Transitioning to barefoot - advice

Laura-Maybe-IV

Laura-Maybe-IV

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 September 2012
Messages
259
Location
Canterbury
Visit site
My horse as arthritis but only mildly in her hocks and stifles and I have read a lot of articles and thread suggesting that taking the shoes of off arthritics is one of the best things you can do.

I am seriously considering making the transition to barefoot with her as I believe it could be quiet beneficial, how long does it on average take? And do you use things like keratex hoof hardener to help strengthen the hooves?

I have a very good farrier that I can have a chat about this with also.

Sorry for all the Q's I never have done this before :rolleyes:
 
Hoof strength comes from within; ie appropriate diet and exercise. Some topical products may appear to make the hoof harder but it comes at a price. Keratex contains formaldhyde. And these products can migrate, saw one recently where the dressing applied to the sole migrated out through the hoof wall about 1/3 the way up.

The more 'lard' type products can also interfere with the natural moisture balance in the hoof and I have seen compromised hoof wall damaged further by these. They do make humans feel good though! :-)

Newly deshod hooves are often quite soft, sometimes scarily so, but softness of the leading edge of the outer hoof quickly hardens. Soles that give to pressure take somewhat longer.

Use boots with pads if needed. Not all horses need and some need boots longer than others.

Ask your farrier to avoid paring sole or frog.
 
What Lucy has just said is very true as my boy has some arthritis as well and it can be difficult at times to know if his feet are causing discomfort or his joints!
The good thing is, it is so much better for them not having shoes hammered on which did not help mine with his joint problems at all.
 
there's the vet article in H&H 2nd May that's well worth reading, basically if a horse has good feet to start with and isn't doing too much road work, than it could be an option. If horse is TB or part TB and doesn't have good feet to start with, it might be more problematic.
 
oldie48 said:
there's the vet article in H&H 2nd May that's well worth reading, basically if a horse has good feet to start with and isn't doing too much road work, than it could be an option. If horse is TB or part TB and doesn't have good feet to start with, it might be more problematic.
Click to expand...

The very article which has had so many experienced barefooters banging their heads in frustration.

TBs make great barefooters, given the right diet, appropriate exercise and time. TBs which have raced can take more time than others because they have been shod so young, but not always.

Most of the horses I work with don't do enough road work. I'd like the post transition/rehabilitation horses to be doing an hour daily. Don't forget the Houston and Austen mounted police forces - 6x8 hour shifts a week. They only use boots for transition and demonstrations/riots - not for routine every day.

If the horse has unresolved metabolic issues they may need boots for some of the time. Many horses metabolic problems can be resolved, but for those that aren't for whatever reason, boots are a great option.
 
The *******s magazines print.


My Tb had bad feet and they have come in leaps and bounds there are pics in my album, he has been BF 3 years now 2 years with a decent trimmer this is what makes the difference. A good balanced diet is also key.

He was 11 when I got him and had been shod from a young age.

He does everything hunting, eventing, SJ, dressage and trekking with no problems. Heaps of traction in the wet.
 
Thought the H&H article was pretty fair, put both sides, featured horses that had successfully transitioned etc. If I was considering transitioning to barefoot for my horses I would like as much information as I could get so my decision was an informed one.TB Horse on the yard is in 8th week of being barefoot and it is hopping lame and clearly in a lot of pain, strong digital pulse etc but owner is convinced this is OK and just to be expected. I've friends who have horses that are barefoot and they are OK until they do a lot of roadwork, then they get footsore, I know of other horses that are barefoot and are fine in every way. Horses are like people, they are all different and what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another.
 
oldie48 said:
there's the vet article in H&H 2nd May that's well worth reading, basically if a horse has good feet to start with and isn't doing too much road work, than it could be an option. If horse is TB or part TB and doesn't have good feet to start with, it might be more problematic.
Click to expand...

That article was so out of date. You've picked up on the two points that are, quite frankly untrue. Grrrrrrrrrr! Flipping article. :mad:

Roadwork is great for BF/unshod hooves, but be sensible and build it up slowly.

Tb's and PBTB's are quite capable of having super hooves and they can go BF/unshod with the correct management. They don't have 'genetically rubbish hooves'.
 
oldie48 said:
.TB Horse on the yard is in 8th week of being barefoot and it is hopping lame and clearly in a lot of pain, strong digital pulse etc but owner is convinced this is OK and just to be expected.

That is not right, the horse should not be hopping lame.



I've friends who have horses that are barefoot and they are OK until they do a lot of roadwork, then they get footsore.
Click to expand...

