Time for shoes i think.....

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Brambridge04

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Following on from a previous post, my mare who is 5 and always been barefoot has recently been broken in, she is SO footy and slow and tentative when out hacking on pebbly terrain or road work.

Is it worth going shod all round or just fronts?
 
If you get her diet sorted then maybe she wont be footy as that is often the reason for sensitivity. Or have you considered hoofboots?
 
I put fronts only on my 5 year old when he started doing ridden work as I didn't want him to associate riding with soreness .He was starting to feel a litle bit footy.
Fronts did the trick.
He is going fine wih just fronts even with all the dry weather.
 
Just asking...but did you take her out on the road/stony ground in hand before you started hacking her on it? I found my two were happy enough with their own weight on rough ground, but struggled with a rider - particularly down hill.

We use/d hoofboots on the fronts which did the trick. You may find that if she hasn't had shoes before, she is STILL footy to begn with as shoes will not protect the sole from stone impact. Also, her frogs will toughen up - they are designed to be in contact with the ground after all. We found smooth-ish tarmac roads were the best surface to condition their hooves to being without shoes in the beginning. Horses are not really designed to live only on soft surfaces, so their feet CAN adapt to harder ground.

Also, second the feed thing.
 
I'd second hoof boots and diet - set of shoes = £60 and last 6 weeks boots = £100 and have mine for nearly 3 years They protect the whole of the sole too whilst also providing contact enhancing blood flow and circulation

I have a very footy mare and its the grass that makes her footy not the stones if that makes sense
 
She is out 24/7, no hay, just grass and i wouldnt say grazing is amazing, she gets a couple handfuls of alfa a chaff and fibre nuts and thats it.

In hand she seems fine, and in hand and ridden on grass she is fine, its just roads / gravel etc
 
Chestnut mare said:
My farrier said a lot of horses are 'footy' at the moment as the ground is hard, feet are dry and causing extra concussion.
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Bizarre. I live in a rock filled, barren desert. Ground is like iron all year round - as are most of the horses' hooves. Those with bare hooves do seem to cope better with the concussion than shod ones though, due to the natural shock absorbing tendencies of the hoof I suppose.

It must be what horses get used to - my two had crap feet in the north because they were constantly on grass and soft ground.
 
Chico Mio said:
Bizarre. I live in a rock filled, barren desert. Ground is like iron all year round - as are most of the horses' hooves. Those with bare hooves do seem to cope better with the concussion than shod ones though, due to the natural shock absorbing tendencies of the hoof I suppose.
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Exactly - how ever did Arabs cope! Take away the sugar and you take away the problem.
 
I kept my mare barefoot for 18 months. We had good times and bad. We then moved to a yard with stoney tracks and she struggled so much that I felt it was unfair on her to carry on and had her shod all round.

It was the best thing I could of done for her. She goes so much better, she doesn't pull for the verges any more and her movement improved 100%. She is so much happier and I don't feel so mean any more.

This winter though, I plan to have them taken off to give her feet a break. I really look after her feet and all that I learnt from when she was barefoot won't be wasted. I'm hopeing that we can fall into some middle ground and that I don't loose sight of what's best for her.
 
I just dont want it setting her back while she is being brought on and schooled.

I cant decide fronts or all round.....
 
Ladylina83 said:
I'd second hoof boots and diet - set of shoes = £60 and last 6 weeks boots = £100 and have mine for nearly 3 years They protect the whole of the sole too whilst also providing contact enhancing blood flow and circulation

I have a very footy mare and its the grass that makes her footy not the stones if that makes sense
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What are the boots called please and how do they stay on. can you use them all year round? Im interested as my horse hasbeen barefoot but am thinking of putting at least fronts on as shes doing a bit more road work now but may be boots would be the answer
 
yes they are a bit ugly but I find if I put brushing boots on too that balances out the look and protects the leg in faster work from the extra bulk.

