What do you feed your barefoot horses?

forestfantasy

forestfantasy

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Hi,

I had my mares shoes taken off in december and she's doing well, a little footy on stones but hacking out on tarmac without a problem.
I know diet is crucial in maintaning good feet so i'd be interested to know what everyone feeds?

Fanta is on: 1 scoop of Happy Hoof (half a bag left so looking to change this)
1 scoop A & P Sugar & Cereal intolerance diet
Ad-lib haylage (more like hay as its very dry)
Out 7:30 - 5:30 on resonable grazing
Just ordered some Pro - Hoof (should be here for the weekend!)

Thanks in advanced!
 
I have a 16.2HH 7 year old TB x WB who has never been shod. He is fed on A&P Fast fibre and Calmer Chaff. I buy magnesium from Natural Horse Supplies on Ebay to supplement him. Other than that, he has haylage and is not footy at all, other than when he finds a good sized stone.

The fields are trashed at the moment, so he is walkered morning and night and schooled in the manege for half an hour a day.

He has a great rate of foot growth and is trimmed every six weeks. I have found my trimmer to be very helpful as regards diet and routine - but we all have to work with what is possible on our specific yards - and more turnout and PP systems isn't at the moment.
 
TBs shoes came off last week. Still very footy on tarmac at the moment, but hoping this will improve.

He's on:

Fast fibre
Brewers yeast
Mag ox
Pro hoof
&
Ad lib hay
 
Speedi-beet, bran and micronised linseed and balanced minerals, they're fed ad-lib haylage overnight and turned out 7.30am - 5.30pm but I'm about to change them onto overnight turnout and in during the day as its so mild at the moment i'm starting to worry about the grass.

Maybe change the happy hoof for either speedi-beet or fast fibre and linseed and i'd try knocking off the C&S intolerance diet too to see if it helps. If a horse goes footy I like to go right back to basics and start again till I find the trigger. :)
 
You might just find the footiness goes a few weeks after being off Happy Hoof, I found the ingredients for someone else the other day and its got moglo in it which is another name for mollasses and is 40% sugar......!

I feed;

Half a cup of micronised linseed
2 handfulls of readigrass
1 scoop of Pro Hoof
Ad lib hay.

:)
 
TigerTail said:
You might just find the footiness goes a few weeks after being off Happy Hoof, I found the ingredients for someone else the other day and its got moglo in it which is another name for mollasses and is 40% sugar......!

I feed;

Half a cup of micronised linseed
2 handfulls of readigrass
1 scoop of Pro Hoof
Ad lib hay.

:)
Click to expand...

I think you will find Happy Hoof is 4% sugar NOT 40% :D

Fast Fibre for mine, linseed and magnesium; Just ordered some Pro Hoof so will look forward to seeing if it makes a difference as mine are slightly footy atm, but thats probably due to stupid grass still growing!
 
1 1/2 scoop Dengie hi fi original
1 scoop of Dengie Lesiure Vits
Glug of soya oil
3 carrots

He has this morning and night. As well as hay.
 
I feed mine yeast and they are footie in summer without it. I also feed 25 g of calcined magnesite. I also add copper because my land is heavy in both iron and manganese which prevents the absorption of copper unless extra is fed.

Other than that, haylage and cheaper own-brand cubes and ordinary molassed beet pulp to mix the extras into. Many barefooters seem to find cubes more easily digested than mixes, possibly due to the fact that the ingredients are cooked to make the cubes. My hunter also gets 200ml of Tesco rapeseed oil to up the calorie level without bulk, since he already eats 5 kilos of cubes !


ps AandB TT meant the molglo is 40% sugar, not the happy hoof.
 
Last edited:
Kwikbeet
Coolstance Copra
Linseed
Brewer's Yeast
Ad lib hay/haylage
Minerals specifically missing in the forage he gets.
Handful of Rosehips in his treat ball in his stable.
 
Economy cubes
Speedybeet
unmollased chaff of some description
mag ox
pink powder or equivalent
joint suppliement
a couple of carrots

this lot twice a day with adlib haylage
 
My barefoot horses are get fed the same as the shod ones, in varying quantities/proportions:
ad lib hay/haylage
Graze On
Baileys Lo-cal balancer
Outshine
Kwikbeet
ERS Pellets
Equistro Kerabol through winter months and Magnitude through spring/summer
 
Thanks for all the replies :)

I think i may move her and the pony (lami prone) onto Fast Fibre with just the pro hoof supplement.
They are both good doers & barefooot so this seems ideal.

Thanks again :D
 
I have balanced minerals based on a forage analysis. For my forage I feed copper, zinc, lysine, magnesium oxide. I have to stay away from anything high in calcium and phosphorous.

With the minerals my old boy with the dodgy teeth gets;

Fast Fibre (1 round scoop)
Speed-beet (1 round scoop)
Unbranded hay chaff (1 round scoop)
turmeric
fenugreek seeds
25mg salt
cat's claw
1000iu vitamin e capsules (2 squeezed in each feed)
100mg micronised linseed
yea-sacc
mixture of herbs

The Tank (young, good doer) gets;

Fast Fibre (1/4 round scoop)
Speedi-beet (1/8 round scoop)
unbranded hay chaff (1 scoop)
turmeric
fenugreek seeds
25mg salt
cat's claw
mixture of herbs
100mg micronised linseed
yea-sacc

They both get daily turnout and ad-lib haylage at night.

