Should you pick out horses feet every day?

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sydney02

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I have always thought you should and I do mine 3 times a day (when she comes out of her stable first thing, after she's been worked, and when she comes in from the field). She can get really kicky with her legs being touched when she's in season so I like to keep doing them in our routine.

I was talking to someone on my yard and she said that she could bring my horse in for me so she'd get longer out and I said no because I want her to have her feet done before she goes to bed, and the person said they don't have to be done everyday..

I would always do them at least once a day, even if my horse was barefoot.

What are your opinions...?
 
I am also 3 X a day. Infections thrive in an airless environment, so I pick them and scrub with a dry brush to allow air to all underside surfaces.

Besides, it is an opportunity to inspect, there could be something wrong with leg or foot and I inspect both when picking.

Having said that as a one off, as long as it was picked in the morning I would be OK with missing one evening if it made my life run smoothly. But no, not as a regular thing.
 
I can't be bothered these days. I don't shoe, so nothing really gets stuck and I go by the way their hooves land to gauge their hoof health. I'd know in an instant if there was an issue without ever having to pick up a foot.
 
i do mine before and after riding and always before they go to bed every day, i like to keep an eye on them, both are barefoot, i have friends here who hardly ever look at theirs if they aren't riding but i like to check for dryness , thrush etc.
 
My boys, are both without shoes. My Shetland has his feet done before bed every night. My Arab has his done before a ride, after a ride and before bed.
 
I don't do everyday but do pick out feet before exercise. Mine are all barefoot living out 24/7 and are an active bunch, there's hardly ever anything to clear out.
 
I'm the same as catroo, but I usually do mine after riding, especially if I have been on gravel or crusher dust. It can be a bit sharp here and get stuck in places you don't want it.
 
Ours get picked out two or three times a day - not only for hygiene, but also because I think it is good for the youngsters so that they are good for the farrier.

If they are turned away I wouldn't usually pick their feet out every day.
 
I only pick them out if when I bring them in from the field. They are both barefoot and live out 24/7 in the summer and in winter they are in over night. They are ridden about 5 times a week all year.
 
my 6 year old is done when she comes in to be ridden

the 3 year olds are turned away but if they come in i do them or of course when they have the farrier.

In the winter everything is done when they come in for the night
 
Mine are all unshod and I admit I don't do them every day these days, but always before and after going out. Rarely o that with any these days either.

I feel very guilty though.
 
At least once a day picked out brushed with wire brush and grit picked out of white line of those without shoes .
 
I am super anal about it. Mine are all barefoot and always get don't at least twice a day. Can't imagine how awful it would be having a stone stuck!

When I was on a DIY livery yard there was a winter rule that horses had to be in by 5, which I couldn't do because of work. I arranged to pay someone to bring in and specifically discussed how anal I am about feet being done but STILL I would have to come up in the evening and do it myself! Drove me up the wall!
 
Yes I think so, I do it about 3 times a day, before turnout, after turnout and before and after riding. Means I can check shoes are all ok (shod in front), check for stones, check for chips/ rough edges on back feet and saves me trailing dirty bedding or expensive school surface all over the yard. No one else seems to bother though or if they do they pick out feet into a clean bed or in the barn aisle - do it into a skip bucket for gawds sake - why make more mess!?
 
Always after work and usually before, as both are unshod so I am very careful to check for small stones and grit after roads and tracks. But not every day if they are not working, though still regularly. They are out 24/7. If on box rest then daily or twice daily. No point letting thrush take hold or missing something nasty for the sake of a few minutes.
 
Always when he comes in, without fail. Any horse I bring in gets them done, no way am I leaving stones in and it's easy for them to be there, even on barefoot horses.
 
Given some of the delightful things I sometimes find in there (nails, broken glass, many varieties of stone... can you guess we hack in some fun places?) I tend to do them every morning and after every hack (If I've just been in arena I don't bother unless there's obviously a large stone or something wedged there). If I've just put field paste on then I tend to just do a stone check for a few days so the paste sticks around as long as possible and has time to work.
 
Mine get picked out before riding and if we go for a hack I'll do them again after riding. She's on full livery and YO will pick them out when she comes in from the field too.
 
It was always twice a day for me, when she was eating her bucket feeds. One time she came in, sound as a pound, with a huge nail sticking embedded in her frog. If I hadn't kept to my rule I wouldn't have found it until the next day and it could have been very nasty. I have never been a supporter of the theory that if its standing on all four legs then there is nothing wrong, but I know plenty of people who think driving past the field their horse is turned out in is an adequate check.
 
When I bring him in, when I'm about to ride, when I've just ridden... He's a share horse so I'm probably far more obssessive than I would be if he was my own. He doesn't have the greatest feet in the world, so I like to really monitor the state of them.

Of course, sod's law, the one time I DIDN'T check when I brought him in was the one time there was something wrong, even though he was completely sound!
 
Mine are out 24/7 unshod and I only do their feet about once a week (which includes a really thorough clean, tidy up with a radius rasp, red horse artimud in the collateral grooves etc.). I always pick them out after going out on the roads just to check for foreign bodies.

It depends so much on the horse though, when I first took my cobs shoes off I was picking them out about 4 times a day as he had poor feet, in particular stretched white lines which got stones in and thrushy frogs with deep central sulci. Now I have his diet and weight sorted out these are no longer a problem.

I would always pick out the feet at least once a day if a horse was being stabled at any point or the field was small and / or not regularly poo picked, just for hygiene reasons.
 
We pick out hooves when we ride or groom, so several times a week. They are all out and unshod. When I got our newest lad he had terrible thrush (and, as it turned out, abcesses in both front feet that went on for months) so we spent a very long time bent over the hoofpick, but he's grand now.
 
I'm a bit obsessed with picking out feet to help combat thrush and keep an eye on them, I'm a firm believer of 'no foot no horse' !
 
I truly don't understand why anyone would clean the mud out of their horses feet when they bring it in at night so that it can stand on a bed and replace the compacted mud with dung and urine. That seems totally crazy to me. On the very rare occasions that I do pick them out which is to trim them I immediately put them back in the field to compact some more mud back in them. That also gives support to the back of the foot.

I clean the WL daily on the ridden barefoot horses to make sure there is no gravel stuck but apart from that nothing gets it's feet cleaned. I have used this regime for a long time and far less thrush problems that way.

I ride the barefoot horses over stoney tracks daily and that "rasps" the frogs.
 
paddy
I do the same as you, my horses are unshod & have never had any issues, I'm 49 have had horses all my life & have never had a single abcess, thrush or foot problem.
I also regulary ride on stoney tracks & they walk over stones as if they are on cotton wool, so I won't be making any changes.
A farrier trims their feet for me & he thinks their feet are fine, so I'm happy
 
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