cptrayes
Well-Known Member
First some requests. This thread is for serious information for people who want to know it. Please everyone stay reasonable in your responses, be polite to other posters and keep calm, nothing in this refers to you personally or your horse personally. The use of qualifying words like some or most means just that - some, or most ie not ALL. If your particular horse didnt fit what the text is about, its just one of the not some or not most and does not prove anything by itself. It looks very likely that most does not mean that the main statement is not true just because you personally can find an example that doesnt fit. Cannot does not mean will not and does not imply ANY wrong on the part of the owner, quite the reverse.
So lets start with one statement, and if you dont agree, please read no further, this post is NOT FOR YOU. Shoes damage feet. Most farriers will agree that shoes damage feet. This may, for the lucky horse, extend no further than a bit of nail hole damage, but for the unlucky they will cause navicular syndrome (an outmoded name now, but since most people use it, it will do) and for the majority somewhere between the two. Therefore, I hope we can agree that shoes are a necessary compromise for many owners.
Please stop here and go away if you are unhappy with what you have read so far, Im not writing this for a fight.
Shoes are an UNnecessary compromise for many owners, who simply believe, like I did until five years ago, what they have been told for decades, that horses need shoes if they are to work. They have become a right of passage for young horses, with owners celebrating, as I used to, the passage into adulthood made so very visible (and audible) by shoes. There are thousands of horses in this country doing no more than going from a stable to an arena and back to a stable, who have no need of shoes whatsoever. There are thousands more with great, solid feet who could do all that they do with their owners currently without shoes only the owners just dont know it.
If you are still with me, lets go.
Why are horses shod?
Horses are shod because when shoes were invented horses were machines. Barefoot feet require more attention and shoes can keep a horse which might otherwise be unsound ready for battle, to pull your carriage and to plough your field.
Why would they be unsound? A barefoot horse, generally speaking, needs roughly the same level of work all the time. A lengthy time off a particular activity and you will need to build up again gradually. Theres no such luxury if your horse is your war machine or you need to harvest today while the sun is shining.
Shoeing modern horses has nothing whatsoever to do with carrying a rider, amount of work, working on roads, working on tracks or any of those, as experienced barefooters will tell you. Its a hangover from always needing your horses feet to be fit for work, from when they were machines. And its useful for todays owners, many of whom are simply unable to provide what their particular horse would need to work barefoot.
No I am NOT suggesting that you treat your horse as a machine, but your forebears certainly did.
Genetics
Of course genetics matter. Some breeds, like Arabs, in general find it easier than Throughbreds to go barefoot. Some Arabs have a real problem and some TBs dont notice the shoes are gone. Two brother horses may have different ability to go barefoot. Genetics aside individual horses vary wildly in their ability to go barefoot. Experience appears to be showing that one of the principle causes of the huge fluctuation between otherwise similar horses is down to the ability of the horse to digest sugar. More later on that.
I have been sharing my experiences with a group of people over 5 years since I started a daily (practically minute by minute!) blog on what happened to my horses when I took their shoes off, joined by Nic Barker and moving into the founding, by her and Sarah Braithwaite, of the UKNHCP. That group is showing what is happening with hundreds of barefoot working horses. Im sure there are other groups finding this stuff out too, Im just telling you about the one I know.
One thing is very clear. Horses without shoes are much more obviously affected (in their feet) by summer grass sugars than shod horses.
Ultrasound and thermography (photos of heat) have now shown that the blood supply below the knee in a shod horse is markedly reduced from that in a barefoot horse. The additional blood supply accounts for why a barefoot horses foot replaces itself, usually, in around half the time of a shod horse.
Research is now taking place into laminitis to investigate something that barefooters are beginning to question for themselves if a barefooter has twice the blood supply, is it delivering twice the toxins to the foot, and therefore causing an inflammation of the laminae earlier in barefoot horses? It looks very likely that the answer to this is yes.
The first sign of laminitis is slight sole sensitivity, and many barefoot horses will feel stones slightly more when they have access to grass sugars during the day in spring and summer. Many barefoot horse owners, as I do, restrict grass intake to the times of day when the bad sugars (fructans) are lowest.