I summer they just get 24 hour turnout.
 
criso said:
Handful of Rosehips in his treat ball in his stable.
Click to expand...

Rosehips in a treat ball?

False advertising!

My horses would sue if I tried to suggest rosehips as treat. They HATE them
lol.gif
.
 
Linseed
Joint Supplement
Copper
Zinc
Biotin
Cinnamon
handfull of rosehips dried out from summer
All mixed in with fast fibre

Shes been barefoot 2 years
 
My Horse has been unshod for several years, he gets hi-fi and pasture mix and hay. He gets no supplements whatsoever. He never gets footy and events/jumps/gallops all summer on the hard ground. Also never needs his feet trimming!
 
Oberon said:
I have balanced minerals based on a forage analysis. For my forage I feed copper, zinc, lysine, magnesium oxide. I have to stay away from anything high in calcium and phosphorous.

With the minerals my old boy with the dodgy teeth gets;

Fast Fibre (1 round scoop)
Speed-beet (1 round scoop)
Unbranded hay chaff (1 round scoop)
turmeric
fenugreek seeds
25mg salt
cat's claw
1000iu vitamin e capsules (2 squeezed in each feed)
100mg micronised linseed
yea-sacc
mixture of herbs

The Tank (young, good doer) gets;

Fast Fibre (1/4 round scoop)
Speedi-beet (1/8 round scoop)
unbranded hay chaff (1 scoop)
turmeric
fenugreek seeds
25mg salt
cat's claw
mixture of herbs
100mg micronised linseed
yea-sacc

They both get daily turnout and ad-lib haylage at night.

I summer they just get 24 hour turnout.
Click to expand...

Oberon, where do you get your vit e capsules from? I was looking for some, but they seem extortionately expensive!
 
Oberon said:
Rosehips in a treat ball?

False advertising!

My horses would sue if I tried to suggest rosehips as treat. They HATE them
lol.gif
.
Click to expand...

tb x waste disposal unit.

He like rosehips fed as a treat but not in his feed - something about the combination of crunchy and wet food I think.

When i put them in his feed he would remove them but then eat them later separately.

So I dug out an old treat ball and put them in that and they make a lovely rattley sound when he pushes it round his stable which he likes but I suspect drive his neighbours mad,
 
OP, I cannot see any mg in your feed ie magox or calmag? is there any reason for that? I suspect that you will need it in addition to pro hoof.
 
I feed my mare:

High Fibre Cubes
Joint Supplement
Mug of Linseed
Mag Ox
Brewers Yeast
Glug of Corn Oil
Glug of Speedibeet

Ab-lib Haylage and turnout for a couple of hours a day (to save the fields unfortunately).

My mares shoes came off beginning of Oct and she is coping fine, no footiness whatsoever on roads/tarmac but we are just having a few issues on stoney tracks with one of her feet which is very upright/boxy with a poor frog, that try as i might the damned thrush remains.

Vet out yesterday (for annual jabs) had a good look and said i am getting there, but may have to invest in some Cavallo Boots.
 
6 hours grazing
Soaked hay (5lbs am, 12lbs pm)
Fast fibre
Linseed meal
Mint
Salt
Lysine
Minerals balanced to my grass and hay (magox, copper, zinc, selenium)
 
my mare has been unshod for 2 years. Brilliant feet and no footiness but she has a tendency to be a bit of a porker.

She's on:

1 round scoop of fast fibre
couple of good handfuls of hi fi lite
appropriate magnesium
equinourish by trinity
and a load of carrots

probably just over half a bale of hay a night depending on weight (ad lib and she'd be the size of a small bus) and 730 -5 turnout on good grazing. :D
 
paddy555 said:
OP, I cannot see any mg in your feed ie magox or calmag? is there any reason for that? I suspect that you will need it in addition to pro hoof.
Click to expand...

TBH i haven't looked into it as yet.
I've never had to feed them any supps at all really, they get mineral blocks (rockies) in their stables and that is all.
 
Have 7 yr old TB who has been barefoot for 2 years. He is fed:

Double handful of Dengie HiFI Lite
Half scoop of D&H Pasture Cubes
Apple cider vinegar (eve only)

twice a day plus adlib haylage at nite.

20 yr old Shire x TB has been barefoot for nearly 2 months (shod all his life before that). He is fed:

Double handful of Dengie Hifi Lite
Half scoope D&H Leisure Mix
Apple Cider Vinegar (eve only)
Super Flex (eve only)
Devils Relief (eve only)

twice a day plus adlib haylage at nite.

TBs feed may change in future once we start competing but we will see how he goes, he is a very good doer.
 
Top Chop Lite chaff
Pro Hoof
Linseed (quantity ranges from 50g maintenence to 200g for weight gain)
Turmeric
Either Veteran Vitality/Fast Fibre or Speedibeet, depends on whether weight gain needed.
Brewers Yeast
Out all year round on plentiful grass.
 
16.3 heavyweight hunter : scoop of readigrass , 150g of thunderbrooks base mix, tsp of sea salt and 1 50g scoop of d&h mobility herbs

15.3 friesian cross: scoop of readigrass , 125g of thunderbrooks ,tsp of seasalt

Fed twice a day and adlib hay overnight

Friesian has only been barefoot for 9 months , hunter has been barefoot 16 years ,both are rock crunchers and look fantastic !
 
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