I use easyboot epic, they have a new style now but mine are still like new so don't see much point in swapping/spending more cash

As a point of interest my horse isn't footy at all on tarmac roads she will stomp off in trot for hours, i also find it helps to wear her natural break over point on the hoof - think natural balance shoes. I only need them for stony paths. Exercise increases horn growth in the foot so it is unlikely you would wear away all your horses hoof.
 
itsmylife said:
What are the boots called please and how do they stay on. can you use them all year round? Im interested as my horse hasbeen barefoot but am thinking of putting at least fronts on as shes doing a bit more road work now but may be boots would be the answer
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I use Easyboot Gloves which have proved to be fantastic with my two mares and I much prefer them to Renegades which I used to have and though good, but the grip is better with Gloves and I notice them less.
 
OP if you did want to try to continue without shoes, can I suggest that you take your horse off the grass for a week and see if he is still footie on the stones then? If you could do that, you would know whether you a forced to shoe or if a change to the way that you keep him would allow you to keep him barefoot. Many, many barefoot horses need to be kept off grass when the sugars are highest, mid-morning to mid-evening.

You might still decide in the end to shoe, but at least you would have a good basis from which to make the decision.
 
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Iv been in a situation...my mare is barefoot...but is very sore on stones, she never used to be its the spring grass..so i bought her cavello boots £73.00 best thing i did she wears them when we hack out.

She is fine in the school, we rode in yesterday to try them out and they are fine for schooling.

Its a cost thing with me can not really justify 65.00 every 6 weeks...money is tight at the min...and would rather look a bit silly with the boots on.

They work well for us
 
Cp,

Tell me more about the spring grass effect on barefoots, tnis is new to me.

Can we help by giving probiotics or similar?

Inwouldnt advise shoes on a youngster, get them a set of boots, i use old macs and you shouldnt have any more footy problems but you'll get a much better mover
 
giveitago said:
Cp,

Tell me more about the spring grass effect on barefoots, tnis is new to me.

Can we help by giving probiotics or similar?

I wouldnt advise shoes on a youngster, get them a set of boots, i use old macs and you shouldnt have any more footy problems but you'll get a much better mover
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There are lots of us with barefoot horses which are not sound on tough surfaces in the spring and summer months, but rock crunching all winter. Most of those can be kept rock crunching all year (I have two like it) by restricting their access to grass when the sugar is highest, which is roughly from 10 or 11 in the morning to 8 or 9 at night. Mine stay in from 9ish to 7ish and are great. Some horses are more sensitive and can only tolerate a few hours grazing without being footie on stones. Boots are a good alternative if you have no option but to leave the horse out, but the footiness is a warning of the horse having problems and needs careful watching.

Incidentally, I personally believe this is why so many horses are shod. They stop growing fast at the same age as we start to work them. Their metabolic rate drops and they don't need as much energy. The grass comes through, the ground goes harder. We start them working and after a bit of work they go footie - so we shoe them! I wish I had a £ for every barefoot horse that has had its shoes back on because the farrier says that they have gone footie on hard ground, when actually they have gone footie on spring grass.

Probiotics, yeasacc (live yeast strain) and activated charcoal are reputed to help with the digestion of carbohydrates (first two) or the soaking up of harmful toxins (charcoal).

Some horses which are footie are suffering from mineral imbalance in their grazing. Two of my horses in the past have been laminitic with me (in spite of being lean and fit) but when sold had no problems with other people. That alerted me to a problem with my grazing, which is high in manganese. Manganese in excess blocks the absorption of copper and copper is needed, among other things, for regulating insulin which is used for digesting sugar. I now supplement copper to counteract the manganese and no longer have any worries about full blown laminitis in horses which are lean and fit.

It can be complex to work out exactly what is going on with a footie horse, but for me first port of call would always be to take it off grass for a week and check what happens.
 
To be fair even my 14yr old IDxConn, who I was told by his previous owner that he prefer being barefoot, is finding the really hard ground a bit tough on his feet.

Absolutely fine on grassy tracks and smooth roads though, it's just when we really hit the stoney paths.

