Urgent Barefoot Help Needed!!!

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canteron

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I took my horses shoes off at the end of last year and everything has been perfect. He has very good feet and having his shoes off seemed to make him much more aware of his feet.

However, he lives out 24/7 and his feet seem to be wearing out rather quickly. I have booked the farrier to reshoe the fronts next week as I am worried that with the ground as hard as it is, they seem to be wearing away quicker than they are growing, which can only end up badly!

Is it possible to keep him out 24/7 or to be a real barefoot person do you have to bring the horse in overnight if the ground goes hard.

Any other advice also welcome!!

Thanks.
 
In my experience they fare well on hard ground
- they should reach a balance where wear and growth match easch other to form a perfect foot. That's the theory!! The reality is not always as simple, however my unshod horses do plenty of roadwork and flinty track hacking, live out 24/7 (I think this is the easiest way to manage bare feet!) and I've never yet had the problem you describe. Is the horse actually footsore from this wearing and if so could the springing up grass be brought into the equation. And if not footsore, then why do you think he's wearing "too" much?
 
My lad lives out 24/7 and is barefoot. We are doing ALOT of road work at the min and his feet wear at just the right rate. If you only had you horses shoes off at the end of last year, his feet may just need more time to adjust. They wont just adjust to the transition from shod to barefoot straight away. How long it will take is diffcult to say as it is different from horse to horse.
 
My pony lives out 24/7 and does plenty of road-work---actually on the recommendation of my trimmer. The only times his feet have been sore has been a narrowly-avoided brush with laminitis in the summer, when the grass was too good.

During the winter, your horse's hooves will be growing more slowly. Is your horse actually sore?The rate of growth should adjust to what he actually needs, but it's possible that you ramped up the amount of road-work too quickly. Ask your farrier if he thinks the hooves are wearing too fast.
 
Make sure it's not LGL which is making him footy.

I'm on clay & have to boot my barefoot TB in Easyboot RX'S in front, he suffers from arthritis & when the ground goes like concrete I have to do something. Even shod he gets sore, but the RX's have made a huge difference to him he's back to doing the wall of death around the field.

Personally I would boot over shoeing & only shoe if I had to.
 
Ours are out all day and all 3 of them are barefoot....

Each horse is individual, I think having got this far with barefoot methods that you are jeopardizing a lot by returning to shoes.

If he is wearing his feet that badly, he would be footsore. Have you asked your barefoot trimmer about it??

I think he would be fine out 24/7 as long as his diet is adjusted (IE not too much sugar).
 
If you get him shod in front you will undo all the good work you have done already so think carefully about it. All horses have off days or there could be another problem. Stick with it, paint some Keratex on and I am sure you will be OK x
 
Thanks everyone. Interesting replies. I guess its either a case of giving in or holding my nerve and seeing what happens?

Whereever we go we have to cross over a very stony drive - and I have noticed him being marginally more footy.

But more worryingly, his feet are beginning to look awful. Really ragged along the bottom, quite worn and rather short in front. My other 2 who are barefoot but don't get quite so much work have beautiful neat looking feet.

Thanks for the thoughts about the grass. I have noticed the horses are putting on a 'bit of condition' so have cut back on the grass and feeding a little more hay.

He does have really good feet - the farrier says as good as he has seen. I guess my worry is that I am just doing too much work at the moment for the growth to keep up with the wear and I have concerns that I will send the poor thing lame if I carry on.

Maybe, if I do have the fronts put back on, I will see how that affects his overall riding (he used to trip a bit) and take it from there.
 
The more stimuli the foot gets (i.e the more work) the faster it will grow....if your horse isn't footy, then maybe he is only meant to have short walls?? Avoid the shoes if you can if you've come this far :) How long are you leaving between trims? You might need to trim more often in order to keep the tatty ends at bay....
 
When I first got my boy he made the edges of his feet ragged, they looked realy bad. But when the farrier saw them he said they were fine and it was just his feet adjusting and shortening them selves. Now they are fine and very rarley look like this but are always shorter that I think they should be. He has never had to make the transition as he has never had shoes but I wouldnt worry to much about them looking neat as long as he is comfortable.
 
Barefoot tends to focus on the natural horse model - ie a wild one that doesn't come into a stable at night, so in answer to your question No - to be a true barefoot person you should not need to bring in . My trimmer advises as much turn out and movement as possible with as little grass (see paddock paradise system which encourages them to move all the time to forage during turn out)

The footiness could be him telling you he has too much grass and is feeling it in his feet. if you put shoes back on you will just be masking his dicomfort.
 
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