Some horses are drastically more sensitive than this, and their owners struggle to keep sugar out of their diet, providing track systems around the edges of their fields with no grass at all, and feeding dried grasses instead.
Not many people are in a position to provide this environment. It doesnt make them bad people for shoeing their horses.
It does, however, explain why a lot of horses are fine until they start work, and then need shoes because the timing of the end of the big growing period in horses is exactly when we think they are mature enough to ride. They stop growing so fast, they get a tiny bit laminitic with their reduced need for energy and we mistake that for the work making their feet sore. It happens again at seven or eight, end of growing altogether, when there is another spell when people who have happily worked a horse barefoot for years can suddenly find that they need to shoe for the horse to cope with its work.
Can all horses go barefoot?
Most horses CAN go barefoot, but many owners cant provide what they need to do it.
Many horses can go barefoot easily, most without much trouble, and a much smaller number with much more difficulty. Many owners cannot provide what their particular horse needs for barefoot.
Transition from shoes to shoeless can be painful for the horse unless you can provide unchallenging surfaces at first. In a livery yard, you are stuck with what youve got. We are not all lucky enough to have total control over the environment that our horses live in.
Owners of sugar sensitive horses will struggle terribly in a commercial livery yard where they may have to fight the yard owner to stop their horse being fed molassed feeds. Mineral and trace element balances also appear to be crucial to the horses who do the barefoot thing less easily and some are badly affected by chemical worming routines required by livery yards.
Working people struggle to keep up the work levels during the week so that their horse is ready to do what they need at weekends. Turnout is not enough to build the strongest feet, they also need work. If boots wont work for their horse, those people have no option but to shoe.
Many people need to feel backed up by their farrier and vet, and some farriers and vets are very unsupportive, a few to the point of downright ignorance. Those people wont be able to go it alone with a barefoot horse unless it does it very easily.
Most barefoot horses who do a lot of work need their feet kept dry for a period every day. Those of us who are most successful with less easy cases have dry turnout, where the horses can still move around without being in the wet. Barefoot horses need movement to keep their feet growing fast. Many horses would not cope barefoot if in a stable for half the day or more.
Research shows that standing on concrete and on unbedded rubber mats compromises blood supply to a barefoot horse. Bedding choice to keep the feet dry and the frog and sole supported is necessary, but that choice is not available to everyone in a livery yard.
People who need studs have to shoe. Many of us have been surprised at how little we miss studs. I evented up to Novice Affiliated (four foot one xc) and only ever missed my studs in a bone dry, short grass dressage arena.
So before I stop, lets clear away the obvious responses.
My horse cant go barefoot because he has weak feet, thin soles, flat feet, cracked feet, odd shape feet, navicular/laminitis and needs remedial shoes.
There is no horse out there with worse cracks, flatter feet, thinner soles and all the rest than horses that have been cured by taking them barefoot. These case studies have been documented on various websites if you would like to research them.
Surely its better to shoe if it stops laminitis?
I don't think so. Laminitis inflammation of the laminae - is a symptom not a disease. The disease is a gut disease, where bacteria jump the wall of the gut into the bloodstream. Even if there isnt enough blood getting to the feet to cause inflammation of the laminae, those bugs are still circulating in the bloodstream of the horse, causing unknown problems to other tissues in the body. It has been a surprise to many of us how many horses who go into barefoot rehab have behavioural difficulties which disappear as the feet come right. Barefoot believers also prefer to know that the bugs are there and prevent them than to mask the main symptom with shoes.
I tried barefoot and it didnt work. My horse was sore/his feet cracked/got terribly short.
If your horse got sore, you were unable to provide the full conditions that your particular horse needed to make a success of barefoot. You can put a lot of work into working out why, or you can shoe. Either is a good alternative. If his feet cracked the most likely problem is that they were simply too long because unshod working feet can look VERY short to people used to seeing shoes. If his feet got short but he wasnt sore you had it right all the time.
My farrier/vet says my horse will never cope barefoot.
So did mine. They were wrong.
Im not going to say anything much about the benefits, they really speak for themselves when you take a horse barefoot. The benefits are the reason that so many of us get a bit evangelistic and get so many peoples backs up. Unfortunately, just to say that barefoot is better for a horse than shod can be read as an implication that you as an owner are mistreating your horse if you have it shod. There is NO such implication in anything I have written. Better a well shod horse than an uncomfortable barefoot one.