So I think the dry weather is probably affected how she's walking on the really hard paths.
You could go for boots, I think they certainly could help you if you can justify forking out the money for a HQ pair.

I'm currently using Biotin in his feed at the moment in order to try to keep his hooves hard and prevent cracking and chipping on the harsh ground. It has worked, before giving him Biotin I noiced his front hooves had chipped slightly after a hack out, since putting it in his food there hasn't been anymroe chipping problems and he's faster on the harsh paths.
 
I put shoes on my 4 year old last year as he simply wasn't forward enough or moving freely without shoes. Shoes on and he's transformed. I would simply shoe your youngster and continue it's education.
 
Tbh honest, if you've tried boots and you just need to get on with it, get some fronts on.

However, make sure he is shod well i.e. with a decent breakover, not pinching the frog and the frog is well let down so it still functions. After all good farriery is designed to protect, only the bad ones cause problems. My advice would be to research what is good and what is bad.

My heros Pete Ramey & Jamie Jackson (barefoot pioneers) are both farriers and would still shoe a foot if they thought it needed it. They say, unless you can condition a horse to it's working surroundings, it won't be able to tolerate it. So keeping it on grass then walking over stones 3x a week isn't ideal.

Remove preiodically when resting i.e. winter/summer whenever to keep a healthy foot.

It is spring after all... all soles will be sensitive shod or not. Come June, things will settle...
 
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Hi - I was in the same position - 4 year old coping fine without shoes even out hacking but eventually he wore his feet down too much when we starting doing longer rides - he would then start to try to walk on the verge etc- I also found that barefoot or in hoofboots he was very slippery on grass. My worst experience with hoofboots was my previous mare (who was also barefoot) slipped on a wet stone went down on one shoulder and I went straight over her head and knocked my head so hard on a stone I split the hat in 2 !!! I was using old mac boots (and a treeless saddle that I sold pretty quick). I keep both my 2 on hard standing and field and am a great believer that you cannot expect a horse to hack out on stony or hard ground unless they spend time on it in general as their feet wont be accustomed to it.

I have had my chap shod now for 2 years - he is much more forward going -much happier and much safer, he grips well on grass and doesnt slip (i make sure he never goes more than 6 weeks in between shoes) saying that we do 10 mile rides, xc schooling etc - if you were sticking to short hacks you may get away without shoes !! good luck x
 
She is out 24/7, we have stables at the yard, but it is a fairly small yard with a field for girls, 3 of them....and a bigger field for the 7 boys, a paddock and a few stables and that stables either belong others or are kept for emergencies / backman etc so i cant bring her in.

We have good smooth roads but the hacking is pretty gravelly in places.
 
just get some fronts put on - the horse will be more comfy! Bugger the barefoot brigade - if the horse needs shoes, then put them on!
 
Aah, dont get me wrong, i agree, shoes where shoes are needed but time, understanding and trying different methods of barefoot are understandably, better for the horse and better for the pocket.

However, i think a qualified farrier is necessary in all trimming, shoeing etc.
 
SJcrazee said:
just get some fronts put on - the horse will be more comfy! Bugger the barefoot brigade - if the horse needs shoes, then put them on!
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So... stick your head in the sand, ignore the fact the your horse's soundness is being compromised by his diet and carry on regardless!
Why not keep him permanently on bute too then you'll never have any soundness problems!

Ok, ok i'm being contrary but you really think its ok to ignore the fact that the horse is having soundness issues and that shoes will fix it??
Shoes won't fix it they'll just hide the problem, shoes won't make it magically disappear, it'll still be there!
If being a member of the 'barefoot brigade' makes me more aware of my horses way of going, the way his diet affects his performance and the affect his environment has on him in a way that benefits him and his longterm soundness then i'm more than happy to be labelled as such!

I'd rather that than be a member of the 'slap a set of shoes on and ride the bugger' brigade! Or maybe the 'give it wallop its taking the mickey brigade'??
 
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