HeresHoping
Well-Known Member
Beloved Barefooters
I follow your posts avidly (and read the Rockley Blog, etc). When the gurt big doofus in my avatar broke, I took his shoes off. I gave him as little sugar as possible in the form of A&P's Fast Fibre, Dengie HiFi Molasses Free, micronized Linseed and some Brewers Yeast. I didn't invest heavily in supplements because he was broken and out at grass. I nevertheless marvelled at the changes in his feet. His underrun heels with sulci as deep as the Grand Canyon grew backwards; his hoof-pastern angles improved no end. I gave my farrier Paddington Bear stares when she tried to remove the flare from his near hind - he had torn that suspensory, as well as crushing his lumbo-sacral joint. She didn't. The flare grew and then worked itself off again. His front feet, always odd sizes thanks to some strange farriery grew to be even. In fact, his feet grew like billy-o. BUT. He was out at grass. When he wasn't out at grass, he was standing on pea gravel or walking over concrete.
I'm writing about my little Connie. She's an ex broodmare ( from age 6) and has been back in work since September 2013. She's 15 this year. We do some low level stuff - compete up to elementary in unaffiliated stressage, do the odd showjumping round at about 3' (1m in new money), and will hopefully pop around an 80cm BE some time soon. We might even chase after the Zetland come October for a couple of hours on a Saturday.
I want to take her shoes off. I think I know enough but I'm having a bit of a wobble. We don't have pea gravel or miles of concrete. We do have good roads and tracks.
She has 'good' feet, the farrier says. But I don't like the way she's standing any more. In fact, I've noticed a change over the last three shoeings (I didn't own her then, I was just her jockey). Her heels are starting to get under-run, the heel first landing is not so obvious, and she's turning her off-fore out very slightly. She's not lame. I've owned her outright since 23 December and she was shod about 6 weeks ago. I was ticked off that the farrier came to shoe her for the first time and didn't even trot her up to see how she moved. I was even more ticked off when she came out of the stable with hot feet the next morning - never happened before. I just think she'd benefit from being allowed to grow her own.
So, my questions:
1 Is now the wrong time to do this (spring grass and all)? She's worked 5 - 6 times per week (usually) - schooling 3 days, hacking on roads and off for the other three, plenty of roadwork). She's out during the day in a 7 acre field with 4 others and a herd of sheep so the grass doesn't really get an opportunity to grow at the rate of knots. Some of the field is scrub. She's in at night and has a net of wrapped hay (didn't quite make haylage status, I think it was rescued from the wet).
2 I feed A&P FF - just under 1 stubbs scoop spread over 2 feeds - the minimum she can have to get all the pre- and pro-biotics and vits to support her system. She did have Dengie HiFi Molasses-free in that, but she doesn't really like it. I feed about 250g micronized linseed in the winter if she needs it. This year she hasn't because whilst I moved up here, she wasn't doing very much work. She's a (very) good doer. Should I stick with this, or drop it?
3 I'm just about to order some Progressive Earth Pro Hoof. Do I need to order anything else? Salt? Magnesium Chloride? She's also on Riaflex (thanks, AdorableAlice, for the heads up) because she's not a spring chicken, exactly.
4 Her feet are due to be done on 18 March. If I take her shoes off, am I supposed to not work her and do a load of in-hand work for 10 minutes at a time with gradual build up over different surfaces (which I don't exactly have), or can I just boot her up and get on with it?
I know I should look on Phoenix and I will, but I'd be so very grateful if you could let me have some sort of steer.
Thank you so much.
I follow your posts avidly (and read the Rockley Blog, etc). When the gurt big doofus in my avatar broke, I took his shoes off. I gave him as little sugar as possible in the form of A&P's Fast Fibre, Dengie HiFi Molasses Free, micronized Linseed and some Brewers Yeast. I didn't invest heavily in supplements because he was broken and out at grass. I nevertheless marvelled at the changes in his feet. His underrun heels with sulci as deep as the Grand Canyon grew backwards; his hoof-pastern angles improved no end. I gave my farrier Paddington Bear stares when she tried to remove the flare from his near hind - he had torn that suspensory, as well as crushing his lumbo-sacral joint. She didn't. The flare grew and then worked itself off again. His front feet, always odd sizes thanks to some strange farriery grew to be even. In fact, his feet grew like billy-o. BUT. He was out at grass. When he wasn't out at grass, he was standing on pea gravel or walking over concrete.
I'm writing about my little Connie. She's an ex broodmare ( from age 6) and has been back in work since September 2013. She's 15 this year. We do some low level stuff - compete up to elementary in unaffiliated stressage, do the odd showjumping round at about 3' (1m in new money), and will hopefully pop around an 80cm BE some time soon. We might even chase after the Zetland come October for a couple of hours on a Saturday.
I want to take her shoes off. I think I know enough but I'm having a bit of a wobble. We don't have pea gravel or miles of concrete. We do have good roads and tracks.
She has 'good' feet, the farrier says. But I don't like the way she's standing any more. In fact, I've noticed a change over the last three shoeings (I didn't own her then, I was just her jockey). Her heels are starting to get under-run, the heel first landing is not so obvious, and she's turning her off-fore out very slightly. She's not lame. I've owned her outright since 23 December and she was shod about 6 weeks ago. I was ticked off that the farrier came to shoe her for the first time and didn't even trot her up to see how she moved. I was even more ticked off when she came out of the stable with hot feet the next morning - never happened before. I just think she'd benefit from being allowed to grow her own.
So, my questions:
1 Is now the wrong time to do this (spring grass and all)? She's worked 5 - 6 times per week (usually) - schooling 3 days, hacking on roads and off for the other three, plenty of roadwork). She's out during the day in a 7 acre field with 4 others and a herd of sheep so the grass doesn't really get an opportunity to grow at the rate of knots. Some of the field is scrub. She's in at night and has a net of wrapped hay (didn't quite make haylage status, I think it was rescued from the wet).
2 I feed A&P FF - just under 1 stubbs scoop spread over 2 feeds - the minimum she can have to get all the pre- and pro-biotics and vits to support her system. She did have Dengie HiFi Molasses-free in that, but she doesn't really like it. I feed about 250g micronized linseed in the winter if she needs it. This year she hasn't because whilst I moved up here, she wasn't doing very much work. She's a (very) good doer. Should I stick with this, or drop it?
3 I'm just about to order some Progressive Earth Pro Hoof. Do I need to order anything else? Salt? Magnesium Chloride? She's also on Riaflex (thanks, AdorableAlice, for the heads up) because she's not a spring chicken, exactly.
4 Her feet are due to be done on 18 March. If I take her shoes off, am I supposed to not work her and do a load of in-hand work for 10 minutes at a time with gradual build up over different surfaces (which I don't exactly have), or can I just boot her up and get on with it?
I know I should look on Phoenix and I will, but I'd be so very grateful if you could let me have some sort of steer.
Thank you so much.