Shoes off last Weds and going amazing!

piebaldsparkle

piebaldsparkle

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 July 2006
Messages
13,017
Visit site
So am I just lucky?

I see so much re: transitioning/boots etc......

So is it likely to go wrong on onwards and upwards? Can it really be this easy?

Shoes pulled Weds. Hacked Thursday, one gravel/hardcore/concrete track, but mainly soggy fields. Not even a dodgy stride on the stony bits.

Lesson today and mare looked great and felt amazing.

Plan is to reshoe in the Spring as fields are sooo wet her feet went really soft and started to break up, when she was unshod a couple of years ago.
 
I'm lucky too :)
Took my mares shoes off a year ago and she was fine straight away...she's a good doer cob so was already on a low sugar diet .
Happy days :)
 
I wouldn't like to say, but my lad has been barefoot for six weeks now - only time is a bit mincey is on gravel. I tried the boots for one ride, hated them - might try them again but I have to say, so far so good...... sssssshhhhh :eek:
 
Miss Bean said:
I wouldn't like to say, but my lad has been barefoot for six weeks now - only time is a bit mincey is on gravel. I tried the boots for one ride, hated them - might try them again but I have to say, so far so good...... sssssshhhhh :eek:
Click to expand...

his also on a low sugar diet... :D
 
LOL so not a freak phenomenon at all!!

Am fully expecting feet to look rather raggy as the nail holes grow out, but would be great if all continues this easily!

When her shoes came off last time we had snow straight after for weeks so didn't ride at all, in fact I barely rode at all due to work commitments (once the snow finally cleared), then her feet got so soft due to the wet, I had her shoes back on.
 
I'm definately not an expert and certainly a long way from knowing all the ins and outs but my BFT told me once the shoes have been taken off, it takes 2 weeks for the feeling to come back in the feet and this is when they're most likely to react so you might not be quite out of the woods yet, though it's all sounding very good!
 
Clippy said:
I'm definately not an expert and certainly a long way from knowing all the ins and outs but my BFT told me once the shoes have been taken off, it takes 2 weeks for the feeling to come back in the feet and this is when they're most likely to react so you might not be quite out of the woods yet, though it's all sounding very good!
Click to expand...

IMO it certainly doesn't take two weeks, more like half an hour.....got to allow for the 'pins and needles' feeling as feeling comes back.....but hoofs take a bit of time to react to wear, so don't ask for too much too soon....good luck!
 
My oldie us the same. Took then off two months ago and she didn't even notice! The WB took a week of getting used to the stones and then is fine.
 
Alyth said:
IMO it certainly doesn't take two weeks, more like half an hour.....got to allow for the 'pins and needles' feeling as feeling comes back.....but hoofs take a bit of time to react to wear, so don't ask for too much too soon....good luck!
Click to expand...

haha, how do you know this..... do horses get pins and needles in their feet
 
I think it is easier to start with as there will be some extra hoof. Once that gets worn down they start to feel it a bit. Depends how much work you do as well.

My mare is in boots for the fronts to let her feet catch up a bit but we are doing 2 hrs a day most days on Tarmac and forestry tracks. She is fine other than on stones.

Her feet looked very ragged for a week or so but now they are beautifully smooth and they have not been touched with anything. An hour in the school seems to be like an emery board :D
 
Great time of year to make the change; neither too grassy, too wet (hopefully!) or too dry. Well done you guys - hope you go from strength to strength.

We came out of shoes October 08 and were out on a 3-hour hack fully barefoot 3 days later. But that was Ashdown Forest, no roadwork, no stones.

Did use boots periodically that first winter if we were on hard or stony tracks, and the front boots have come out every spring since, when I have been amazed at the changes in his sensitivity from the last week of Feb onwards; I would never have thought grass was coming through but his feet told me otherwise (it took me 2 springs, doubting Thomas that I am, before I fully believed this from sheer experience).
 
My boy had one shoe on when I bought him (9 weeks ago) and pulled it off as we were loading him to take him home.

Haven't reshod him but he has been absolutely fine, his feet are in great nick and he hasn't struggled at all. Mind you he's only 4 and probably was only shod once in his life!
 
piebaldsparkle said:
So am I just lucky?

I see so much re: transitioning/boots etc......

So is it likely to go wrong on onwards and upwards? Can it really be this easy?

Shoes pulled Weds. Hacked Thursday, one gravel/hardcore/concrete track, but mainly soggy fields. Not even a dodgy stride on the stony bits.

Lesson today and mare looked great and felt amazing.
Click to expand...
you may be lucky. However I have seen this so many times before. The next post is usually in 2 weeks times to the effect of, "the feet have worn away badly and my horse is footsore"

I don't really understand why anyone would ride a horse 1 day out of shoes on gravel and stony bits.
 
poghag said:
Possibly with more info re feeding and that fact that she'll be in more work, you may find her feet are rocking by then.
Click to expand...

Not sure I can change anything feed wise.

Unmollased oat straw chaff, speedi beet and Pro Hoof. Adlib hay at night and out during the day.

It seemed last time that when her field got water logged with the Spring rain (her field was VERY wet), her feet turned to sponge and broke up badly, though she was never footy. Put shoes on while she still had some foot left!
 
Lots of new barefooters... Is it me or has there been a real positive change for horses feet recently?
 
paddy555 said:
you may be lucky. However I have seen this so many times before. The next post is usually in 2 weeks times to the effect of, "the feet have worn away badly and my horse is footsore"

I don't really understand why anyone would ride a horse 1 day out of shoes on gravel and stony bits.
Click to expand...



