Should I take shoes off

[ownedbyaconnie]

I have a connemara mare with relatively (for a connie) good feet. She only has front two on and has come in from the field today with only one shoe. I didn't notice until I went to pick out her feet so she had cantered over to me and walked down a stony path without looking footy.

Farrier is coming tomorrow to pop it back on but I'm thinking do I give barefoot a try? I barely do any roadwork as it is (I have hacked on the road once in the last year) and obviously have no plans for the foreseeable future other than school in the arena and field.

So in a nutshell, do I go barefoot or is now a silly time to be trying new things. I don't really know much about feet so any hints and tips would be most appreciated.

 

[tallyho!]

To be honest... the modern roads are the perfect surface for barefoot horses.

Why anyone would want to shoe a horse just to do arena work or hack on soft surfaces is beyond me. All my barefoot horses go on any terrain at whatever speed. Shoes may claim to protect a hoof from the outside... but time and time again, it has been shown never from what's going on on the inside.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

As I say, I don't know much about feet so kept her front two because I didn't think she'd cope without them until today and didn't feel confident in my ability to help her transition after seeing another thread about going barefoot and most of it going over my head!

But now I've seen her canter over to me without a care in the world and walk happily down a stony(ish) path I feel more confident about how she'd cope!

She only had the shoes put on maybe 2 weeks ago so am I better off waiting until she's next due to let her hoof grow before going barefoot?

 

[sbloom]

I would take them off and recommend you join a good FB barefoot group, Barefoot for Whole Horse Health (or similar name) is the best one IMO, one is even run, on the sly, by a feed company so isn't unbiased! If she's sound without the shoe then take them off now, just read as much as you can about diet and conditioning, you might be lucky and not need to change anything but best to know what you're dealing with. There are good books on barefoot too.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

I would take them off and recommend you join a good FB barefoot group, Barefoot for Whole Horse Health (or similar name) is the best one IMO, one is even run, on the sly, by a feed company so isn't unbiased! If she's sound without the shoe then take them off now, just read as much as you can about diet and conditioning, you might be lucky and not need to change anything but best to know what you're dealing with. There are good books on barefoot too.

Spoke to the farrier this morning and the shoe is now off! Doing some reading now re nutrition as she is only on honeychop and pony nuts (token amount of both). Her back feet look much better now than they did 10 months ago when the back shoes came off so fingers crossed the fronts go the same way. She certainly looked fine as she trotted off to her field pals this morning! Have requested to join the group you mentioned, thank you!

 

[tallyho!]

Forearmed is forewarned.... a good book to start you off with is Nic Barker's Feet First although there may now be an updated version! horse Owners guide to Natural Hoofcare is also very good but even more technical! This will get you familiar with all the technical definitions barefooters use a lot. Also, it'll give you a good grounding for success. Much of it is knowing what to look for signs of trouble or what good feet should look like and useful feedstuffs. Not everything will apply mind you... it's very much an individual thing but having a guide does help.

The only side-effect is that you start to think a whole lot about feet than you ever did before!

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Thanks tallyho!

these are only quick shots I got this morning but how do they look? Is there anything I should be looking out for/trying to improve with next trimming?

front that lost the shoe (this was before farrier came)



Backs that have been shoeless for 10 months.

Sorry I don’t know why they have gone sideways and they are probably awful angles! she’s also standing very weirdly! Will get some better photos this evening so I can compare in a few weeks time

 

[tallyho!]

Well apart from the classic nail-hole curvature you tend to get with shod hooves that shows up very well at the coronet band, they look like great feet if a little high in the heels but that will even up and lower with time out of shoes as the digital cushion wakes up. It wouldn't surprise me if the heels were a little bit contracted... but you're right the photos aren't the best angle That will eventually even out with good trimming. They should look like to coronet on the hinds. hinds look perfectly ok.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Well apart from the classic nail-hole curvature you tend to get with shod hooves that shows up very well at the coronet band, they look like great feet if a little high in the heels but that will even up and lower with time out of shoes as the digital cushion wakes up. It wouldn't surprise me if the heels were a little bit contracted... but you're right the photos aren't the best angle That will eventually even out with good trimming. They should look like to coronet on the hinds. hinds look perfectly ok.

Thanks! I have ordered Nic Barker's Feet First so looking forward to getting clued up and obsessed with all things feet!

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

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she happily cantered over to me this afternoon plus moved beautifully on the lunge in the school ?

 

[ITPersonnage]

She's lovely, well done you. If you feel the need for a hoof friendly supplement please let me know, I have some Forage Plus looking for a home - but only if you want to go down that route obviously.

 

[CrimsonDivine]

Never hurts to give it a try imo. Failing that I'd say ask your farrier as they should know better than anyone whether your horse would be ok, word of warning though; some farriers may nay-say as this means you won't be paying them for shoes or shoding so just be careful, make sure you ask someone who is honest and truthful. If you've got a good long-term relationship with your farrier then I'm going to assume you will get the best answer from them. Either way, best of luck with it. I personally go barefoot, I'm kind of anti-shoe anyway.

 

[tallyho!]

I think if you do have a farrier that is anti, then having some self-learned background knowledge is really helpful. This will help you have a constructive discussion.

(I had two anti farriers before I finally decided to switch to an equine podiatrist. Luckily my vet was more approving! Never looked back. FYI - If you do end up going down that road make sure you do your research there too! There are many "qualifications" out there but the only two we take note of is of trimmers trained by AANHCP or UKNHCP and EPAUK. EPAUK is as of 2010 the only self-regulated body with training that surpasses the NOS by LANTRA).

 

[tallyho!]

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she happily cantered over to me this afternoon plus moved beautifully on the lunge in the school ?

LOVELY!

No issues there!

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

LOVELY!

No issues there!

few days on and still no issues. I’ve started her on a vit and mins supplement. Rode her in the school for the first time and she did seem a little tense but this could be a million other things (change in grass, was windy, first warm day and flies/pollen to name a few).

farrier happily took them off so don’t think I need to be too worried there. I’ve always been happy with her back feet that he has trimmed for the last 9 months so fingers crossed he does as good a job with the fronts. Hopefully my book will arrive and I can do some reading before her first trim so I can go armed with some knowledge!

 

[CrimsonDivine]

few days on and still no issues. I’ve started her on a vit and mins supplement. Rode her in the school for the first time and she did seem a little tense but this could be a million other things (change in grass, was windy, first warm day and flies/pollen to name a few).

farrier happily took them off so don’t think I need to be too worried there. I’ve always been happy with her back feet that he has trimmed for the last 9 months so fingers crossed he does as good a job with the fronts. Hopefully my book will arrive and I can do some reading before her first trim so I can go armed with some knowledge!

Just be sure he trims not shod, they don't need their hooves shodding and it's not well suited for riding barefoot as they tend to cut the hooves too short.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Little update! We’re now 8 weeks since taking fronts off and she had her first trim. Will take better photos when I have more time but farrier was very happy. Said her feet looked good and she had grown a fair bit of hoof. She’s been fine out hacking despite very hard ground!

So happy I did it, thanks again for everyone’s advice.

 

[Gloi]

This dry weather and hard ground are great for barefoot hooves. My pony's feet are rock hard at the moment. In winter I have to boot a bit when his feet are softer with the wet and wear a lot faster but I'm doing quite a few miles at the moment and nothing is touching his feet.

 

[tallyho!]

Nice! Keep going as you are then and don’t do too much too soon. Keep those books handy ??