taking shoes off one of my horses..?thoughts?

[amandaco2]

Hi
I am just after some opinions really

my 5yo mare has pretty poor front feet.

some may remember i posted some pictures a while back

she had an injury to one of her front heels as a youngster-she ripped off half of her heel and part of the frog-this was about 4years ago and the only evidence now is one foot one size smaller than the other and a scar on her heel and it looking badly under-run.

however BOTH of her fronts are shaped similarly-both her heels look under-run still and she has flat feet with thin soles.
she has cracks running up the hoof wall and splits in the feet coming up the hoof wall from the bottom.
i try to keep them clean and washed out and (touch wood) they have not got infected/worse.

she gets shoed every 4-5weeks (ever since ive had her, about 6months) and her feet look loads better but still not good.her shoes get loose after about 2/3weeks and thats without doing much road work.

the farrier is happy with the progress they are making.however her horn is getting very cracked and chunks are missing.

she is fed chaff,topspec comprehensive and sunflower seeds and she is usually in at night in the winter and out all day.i wash her feet a few times a week to keep thrush at bay/stop any infections in the cracks.

her back feet are naked and the hoofs are fine-the soles are much thicker and the wall looks thicker and there are no cracks.she hacks out happily on all surfaces.

she managed to pull both fronts off last week (ive popped them all out for a holiday before winter so they are out on a field 24/7) and i think i will struggle to keep her shoes on in the winter in the mud even with her getting done as often as she is.

she is sound in the field on the soft ground, but i havent taken her on the road to see how comfy she is.

i would mostly be doing school work over the winter as its too dark to hack out before/after work.i dont mind using hoof boots to hack out in.

i am wondering if i should try her without shoes for at least a while to try to stop her horn from breaking off so much with the constant nails going in and let her feet/heels recover a bit?

i have got experience of taking horses from shod to barefoot as my TBx mare made the transition-she had been shod from 4years old to about 14years old.shes now 18 and her feet are loads better.however her feet are not as flat or sensitive as this mares.

any thoughts?i can psot some pictures if that would help.

 

[brightmount]

I would say go for it. Traditionally horses were given a break from shoes during the winter months. Last spring my farrier said he had just come from a polo yard where all the ponies had been barefoot through the winter and their feet were amazing.

I've got one horse that has been barefoot 3 years. She was originally a remedial case, and it saved her from the scrap heap. My daughter's horse is shod because she is in training but in an ideal world she could do with a break from shoes.

If you're not going straight out and competing, but are willing to give the horse a rest and only gradually increase the work, then it would be a worthwhile time to give it a go. Of course in hoof boots, you can still do most of the work you're already doing.

 

[Vixxy]

What harm would it be to try with her?

My Welsh A is barefoot and has been for 5 years, my Dutch Sports horse is bare on backs has shoes when in work on fronts and copes well with that.

I have a new BWB mare who was shod just on the front but was not coping well so we have now put backs on and she is much better.

I think it depends on the horse and workload tbh, my mare is in hard work (competing jumping and dressage) where as the others are more for hacks and a little schooling.

I do not think you would lose anything to try and see how it goes, if it does not work out you can have her shod again.

 

[amandaco2]

i think i will try her without until summer, unless she is sore on the grass, and take it from there.i am planning to take her out competing but if her feet improve i dont mind easing back on the work to let her get acustomed
i am planing to start her jumping in spring and do a few walk/trot and prelim over winter/spring.