Taking shoes off a horse that has worn shoes for 20 years...

[FinkleyAlex]

I have a 23yo gelding, he's been retired for about 4 years due to arthritis. I spent 3 years paying for him to have a full set of shoes on as I was scared to take his off (the one time they were taken off 8 years ago he developed laminitis - caused by stress due to box rest caused by an injury). I don't know if it was a bad coincidence or had a direct relationship but he's never had laminitis since and is maintained with minimal lifestyle changes - the only change being that he has low sugar/starch feed. A year ago while on full livery the yard decided to take off his back shoes - he coped fine and I'm wondering if its time for me to try taking off his front shoes too? I'm spending a small fortune as have two sets of shoes to pay for, he has lovely strong hooves and he's also churned up my field gateway with his shod feet over winter. He's also just lost one shoe in said gateway which seems convenient. However I'm terrified of triggering laminitis in any way - is this a big risk?

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Nope.
Laminitis is a disease, and if he has had previous, and because it is spring [grass lush and sugary] you could stable him for a few hours in the morning [sugars highest] providing him with well soaked hay which will fill his belly with fibre.
It is best to plan for this barefoot event by feeding minerals in advance, but just do it now.
Walk out in hand on a smooth hard road if he can cope, as this will stimulate and toughen the feet. You are looking for heel first landing.
Try pro earth summer balance minerals or forageplus for a month then see how he copes.
Make sure he gets no molasses/moglo as this is found in many things to make feed palatable.
Micronised linseed is good for feet, skin and joints, and condition in older horses.
He may cope straight away, ask farrier to round off the edges, look for white line disease or thrush and only trim frogs lightly as he will be using them in future.

 

[gunnergundog]

I am not a barefoot guru or 'geek' BUT I did remove shoes from my old horse of a similar age when he retired after a lifetime of eventing and hunting due to arthritis. He had had the odd period without shoes when younger when given a holiday, but that was generally over the winter out of season for eventing.

It took me a year to get him fully barefoot. The backs came off first and then when the ground was considered soft enough on the advice of my trusted farrier we took the fronts off as well. The fronts were the ones I was nervous about but, for me, everything went smoothly and I had no issues. The horse did generally have good strong feet though and thrived living out 24x7. Thrush was my biggest problem. He didn't have any fancy diet or additives.......grass, hay and a couple of handfuls of Spillers HDF nuts for catching. I kept him on poor pasture in the spring/summer.....and I do mean poor so he was walking a lot on hard baked clay soil, but his feet seemed to cope.

I kept a patch wet/muddy by the water trough to ensure he got some moisture into his feet, but that was it. Not very scientific and it probably worked more by good luck than good judgement.

 

[Evie91]

I did this with my retired mare. She had back shoes off first - all fine. 12 months later,Front shoes were struggling to hold a shoe, whenever she pulled one she made a right mess of her foot and you would think she had broken a leg the way she hobbled in. After last episode of pulling a shoe, having it put back on and then a week of box rest,as she was so sore, only to pull off again one week after being turned out we decided to take her shoes off.

For me it wasn't the easy ( or cheap option) but was struggling for an alternative. My farrier was excellent, saw her every six weeks to check progress. She was on a foot deep shavings bed, two bute a day (also for arthritis), turned out in cavello boots with boa/easy boot pads. After the first couple of days vet had to come out as she was crippled (feet so soft), agreed two bute a day and week of box rest.
Decided to keep her on the bute full time also due to arthritis. Turned out in boots every day. She made slow progress but progress she did and farrier was confident she would have been barefoot by this summer. She was fine in the boots would trot up the track, canter in the paddock. Unfortunately she was put to sleep in March due to an unrelated condition.
For me it was not cheap - bought the best food, supplements, hoof dressings, boots, pads, bute x 2 everyday, massive bed (think ten bales of shavings to start off)with rubber mats under. Was just about to buy third pair of boots (at £100 a pair) before she was put down.

From what I read on here my girl was an exceptional case, some manage the change easier.

 

[PonyIAmNotFood]

Just taken them off my mare, she's almost 24 and has had shoes for most of her life. She's footy on stones but fine on concrete/tarmac/not so big stones. She's had them off nearly a month. She's had a previous broken leg, done a tendon and got stress laminitis in her fronts but seems like she will develop good feet

 

[shergar]

I always remove shoes about six weeks after being shod and do not trim for another two weeks this will prevent the horse being foot sore from the sudden change ,this has worked very well for every horse we have taken the shoes off.

 

[FinkleyAlex]

He literally only walks from stable to field and back to his stable. For the next six months he will be living out 24/7 so can't envisage any stones or rough ground for him! The only other issue is that they've been off grass all winter (instead they've been in winter paddocks with adlib hay). They're going out into the spring fields for an hour a day to build up to 24 hour turnout. Maybe now is a risky time to try him without shoes?

 

[Puddleduck]

Mine had her shoes whipped off the day I stopped being able to ride her 2 yrs ago at the age of 23.
She'd already had a few bouts of lami due to early Cushing's at the age of 19 but none since we've had her on prascend and a managed diet.
She's had no problems with not having shoes on, turned out in the mornings on unrestricted grazing and enjoys a good run around after towing the grooms to the field (so def not "feeling" her feet lol)

 

[orbvalley]

Took shoes off mine, front and back, when I retired him at 18. Had worn shoes all his life. No problems since, he is out 24/7 and still gallops around when he wants to have a hooly.

 

[ester]

Frank had his off at 19 after a life shod. It also sounds like the lami had causes other than grass intake/susceptibility.

 

[Kezzabell2]

My 30 yr old has hers off 2 yrs ago once she was retired. I started with just backs off, to get me used to it

But her hooves are much better now

Just need to been vigilant with hoof picking to get stones out. As they can get stuck in and can crack hooves up

 

[tabithakat64]

I'm another one who says go for it. My 26 year old ex-lami mare had hers shoes off when she moved yards as she only goes from the field to the stable and back again. I was really worried that she wouldn't cope and she's been fine.

 

[FinkleyAlex]

Thanks everyone - they're going to be taken off!