Taking a horse barefoot with only a muddy field

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catherine22

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I've been thinking out taking my horse barefoot for a while now. He is currently in graduated bar shoes in front and wedges with normal shoes behind, and I'm sure he can do a much better job growing his own feet.
He was lame last week with a suspected abscess so one on his front shoes was taken off, no abscess found and a week later after 2 farrier and a vets visit we seem to be sound again.
I had to ride him today, under vets instructions without his shoe to see how sound he was or if being ridden would cause a flare up (it didn't) but he was competely sound on Tarmac, squashed small gravel and on grass even on his bare foot, this has made me think about it even more.
If I decided to take the plunge would it be better to do backs first then fronts or do it all at once?
The main thing holding me back, is that he lives out in a currently very muddy field, will it be possible to condition his feet when they're wet and muddy all the time apart from when he's ridden/exercised? I can hire a sand school to ride in and can hack over any terrain I need to in the New Forest or round the roads. Should I wait until it all dries up but when I'll want to be riding more or take the plunge now or wait until I can save up to send him to rockley or just keep him shod?
 
Yes, it's possible. I do Endurance with mine barefoot, and he lives out 24/7 in a muddy paddock. You just have to be careful that you build up the foot-conditioning work gradually, and boot if necessary.
 
catherine22 said:
The main thing holding me back, is that he lives out in a currently very muddy field, will it be possible to condition his feet when they're wet and muddy all the time apart from when he's ridden/exercised? I can hire a sand school to ride in and can hack over any terrain I need to in the New Forest or round the roads. Should I wait until it all dries up but when I'll want to be riding more or take the plunge now or wait until I can save up to send him to rockley or just keep him shod?
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If you have the forest to ride in I would give it a go and see how you get on. Bear in mind that if he lives in a very muddy field then IF it freezes hard that will become very harsh and rutted and will not be an easy surface for his newly deshod feet to move around on. It is not a problem for many barefoot horses whose feet are tough enough to cope but it can be for new ones.
 
paddy555 said:
If you have the forest to ride in I would give it a go and see how you get on. Bear in mind that if he lives in a very muddy field then IF it freezes hard that will become very harsh and rutted and will not be an easy surface for his newly deshod feet to move around on. It is not a problem for many barefoot horses whose feet are tough enough to cope but it can be for new ones.
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Good point on the frozen ground!
 
catherine22 said:
Thanks both, nice to know it *should* be possible. Would you recommend doing hinds first or going in at the deep end and doing all 4?
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there are arguments for both. Sand schools can wear feet and when the shoes come off he will have to learn to grow sufficient foot to keep up with wear. That process can take a little time.

Hinds don't usually cause that many problems, the fronts may do. So you could either remove the hinds, give him a couple of months and then take the fronts off and accept booting in front may be a good idea.
The reason to boot in front, even with the forest riding, would be so that he can be exercised.

Only when the fronts come off will you find the problems. He may sail through it or he may not and be foot sore in which case you would need to start looking to diet. In your case that will be in spring and he will be on 24/7 grass. You may have to restrict that (or maybe not). I would be thinking if you had to can you put a track around the field or how could you manage him.

Exercise is vital. Ultimately it is what build good strong barefeet but in the meantime it is needed to control weight and keep him healthy hence the riding and booting (if needed)

barefoot works best with planning.

I would spend the next month or so planning until you see what the weather does. In the meantime you can do lots of preparation, get rid of any sugary feeds, zap the thrush. Thrush can make an unshod horse very sore. Then work out how you would manage him if you needed to restrict grass, and read everything you can. Try the www.hoofrehab.com articles. There is a lot of reading in there but it will help you decide if you think this is a good idea for your horse.
 
I would start straight away on the diet with a view to having all off in about six weeks, I would start with Pro Hoof if there is any doubt about hoof health, if he has good feet then go straight on to pro balancer or similar, but you have to introduce it over a week as it can be rejected.
Linseed meal from Charnwood Milling or local, 100gms per day, and make sure there is no molasses/moglo in feed.
Some horse do fine with only Hi fibre cubes, but when starting out I think you need to go "Belt and Braces"
Read up all about it in Rockley Farm, you can ask for their advice especially if you are thinking your horse needs re-hab, but almost certainly, the first thing Nic will do is remove the shoes if he goes there.
Try to get a video like the ones on Rockley.
In the long term, the money you save on shoes could be used to improve muddy areas or create tracks.
 