I do hope this helps people understand more about barefoot. If youd like to discuss it, please let's have a sensible and reasoned discussion.
So lets start with one statement, and if you dont agree, please read no further, this post is NOT FOR YOU. Shoes damage feet. Most farriers will agree that shoes damage feet. This may, for the lucky horse, extend no further than a bit of nail hole damage, but for the unlucky they will cause navicular syndrome (an outmoded name now, but since most people use it, it will do) and for the majority somewhere between the two. Therefore, I hope we can agree that shoes are a necessary compromise for many owners.
Please stop here and go away if you are unhappy with what you have read so far, Im not writing this for a fight.
Shoes are an UNnecessary compromise for many owners, who simply believe, like I did until five years ago, what they have been told for decades, that horses need shoes if they are to work. They have become a right of passage for young horses, with owners celebrating, as I used to, the passage into adulthood made so very visible (and audible) by shoes. There are thousands of horses in this country doing no more than going from a stable to an arena and back to a stable, who have no need of shoes whatsoever. There are thousands more with great, solid feet who could do all that they do with their owners currently without shoes only the owners just dont know it.
If you are still with me, lets go.
Why are horses shod?
Horses are shod because when shoes were invented horses were machines. Barefoot feet require more attention and shoes can keep a horse which might otherwise be unsound ready for battle, to pull your carriage and to plough your field.
Why would they be unsound? A barefoot horse, generally speaking, needs roughly the same level of work all the time. A lengthy time off a particular activity and you will need to build up again gradually. Theres no such luxury if your horse is your war machine or you need to harvest today while the sun is shining.
Shoeing modern horses has nothing whatsoever to do with carrying a rider, amount of work, working on roads, working on tracks or any of those, as experienced barefooters will tell you. Its a hangover from always needing your horses feet to be fit for work, from when they were machines. And its useful for todays owners, many of whom are simply unable to provide what their particular horse would need to work barefoot.
No I am NOT suggesting that you treat your horse as a machine, but your forebears certainly did.
Genetics
Of course genetics matter. Some breeds, like Arabs, in general find it easier than Throughbreds to go barefoot. Some Arabs have a real problem and some TBs dont notice the shoes are gone. Two brother horses may have different ability to go barefoot. Genetics aside individual horses vary wildly in their ability to go barefoot. Experience appears to be showing that one of the principle causes of the huge fluctuation between otherwise similar horses is down to the ability of the horse to digest sugar. More later on that.
I have been sharing my experiences with a group of people over 5 years since I started a daily (practically minute by minute!) blog on what happened to my horses when I took their shoes off, joined by Nic Barker and moving into the founding, by her and Sarah Braithwaite, of the UKNHCP. That group is showing what is happening with hundreds of barefoot working horses. Im sure there are other groups finding this stuff out too, Im just telling you about the one I know.
One thing is very clear. Horses without shoes are much more obviously affected (in their feet) by summer grass sugars than shod horses.
Ultrasound and thermography (photos of heat) have now shown that the blood supply below the knee in a shod horse is markedly reduced from that in a barefoot horse. The additional blood supply accounts for why a barefoot horses foot replaces itself, usually, in around half the time of a shod horse.
Research is now taking place into laminitis to investigate something that barefooters are beginning to question for themselves if a barefooter has twice the blood supply, is it delivering twice the toxins to the foot, and therefore causing an inflammation of the laminae earlier in barefoot horses? It looks very likely that the answer to this is yes.
The first sign of laminitis is slight sole sensitivity, and many barefoot horses will feel stones slightly more when they have access to grass sugars during the day in spring and summer. Many barefoot horse owners, as I do, restrict grass intake to the times of day when the bad sugars (fructans) are lowest.
Some horses are drastically more sensitive than this, and their owners struggle to keep sugar out of their diet, providing track systems around the edges of their fields with no grass at all, and feeding dried grasses instead.
Not many people are in a position to provide this environment. It doesnt make them bad people for shoeing their horses.