This is not my experience. What has happened with several horses that I have done and others that I know of is that the horse is perfectly happy for between 2 and 4 weeks. And then, even when the feet have not had excessive wear and the horse has been happy on all surfaces, the feet seem in some way to "come alive" and the horse is footie for a couple of weeks before it settles down again.

I've seen this reported time and again on barefoot sites.

I also don't have any problem with riding a horse who is comfortable over any surface on day one of the shoes being off. I've had one, an ex racer who I took the race plates off, of all things, who never noticed that they were gone. A friend took the shoes off a 25 year old she had been having shod since the mare was 4, and that horse never noticed either.

There are lots and lots of horses out there who are as capable from day one of shoe removal as they ever will be, particularly horses that are already on a well controlled diet.
 
I've never 'transitioned' a horse to barefoot as is often described on here - I have however taken shoes off, chucked them (erm, horses not shoes) in the field, then gone back to work as usual. I've never changed diet or management, but I've never had problems, even with OTTBs.

Maybe I've just been very lucky :o:confused:
 
Interesting! Cptrayes post above is exactly what I'm experiencing ATM. Horse is footy on gravel, but seems fine on good roads and grass (except when frozen and rutted!) I'm about 6-8 weeks into this after having his back shoes taken off.

His feet do seem to have worn very quickly, although they're beautifully smooth! I'm helping (I think!) by using keratex to help them so they don't wear so much, and cornucrescine to help with growth/condition. :)
 
OK will see how we go, was fully expecting to got through a rough patch as the nail holes grow out (don't remember what happened last time (2years ago) as she ended up living out for several weeks as snow/ice meant yard was unsafe to cross to bring her in)! Know she was never footy in field, but she was doing nothing due to snow and work.
 
DGeventing said:
I've never 'transitioned' a horse to barefoot as is often described on here - I have however taken shoes off, chucked them (erm, horses not shoes) in the field, then gone back to work as usual. I've never changed diet or management, but I've never had problems, even with OTTBs.

Maybe I've just been very lucky :o:confused:
Click to expand...

WOW. I would say that was very lucky unless you never have to ride over stones. How many have you done?

Most of the ones I have done have had foot issues before the shoes came off, but there are so many horses out there with foot issues then you've been lucky if they came to you shod and you took off the shoes and none of them have had any foot soreness issues at all, I'd say.

Most horses, in my experience, will cope well with fields, arenas and flat tarmac without top dressing. But rough concrete, gritted roads and stony tracks will defeat most newly unshod horses with flat feet - which is an awful lot of horses :D
 
Must get some pics, but her feet are pretty con-caved (hence need shoes off if snow due, as she balls like nothing else). I have had problems with thrush in the Summer/Autumn so also think shoe off will benefit her frogs no end.
 
cptrayes said:
WOW. I would say that was very lucky unless you never have to ride over stones. How many have you done?

Most of the ones I have done have had foot issues before the shoes came off, but there are so many horses out there with foot issues then you've been lucky if they came to you shod and you took off the shoes and none of them have had any foot soreness issues at all, I'd say.

Most horses, in my experience, will cope well with fields, arenas and flat tarmac without top dressing. But rough concrete, gritted roads and stony tracks will defeat most newly unshod horses with flat feet - which is an awful lot of horses :D
Click to expand...

None of them had any issues prior to taking shoes off, so obviously I am different to many people that choose to go barefoot in that respect. I've done 6 in the past, just taken them off another 3 ex racers, it's too soon to see if there will be issues as the hooves grow, but not experiencing any of the initial footiness.

Of the 6 I've done, I've sold 5 on to new homes, but the respective new owners have only put shoes back on one of them, so I think that's a victory!"

I don't ride over gravel (unless I meet it out hunting), but we do a lot of work on tarmac in the summer, especially trotting up hill for fitness. Plus I try to keep a simple diet, low sugar but plenty of forage. Maybe there's just something in the water here :p
 
Sooo if I have started my celebrations early, am I better measuring/ordering hoof boots now (so I have some at the ready), or waiting and seeing how we go?

Do you need to measure for boots after a trim or doesn't it matter?

Are her feet likely to change size if I go ahead and order boots now?

Would like to keep her out of shoes till April (if possible), to give her feet a rest and time for the nail holes to fully grow out.

Would not be adverse to her staying unshod, but given the ground conditions in her field, suspect this will not be possible (her field is boggy to say the least).
 
Clippy said:
I'm definately not an expert and certainly a long way from knowing all the ins and outs but my BFT told me once the shoes have been taken off, it takes 2 weeks for the feeling to come back in the feet and this is when they're most likely to react so you might not be quite out of the woods yet, though it's all sounding very good!
Click to expand...

IME the 2 week mark is a pivotal time.

At 2 weeks, the horse should have laid enough sole and tissue down to be more comfortable and most of them are.

However what can happen is that at 2 weeks, you can find some horses suddenly go backwards.

We know that barefoot horses have more circulation and better proprioception than shod.
The THEORY as to why some horses can go backwards around week 2 is that this can be caused by circulation and nerve function restoration hitting a peak (think getting into a hot shower with frozen fingers).

It doesn't happen with every horse but it is common enough to be a pattern with horses on different grounds and with different hoof 'problems'.

Obviously it is a theory as we don't fully know the answer :).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top