his feet can withstad not being shod and I can keep him barefoot (which is highly unlikely) as my farrier charges £80 for a set natural balance, raod nails and 1 stud hole per shoe!

What would you do?

wow, that was long
 
Welcome to the forum!
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I don't think I'd pull his shoes if he feet aren't great. I would look at his diet; is he lacking in anything? Adding a good suplement for feet would be a good idea. Remember though, it will take a while to show so don't give up on it!
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If you do decide to pull his shoes, find a really good farrier who knows how to trim a bare foot. A lot of them trim the foot the same as they would when getting it ready for a shoe, and you want a different trim. A set of hoof boots will help him transition to barefoot, as will turning him out on different ground types.
 
Thank you for the welcome

I was advised that if he feet became a bit sore then it would increase the blood flow and thus stimulate the growth more?!

He is fed hifi orginal, balieys no4 (topline), H+P nuts, biotin,salt,garlic,oil and propell plus

Any suggestions in welcome too?

when he goes out he will be walking over hardcore to get to the field and then obv grass and i will only work him in an arena while he has the shoes off however is it just me being 'old fashioned' but shouldnt any horse be able to work perfectly adequatley (ok maybe not a lot of road work) with out shoes?
 
yes, but in reality they aren't. I do find a month break did wonders for my connie, but 3 week shas made little to no improvement on the tbx's.
 
Hello & Welcome!

It depends on each individual horse. I have had shoes off my TB for 2 summers - last year, and 2004. In 2004, he started off sore, but got better as the weeks went by - could absolutely not ride him without hoof boots - even after 3 months as his hooves are just too bad, but he coped relatively well.

However, last year they just got continually worse, new growth just cracking off as his hooves grew. He was crippled all summer with how foot sore he was. I got a referral to another farrier in September (long story) and the new one put shoes back on straight away - and he was sound the same evening.

I have been feeding farriers formula for a year now & I think they have improved slightly, but it is an uphill struggle. However, all horses are different & many do cope if you can get them through the transitional period. Good luck!
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Thank you!

horses hey! they are sent to try us, i just dont know what to do for the best for him. You seem to get so much advice from so many different people its hard to know what to do for the best!
 
I know what you mean! I have been told so many different things - particulary in this day & age where there are so many advocates of barefoot. I can totally see the advantages of this, but also know that it is not something that is right for my horse.

I trust my new farrier implicitly, & know he will always do his best for my horse & he says my horse needs shoes! If my horse hadn't been shod from such a young age, maybe he could cope, but he can't
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They certainly are sent to try us!
 
There is nothing betetr you can do for a horse with crap feet then tot ake the shoes off for 3-6 months.
However, they are best turned away for this period. If you want to keep working him I would keep the shoes on and just rely on good farriery.
 
As Vici has said, a short break will do nothing, if you are going to take shoes off you need to have them off whilst the whole foot grows out, so the new horn is stronger. However, as soon as you puut shoes back on, the chances are within 6mnths you'll have the same problem. My horse also has crap feet. I had always fed him Alfa, Oil and topspec, which combined seemed to keep his feet looking good, Alfa is high in calcium for a fibre feed and good protein,oil is good for the suppleness of hoof and skin, and topspec has recommeded amounts of Biotin and protein to optimise good hoof growth. He wasnt on this diet last year and you could certainly tell, he has been back on for 6mnths now, and my farrier has commented how much they have improved. SO it may not be what they are lacking, but just need the ingredients to fully support hoof growth!
 
ahh the bane of bad feet. I agree with what has been said above, but I would also like to add that you may need to look at diet. I used to feed exactly the same oas you, an dwas at my wits end when I lost shoes every week, but I was told that horses require a balanced hindgut inorder to be able to utilise the biotin. By this time I had put my boy on Formula for feet and saw a marked difference. Due to now having two I am trying topspec (cheaper to run 2 on this!) and am now playing the waiting game, but I have already seen soem positive changes, so fingers crossed.

So basically what I am saying the long way is perhaps look at a balancer.
 
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