Taking a tb barefoot?

J

Jim bob

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 March 2015
Messages
335
Visit site
I realise I have already posted one thread tonight in this section of the forum, but wanted to post another too.

My boy has typical poor tb feet, long toe, under run / flat heels etc.

Most of the farriers, friends near me and myself at one time said my boy would never go barefoot and that he would always need shoes. As he comes in like he has had a broken leg when in fact he is only missing a shoe. However , a friend has said before in the winter just to take his shoes off and give him a break. Give his feet chance to recover. I have always umm and ahh. He is my first horse and eventhough I have learnt a lot about equine medicine . Getting a tb barefoot, I haven't. I aren't surrounded by a lot of support, or knowledgeable people . The yard I am at were all in our teens or 20s.

He does have soundness issues. I believe this is due to the poor feet, mainly long toe and under run heels that he has.

I know diet is a massive factor with horses feet, however my boy is a poor doer. I currently have him on a diet that does keep the weight on without blowing his head but together its around 20% starch. My thoughts have crossed to Rockely. I have emailed Nic regarding this aswell. However I seem to be at a bit of a T junction in terms of what to do next. I would love to keep him at home, mine to nics is a 5 journey. However I wouldn't really know how to go about the tranisition period. Would I boot him up if he was to come out of shoes, to get off the yard and to the field, its gravel? Do I boot him to work him he shoes are first removed? I am very much up for learning.

Any advice. Whether you have taken your horses barefoot yourself, or been to rockely, price would be good too. If your in a situation like me. Any advice is much appreciated
 
Jim bob said:
I realise I have already posted one thread tonight in this section of the forum, but wanted to post another too.

My boy has typical poor tb feet, long toe, under run / flat heels etc.

Most of the farriers, friends near me and myself at one time said my boy would never go barefoot and that he would always need shoes. As he comes in like he has had a broken leg when in fact he is only missing a shoe. However , a friend has said before in the winter just to take his shoes off and give him a break. Give his feet chance to recover. I have always umm and ahh. He is my first horse and eventhough I have learnt a lot about equine medicine . Getting a tb barefoot, I haven't. I aren't surrounded by a lot of support, or knowledgeable people . The yard I am at were all in our teens or 20s.

He does have soundness issues. I believe this is due to the poor feet, mainly long toe and under run heels that he has.

I know diet is a massive factor with horses feet, however my boy is a poor doer. I currently have him on a diet that does keep the weight on without blowing his head but together its around 20% starch. My thoughts have crossed to Rockely. I have emailed Nic regarding this aswell. However I seem to be at a bit of a T junction in terms of what to do next. I would love to keep him at home, mine to nics is a 5 journey. However I wouldn't really know how to go about the tranisition period. Would I boot him up if he was to come out of shoes, to get off the yard and to the field, its gravel? Do I boot him to work him he shoes are first removed? I am very much up for learning.

Any advice. Whether you have taken your horses barefoot yourself, or been to rockely, price would be good too. If your in a situation like me. Any advice is much appreciated
Click to expand...

Go on to my profile, and have a look at my posts/threads. Also see if some of the photos I posted in my albums of my boys feet are still there and how they compare with yours. I've learnt more about feet in the last 3 months than I have in 15 years of having horses. I used to think bad feet were a pain from the pointing of view that keeping shoes on them is difficult if the hoof wall is rubbish. I had no idea of the problems they could then cause :(

With regards to taking your TB barefoot, I watched my vet remove my boys shoes for his MRI two weeks ago and nearly cried. He was at hospital and couldn't stand comfortably on his shavings bed, he kept shifting his weight from each foot. Vet basically just looked at me as an answer to "can this horse go barefoot". Well he's been barefoot since and is now fine on the bedding (though I put a nappy on his foot to stop it compacting into his soles as they are so thin and have suffered bruising recently from him escaping and walking over a load of awful stones) and walking around in the field pretty damn comfortably. I boot him to get him to the field and then take them off, boot him to get him back. His soles flex with thumb pressure and the track to get him there has a load of really sharp nasty stones (if yours is literally gravel, as in a gravel driveway. should be fine?)

If your boy is a poor doer and has any ulcer symptoms I'd be getting him scoped.

Rockley is about £175 a week, I asked the other week but can't remember if its 170 or 175.

Good luck!
 
First sort the diet. Then get boots you can pad very well. He's going to need them. Rockley is great but not cheap and if you were going to send him there it wouldn't hurt to prepare him first by getting these things started so he got maximum benefit from it. However you need to "bare" in mind that you need to make and continue these changes anyway.
 
The gravel is .. well standard gravel though does have a few big sharpish stones around. What boots would you suggest? He was out of shoes, on his fronts for around 3-4 weeks and even though he was still quite sore on the gravel trotted up sound on the road which really shocked me, how sound he was! Diet wise I am thinking of ; speedi beet, dengie pellets, mirco linseed or cool stance copra and pro hoof. Is there any good time to take him bare?? I aren't sure my insurance would pay out, currently having a fight with them about things! so I would be funding it and yes it is a lot of money!
 