It does, however, explain why a lot of horses are fine until they start work, and then need shoes because the timing of the end of the big growing period in horses is exactly when we think they are mature enough to ride. They stop growing so fast, they get a tiny bit laminitic with their reduced need for energy and we mistake that for the work making their feet sore. It happens again at seven or eight, end of growing altogether, when there is another spell when people who have happily worked a horse barefoot for years can suddenly find that they need to shoe for the horse to cope with its work.
Can all horses go barefoot?
Most horses CAN go barefoot, but many owners cant provide what they need to do it.
Many horses can go barefoot easily, most without much trouble, and a much smaller number with much more difficulty. Many owners cannot provide what their particular horse needs for barefoot.
Transition from shoes to shoeless can be painful for the horse unless you can provide unchallenging surfaces at first. In a livery yard, you are stuck with what youve got. We are not all lucky enough to have total control over the environment that our horses live in.
Owners of sugar sensitive horses will struggle terribly in a commercial livery yard where they may have to fight the yard owner to stop their horse being fed molassed feeds. Mineral and trace element balances also appear to be crucial to the horses who do the barefoot thing less easily and some are badly affected by chemical worming routines required by livery yards.
Working people struggle to keep up the work levels during the week so that their horse is ready to do what they need at weekends. Turnout is not enough to build the strongest feet, they also need work. If boots wont work for their horse, those people have no option but to shoe.
Many people need to feel backed up by their farrier and vet, and some farriers and vets are very unsupportive, a few to the point of downright ignorance. Those people wont be able to go it alone with a barefoot horse unless it does it very easily.
Most barefoot horses who do a lot of work need their feet kept dry for a period every day. Those of us who are most successful with less easy cases have dry turnout, where the horses can still move around without being in the wet. Barefoot horses need movement to keep their feet growing fast. Many horses would not cope barefoot if in a stable for half the day or more.
Research shows that standing on concrete and on unbedded rubber mats compromises blood supply to a barefoot horse. Bedding choice to keep the feet dry and the frog and sole supported is necessary, but that choice is not available to everyone in a livery yard.
People who need studs have to shoe. Many of us have been surprised at how little we miss studs. I evented up to Novice Affiliated (four foot one xc) and only ever missed my studs in a bone dry, short grass dressage arena.
So before I stop, lets clear away the obvious responses.
My horse cant go barefoot because he has weak feet, thin soles, flat feet, cracked feet, odd shape feet, navicular/laminitis and needs remedial shoes.
There is no horse out there with worse cracks, flatter feet, thinner soles and all the rest than horses that have been cured by taking them barefoot. These case studies have been documented on various websites if you would like to research them.
Surely its better to shoe if it stops laminitis?
I don't think so. Laminitis inflammation of the laminae - is a symptom not a disease. The disease is a gut disease, where bacteria jump the wall of the gut into the bloodstream. Even if there isnt enough blood getting to the feet to cause inflammation of the laminae, those bugs are still circulating in the bloodstream of the horse, causing unknown problems to other tissues in the body. It has been a surprise to many of us how many horses who go into barefoot rehab have behavioural difficulties which disappear as the feet come right. Barefoot believers also prefer to know that the bugs are there and prevent them than to mask the main symptom with shoes.
I tried barefoot and it didnt work. My horse was sore/his feet cracked/got terribly short.
If your horse got sore, you were unable to provide the full conditions that your particular horse needed to make a success of barefoot. You can put a lot of work into working out why, or you can shoe. Either is a good alternative. If his feet cracked the most likely problem is that they were simply too long because unshod working feet can look VERY short to people used to seeing shoes. If his feet got short but he wasnt sore you had it right all the time.
My farrier/vet says my horse will never cope barefoot.
So did mine. They were wrong.
Im not going to say anything much about the benefits, they really speak for themselves when you take a horse barefoot. The benefits are the reason that so many of us get a bit evangelistic and get so many peoples backs up. Unfortunately, just to say that barefoot is better for a horse than shod can be read as an implication that you as an owner are mistreating your horse if you have it shod. There is NO such implication in anything I have written. Better a well shod horse than an uncomfortable barefoot one.
I do hope this helps people understand more about barefoot. If youd like to discuss it, please let's have a sensible and reasoned discussion.
