Taking shoes off...

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letrec_fan

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Any experiences with having them taken off? I sometimes think my horse would benefit without because the nails seem to crack his feet. He never seems to get rid of the cracks right at the bottom of his feet. We have been feeding him hoof supplement for a few months now so I just wondered what other people thought about taking shoes off..

My old loan pony had no shoes but he was a hardy new forest so slightly different to an ex racer!
 
my exracer came to me out of racing, i had her backs taken off, but kept fronts on, so far she seems fine with the transition. I did mine cos she was only 3 at the time, and thought she was to young to be fully shod, having been shod from age of 2 wanted to giver her hooves a rest.

but i think tbf you wont know till you try, but then some horses cope better than others
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I have three - a 3/4 TB, a 1/2 TB and a full TB. I've taken them all out of shoes, not because there was anything wrong, just because I prefer it, and none of them even seemed to notice the transition. I kept riding them all the same amount, I was just a bit more careful about the surface they were on. They all have boots to go on the rough forest tracks that I use for hacking, but at times of the year when the ground is soft they generally go barefoot on those too. Their feet are all nice and crack-free, and very rarely even chip. Feet First is a good book to look at if you're interested in barefoot.
 
I took the shoes off my ID when i moved and she is doing great. She has had a very easy time recently it must do there feet good not having them on. When we get the farrier out next i think i might just get her fronts put back on. I am undecided.
If you take them off they are easy enough to get put back on if the horse isnt happy!
 
I have a 3 yr old pb section D who i hope to keep barefoot and an exracer who i took shoes off last year because she was injured and thought i'd give her feet a break which the Farrier was quite in favour of, i brought her back into work barefoot but did feel she wasn't stepping through as much without shoes, (think it was more mental than physical) so put shoes back on and i have to say her feet have never been better she hasn't lost a shoe for years! Give it a go why not!
 
Last year I took my girls shoes off over winter a she kept pulling them off and it was costing me a fortune! and she was fine whilst the ground was sot, but as soon as it hardened up she needed fronts back on, and this year whilst I've been doing more road work I've left them on. So by all means try it, but you have to be prepared to put them back on as soon as your horse seem uncomfortable IMO.
 
My ex-racer is just coming back into work after nearly 4 months off whilst I had my baby/recovered! I had his all taken off to give his feet a break. I'd discussed it with my farrier as I was concerned that he wouldn't cope as he is typically a little flat footed, but we decided to give it a go. He was a bit 'footy' for a week or so but the ground was nice and soft to ease the transition. He has been absolutely fine since.

I brought him back into work (mainly hacking) about a month ago and he has been brilliant on most surfaces except gravelly/rough terrain. As I have to ride over this occasionally I have just had him shod with fronts. His feet are fantastic!! I think its one of the best things I've done for him.

You mention that his hooves are a little cracked at the bottom and without seeing them its difficult to comment on if they'd cope. I would advise you to discuss it with your farrier and give it a go if he thinks its a possibility - you can always have them back on if it doesn't work out.
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Took my old girls off last time the farrier came out as she is now off work with lameness/ringbone. She's coped very well.
 
My ex racer came to me then had a foal and had her shoes taken off then, this was 2 years ago and I am bringing her back into work now and she is fine, I'm getting fronts put on her on Thursday as she is slightly footy when out hacking but I am hoping to keep it as just fronts
 
Quote "So by all means try it, but you have to be prepared to put them back on as soon as your horse seem uncomfortable"

OR

find out why your horse failed to become comfortable or became less comfortable than it had been. Almost always, it'll be the diet.

Many owners will find that their horses have been fine over the winter but go footie in spring or summer. In this case, the first port of call is to remove them from grass during daylight hours.

Many horses can't cope with the sugar added to commercial feeds and supplements. Even those described as safe for laminitics have added sugar. Check your white bag labels for molasses, wheat syrup and corn syrup and remove anything that's got it.

Get the mineral balance right. Feet First, the book you have been recommended will tell you about that.

Barefoot feet are very short. If you have the shoes taken off don't be surprised if the bottom edge cracks off completely if your farrier fails to remove it. It's how the horse wants them. Buy yourself a good rasp and tidy up any chips to stop them tearing bigger bits off with them.
 
I quite agree about the try it option! We have a 14hh coloured pony, who has never been shod... She does affiliated showing, hunts, hacks on the roads and jumps on pretty much any surface and tbh has better condition feet than any of my others that have shoes on. There seems to be a little bit of a stigma attached to bare-foot horses in that they can't do the same amount of work than shod horses, however if it works stick with it! From a movement point of view, you might find that without shoes, he movement becomes more expressive due to the lack of weight on his feet. None of ours have back shoes on, more from a safety point of view and I don't think they need them, why waste money when a horse can be perfectly happy without shoes?! Best of luck anyhow. xxx
 
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