Thanks all, because he is on livery unfortunately the yard owner isn't very keen on me putting other surfaces in, I've already asked about wood chipping (or similar for the gateways) but equally I am looking to move so this may no longer be an issue. I have lots of electric fencing tho so can make whatever shapes I need to in the field. I am seeing the farrier this week so will also ask his advice

He is already on Pro Hoof and Linseed and is fed Winergy conditioning with adlib haylage. I've got the Feet First book and was thinking of ordering some of the red horse field paste (I think that's what it was called) to make sure we have no thrush.

Decisions decisions
 
As others have said, yes it is possible to do it in this weather, it just needs a bit more careful management of the process. Is he stabled? Having the use of a nice dry stable to bring him into will certainly help him. Personally, if you have the shoes off now and he seems sound on Tarmac, there is no point in putting them back on just to take off in a few weeks time. I would leave them all off seeing as he is sound. I'm assuming the farrier trimmed him when they came off, in which case measure him up for a set of boots (you can find instructions on this on the web). Overhaul his diet, start making any adjustments necessary. Some people do not like it but others swear by it, keratex hoof hardener is always something I would like to keep stock whenever I transitioned a horse, painted on the soles (not the frog or bulb) it just helps to harden them that little bit while the horse is adjusting, it can be used daily, but I never needed to use it more than once or twice a week and only for the first month or so, but then I never booted up so this was really useful for hacking on stony ground.
 
He doesn't have a stable but my friend does let me use hers if I need it so I could bring him in for a couple of hours to let his feet dry out some days.

He currently has 3 shoes on, vet is agreeable that I get the farrier out to take them all off (theres still a tiny bit of heat left in the foot he was lame on) to let his feet settle down. He's suggested for a month or so at the moment but once they're off I'm hoping they'll stay off

What changes should I be looking to make? He is on Pro Hoof and Linseed and is fed Winergy conditioning with adlib haylage
 
spookypony said:
Yes, it's possible. I do Endurance with mine barefoot, and he lives out 24/7 in a muddy paddock. You just have to be careful that you build up the foot-conditioning work gradually, and boot if necessary.
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x2. Also endurance ride out of a paddock that is a muddy, if not under water, three months of the year. Hate winter.
 
Mine lives out 24/7 year round in a wet Scottish field. The mud does tend to be confined to the gate area, but then they also choose to stand there to snooze!

I manage fine - I am obsessive about getting him as much exercise on hard ground as possible, so try to get him out for minimum a few miles on tarmac every day.

The other thing experience has taught me is that the hooves do fabulous even on soft ground provided I get the minerals right. I had a mineral blip over the last few weeks - couldn't understand why he was starting to feel stones again... then realised I'd miscalculated minerals and had only been feeding 10% of what my forage test suggested for a few months. Five days into proper minerals again, and he was out yesterday with a spring in his step again.

So it can be done, but you do face a few additional challenges :)
 
I would say with regards to changes, switch to ad lib hay from haylage for a lower sugar content, take out the winergy conditioning. Continue with linseed but compensate if you need condition by upping the amount of this and adding additional oil, I personally like soya oil. Continue with pro hoof and add something like fibre cubes/fast fibre/ unmolassed hi if, you could also use speedie beet to help with weight if you need.

My boy is on ultra grass which is spring grass cut and dried with a soya oil coating, and speedie beet with a vitamin and mineral supplement.


The ultra grass is higher than reccomended in sugars, (8% I think) however feeding alfalfa at a rate of 2 scoops a day in the winter doesn't work for my boy, some horses are sensitive to it. As a result I switched to ultra grass. Since bens RDA for dry weight is a whopping 4kg, when I calculate his actual feed weight it's only about 1.5 kg as he has 3/4 scoop of speedie beet (750g) before soaking and 1.5 scoops of grass (max weight 700g). So I'm able to get away with feeding something slightly higher than ideal in sugar.

He is actually doing far better on this than last year when he was on speedie beet, linseed, soya oil and alfa a oil.

As long as you predominantly choose low sugar (under 5%) and low starch (no higher than 10%) feeds that are fibre feeds, and oil for condition, you shouldn't go wrong.
 
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