Change the diet now, over ten days. There is no reason why he should lose weight, I am not sure why you think it would? No molasses.

DIET
Forage: ad lib hay and or or soaked haylage, you should also soak hay as this will remove sugars,.
Add minerals soaking removes minerals so it is essential . Use minerals designed for barefoot horses.,
Add micronised linseed 200 gms for condition and for feet.
Soaked non molassed sugar beet pulp or copra or fast fibre.
Non molassed chaff, more fibre, more texture.
Salt 25gms, use the unprocessed stuff with no additives.

EXERCISE
Walk on a variety of surfaces, if sore, walk on tarmac, in hand, build it up slowly as horse tells you.

EDUCATION
You should spend an hour per day every day, on Rockley Farm, learning the basics, its essential you understand what is happening.

EFFORT
Be prepared to help your horse and support him through the transition, this often means changing management to suit him. There is no reason to stop working him eg if he is sound in the arena you may lunge him for example.
Check feet every day, use a brush to examine them, make sure farrier only rasps, the hoof needs to grow, the frog needs to develop, so trimming is minimal, if at all.
 
Last edited:
Bonkers2 said:
Change the diet now, over ten days. There is no reason why he should lose weight, I am not sure why you think it would? No molasses.

EXERCISE
Walk on a variety of surfaces, if sore, walk on tarmac, in hand, build it up slowly as horse tells you.

EDUCATION
You should spend an hour per day every day, on Rockley Farm, learning the basics, its essential you understand what is happening.

EFFORT
Be prepared to help your horse and support him through the transition, this often means changing management to suit him. There is no reason to stop working him eg if he is sound in the arena you may lunge him for example.
Check feet every day, use a brush to examine them, make sure farrier only rasps, the hoof needs to grow, the frog needs to develop, so trimming is minimal, if at all.
Click to expand...

I meant in winter regarding him losing weight.
In regards to the tarmac, we have stony gravel, roads and some open fields, around 5 mins away with some stoney tracks. No tarmac. If he is sore would you continue to work him? Or work him on surfaces he finds comfortable? with boots or without? Also would I need boots in the field, again we have gravel track going to the fields, or would I just need boots to and from the field? That shall be fun is winter lol.

Thanks for the advice so far everyone :)
 
It is easier in winter because you have greater control of his intake, don't let him lose too much weight is better than waiting till he has lost too much. If you are in the Northern hemisphere it is now officially spring.
Don't make life hard for him, use boots on gravel or anywhere he is sore.
He should manage in the field.
Start the diet now as this will help.
Start off with minimal exercise in hand and use common sense, trying to work them on rough surfaces is not going to do anything other than make them sore.
Over time things should improve, if you want to feel like he does, take off your shoes around the house, and go out on the the pavement, if you continue to do this every day you will find it easier. I had a meniscal problem, and had to go barefoot in the house for a while, it is surprising how the foot relaxes once the initial tenderness is over.
Walking in hand is something you need to be prepared to do for a while.
 
Last edited:
Okay so how long would I be in hand walking him for , roughly? a month? would it be just on surfaces he fines easy? Need to go read nics blog!
 
Jim bob said:
Okay so how long would I be in hand walking him for , roughly? a month? would it be just on surfaces he fines easy? Need to go read nics blog!
Click to expand...

There is no timescale, every horse is different. I thought mine wouldn't be comfy in the field without boots for months at least, 3 weeks in and he's fine barefoot in the field (and this is a horse that couldn't cope with shavings barefoot...).
 
Jim bob said:
Okay so how long would I be in hand walking him for , roughly? a month? would it be just on surfaces he fines easy? Need to go read nics blog!
Click to expand...
It depends, use common sense, it will be obvious when he is sore, so you build up exercise as you would with anything.
You start off walking him from the farrier to the stable, or maybe farrier will remove shoes in the field. Every horse is different.
Some horses can be ridden straight away, some need time to adjust. The point of walking in hand is that it is allowing him to balance naturally, and adjust to the surface.
I used to allow my horse to select his route up stone tracks for a year or so after his barefootedness, in year two he was able to go anywhere reasonable.
 
Another good site for you to look at is the Phoenix Horse Forum (phoenixhorse.myfastforum.org). There is a lot of information on taking horses barefoot, diets, exercise and boots. Also a lot of friendly people who are always willing to give helpful advice.
 
Hello, I've recently took my TB barefoot and like you she had long toe ,low heel, thin soles, and already compromised due to KS,SI,PSD and arthrictic hocks I feel her own balanced foot ,less concussion to joint is the perfect reason to persist .To begin with she was sore and we've had our ups and downs ( reaction to being wormed, steroid injections to hocks, ulcers) but a good pair of boots and pads happy days. Backs are fab fronts a still a work in progress. Start with a good diet low sugar/starch ad lib forage and a good hoof sup,Pro hoof,Forage plus. And encourage movement and a knowledgeable EP,Trimmer or Farrier who is barefoot savvy. Barefoot FB page is great and look at Hoof Geek blog/FB she's really great and very helpful . Good luck :) xx
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top