My mare had seriously compromised hooves due to a bad farrier (sacked) and she has always been fine on smooth tarmac. I did need to cut the sugar from her diet (I have to order in feed, because the feed shop doesn't stock unmolassed feed :eek:) but she needs a minimum of 5 hours roadwork per week to keep her breakover correct. She's 50% TB and has flat hooves that flare easily. I have full support from my new Farrier, who wanted her shoes off to let her hooves recover from the damage done by shoes.
 
Yup, I know that, you know that but owner has been told different! Yup, I also know there are bad farriers but at least they are trained and registered, this is not the case with barefoot trimming practitioners. i could set myself up today and do this without any training. I am completely open minded about this but when I see a previously sound horse, rocked back on his heels and pottery being ridden on the road every day to callus his feet, I despair. In any other circumstance he'd be stabled with some bute to ease the pain. If this horse had a say in the matter he'd have his shoes back on, problem is, he now has so little horn, there's nothing to hold a shoe.
 
oldie48 said:
Yup, I know that, you know that but owner has been told different! Yup, I also know there are bad farriers but at least they are trained and registered, this is not the case with barefoot trimming practitioners. i could set myself up today and do this without any training. I am completely open minded about this but when I see a previously sound horse, rocked back on his heels and pottery being ridden on the road every day to callus his feet, I despair. In any other circumstance he'd be stabled with some bute to ease the pain. If this horse had a say in the matter he'd have his shoes back on, problem is, he now has so little horn, there's nothing to hold a shoe.
Click to expand...

This type of scenario makes me despair also. It is not how it should be done. Not at all.
 
oldie48 said:
Yup, I know that, you know that but owner has been told different! Yup, I also know there are bad farriers but at least they are trained and registered, this is not the case with barefoot trimming practitioners. i could set myself up today and do this without any training. I am completely open minded about this but when I see a previously sound horse, rocked back on his heels and pottery being ridden on the road every day to callus his feet, I despair. In any other circumstance he'd be stabled with some bute to ease the pain. If this horse had a say in the matter he'd have his shoes back on, problem is, he now has so little horn, there's nothing to hold a shoe.
Click to expand...

This is unaceptable, yes, but it is not true of all TB's or TB types and the sooner the general horse owning community learn this the better. Please do not tar every b/f owner with this brush. I find the situation as distressing as you do and would never condone it. But it doesn't mean that ALL TB's and their owners are the same.

I have 4 TB's, all barefoot, One is in foal but the 3 in work do 2-3 hours, sometimes more, walking on tarmac (either in our concrete floored horse walker or out on the roads) a week. The more they do the more their feet grow. Their 'typical' TB feet have gone and been replaced by better shaped, hard, correctly angled, thick soled SOUND feet that carry me over different terrain and can cope happily with their varied workloads, inc hacking, xc, etc. They are all sounder than they have ever been, moving better and muscling in places they didnt before. I have just bought boots for one because he is sensitive to grass and can get filled legs and bit footy during the grass flushes, but it doesn't mean he needs shoes.

As for the farrier v trimmer debate, my horses all had terrible feet because of my farrier and his lack of ability to shoe a horse properly, inc one having soft tissue damage, even with his years of training and qualifications. I tried to continue using a farrier but everytime they trimmed my horses they made them lame (more than one farrier) so I tried a trimmer - who has trained over 18 months and is registered, insured and affiliated to a well respected governing body - and there was improvement after just the first trim, which incidentally didn't leave any of my horses footsore.

Oldie48 the tide is turning slightly, like you I thought TB's needed shoes, infact any horse doing lots of hacking and roadwork needed shoes and it was only when my horses feet reached a crisis point I had to look outside the box. I'm so glad I did.
 
Actually, I interpreted the H&H article, I really don't have a view on whether TBs should be shod or not. I know from reading some of the threads that many owners are really committed to the barefoot movement and they wouldn't be if all their horses were lame. Unfortunately, however, not all owners have the sense they were born with (you just have to read some of the threads to recognise that) and they make decisions for their horses without fully understanding what they are doing and it is the horse that suffers. I also think it is wrong to "rubbish" articles by a respected vet just because he says something we don't agree with. Having done some reading on this subject going barefoot is not always an easy option, it may require restricting the horse's access to grass, ensuring it has adequate exercise on the right surface, changing it's diet using equi boots etc etc, which is fine if you have the facilities and time but for many working owners on livery yards may not be the right thing for them. Let's make this very clear from the start so that we don't see the sight that I see every day.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top