Shoes or barefoot?

[tallyho!]

Barefoot Pros:
- Natural
- Shock Absorbing
- Healthy
- Better grip on roads
- Better for tendons
- More choice on a variety of boots
- Choice of not booting if not necessary

Barefoot Cons:
- Risk of abscesses - not necessarily
- Not knowing if they are doing well or not (though this can be solved by a knowledgeable person) exactly
- needs more thought on diet/exercise/trim
- needs time investment at the beginning and lots of patience

Shod Pros:
- Protection on rough terrain - same risks of stone bruising as not being shod but at least you won't notice!
- Lower risk of abscesses - not necessarily
- no messing about with boots

Shod Cons:
- Unnatural
- Less shock absorption
- Slippery on roads - could always fit road studs
- Cuts herself when overreaching and on the back pastern area
- Expensive if having them without needing them

 

[tristar]

one of ours had shoes on and kept losing them, well they seemed to fall off! very soon after being shod, and this was by three different farriers.

being worried about him treading on the shoes, i decided to go barefoot, i bought scoot boots for road work which are very good, but i only used them a few times, did not really seem to need them.

i left his feet grow, and yes they looked odd one front was bigger than the other, due to ripping off shoes, so i followed my instinct and did not trim for some three months, then tidied with a rasp, i did not touch the underneath, frog etc, at all, at christmas i took him on a long ride and up a track with large rocky parts underfoot, and i was truly amazed how he went over the rocky parts as if they were not there, in fact he was better than a shod horse.

nearly one year later we have great chap to do the feet, and he does very little, the first time he did a trim he did more than he does now, and they are all barefoot now.

i think you will gain in confidence and learn a lot if you go with it, best of luck

 

[laura_nash]

It all seems very complicated and I wish it would be as simple as just taking them off, feeding them good supplements and that's it but there is so much to it!

Well, for some horses (like your YO's previous black-footed horse presumably) that is it, in fact for some lucky ones you don't even need to worry about what you feed them. Of course they don't tend to be the ones whose owners are posting on all the forums etc.

 

[ycbm]

This is the whole point! I took a racing TB from the auction, removed his aluminium race plates and he never batted an eyelid. My impression is that most horses actually do it quite easily.

 

[Ellietotz]

This is the whole point! I took a racing TB from the auction, removed his aluminium race plates and he never batted an eyelid. My impression is that most horses actually do it quite easily.

I would love it if this happened! My instincts say it probably will but in the back of my mind I have the farrier putting them on for a reason. It's just so difficult!

 

[Leo Walker]

Well, for some horses (like your YO's previous black-footed horse presumably) that is it, in fact for some lucky ones you don't even need to worry about what you feed them. Of course they don't tend to be the ones whose owners are posting on all the forums etc.

Thats mine, white feet and everything

 

[windand rain]

Not really he is a farrier first and foremost his first port of call would always be to shoe as that is his job and training most farriers will do the job they need to, but they are after all there to shoe horses in most instances. He didnt shoe your horse to be difficult he thought it would be best for the state of his feet at the time according to his training if you had asked a barefoot trimmer he would likely have given the opposite view

 

[Leo Walker]

I would love it if this happened! My instincts say it probably will but in the back of my mind I have the farrier putting them on for a reason. It's just so difficult!

The reason is he is a farrier, shoeing horses is what they do.

Start feeding salt now and I personally feed Progressive Earth, but I'm a bit hit and miss with it. He gets it if hes restricted for any reason, but otherwise I dont feed it religiously, and I'm pretty sure he doesnt need it at all.

 

[Nancykitt]

We have three horses - one shod and two barefoot.
The shod horse has had more abscesses than the others. One of the barefoot horses has never had an abscess and has been barefoot all his life. Increased risk of abscesses in barefoot horses is something I haven't heard of until now.

A skilled trimmer is a must, though.

 

[paddy555]

I would love it if this happened! My instincts say it probably will but in the back of my mind I have the farrier putting them on for a reason. It's just so difficult!

there is absolutely no way of knowing what will happen when the shoes come off. The most unlikely candidates walk away sound forever and some of the others have problems. The most important thing is a big dose of commonsense in protecting the feet and gently encouraging them. If the horse isn't sound in around 6 weeks (up to the level of work it is capable of with it's new barefoot feet )then I would look elsewhere for the problem.

Farriers shoe. That really is the day job. A farrier gets around £80 for shoeing, probably £20 for a trim. He still has to waste time travelling whatever he does. The cost of shoes is minimal. He can shoe and walk away, horse will most likely stay sound. If he removes the shoes and horse walks a lame step owner will panic and it will be much more work for him. Unless they are specifically barefoot farriers or trimmers I suspect they won't hold your hand much. It will be back to shoes as the first choice. Maybe I am just cynical.
For most barefoot people the health of the feet is the most important thing. For some farriers I suspect getting them shod and moving onto the next job is although obviously many take a lot of care with their shoeing work.