What is 'barefoot rehab' and how do people go about it?

[charleysummer]

Just wondering what it actually is, as I have took both horses barefoot and literally took shoes off (including one which had all fours on) and carried on as normal the next day with no soreness schooling and hacking (under the watch of my farrier). I am lucky in the fact I have two 'rock crunching' horses so I am very interested in what kind of cases require careful rehab, how it is done and what the outcomes are I know about Rockley Farm etc but would be interested to hear about how people have done it themselves too, and if it was a success-particulary in cases where it was not a success.

 

[thatsmygirl]

You have been very lucky I would say just to take shoes of and carry on as normal, a lot off it is to do with diet and the crap we put into our horses. Cereal, molasses, starch,sugar,grass are all known to weaken the feet making it harder.
Anyway I'm about to start " rehab" this tues on a tb ex racer who is on/off lame and after x rays it's found that his pedal bones have reverse rotation after 8 yrs off being in racing have left him with long flat feet with under run heels. The vet agrees that he needs barefoot rehab to let his feet sort themselves out to give him a chance off any ridden work or just to remain sound. With his feet I couldn't just take off his shoes, he would be crippled. Iv spent a month sorting his diet out and the shoes come of tues and he will be fitted with gel pads and boots. I am doing this to save his life. A neally 17hh tb that I can't ride can't be kept as a pet and I'm not passing him on as a companion so this needs to work for him. Iv also got 2 barefoot that are fine with no real special care but I know he's going to be hard.

 

[thatsmygirl]

Oh and forgot to add I will be using a trimmer as my farrier is great for shoeing but I know for barefoot he isn't great ( pars the soles down, hacks of the frogs) so there is no way my tb would take to barefoot with that happening.

 

[ester]

I think it is more of a 'rehab' situation when the hoof has pathologies which also need resolving.

After a coffin joint DJD diagnosis with no improvement in shoes and no long term improvement with steroid injections Frank had his shoes off 14 weeks ago.

Obviously because of his lameness issues it wasn't possible to take his shoes off and go into full work. He also has flat soles due the position of his pedal bones (prob not helping the DJD). He has been walking out since day 1 and has a track field system to keep him moving (albeit this is just as much for waistline as for feet!) He is doing an hours light hacking most days and is sound, much of it is in boots in front because the aforementioned flat soles are a bit sensitive although certainly improving. I will increase his work very slowly, with the plan being not to put him into proper work until he has grown a new capsule.

The angle changes in his feet and shifting ML balance has been fascinating.

Front now looks like this.. you can see the new growth at a different angle

and his hind foot that has never grown straight has gone from

to looking much more balanced

I'd guess if yours were rock crunching straight away then their feet didn't have too many changes to make

 

[cptrayes]

I'd summarise a barefoot rehab by saying that it is when you take a horse which is lame in shoes and remove the shoes to resolve the lameness.

I know at a personal level of only one failure, and even she was improved. Navicular disease in both front feet and a bone spur in one. She came sound on one front foot, but only ever "light hack" intermittently unsound on the one with the bone spur. She was put down as she was unsuitable as a light hack.

My own was a total success, so you won't be so interested

If you want to know how it is done you can't do better than study the Rockley blog. If you look on the Project Dexter results you will see that no horse has failed to improve at all and that the vast majority, way in excess of the success rate for any other treatment, return to work.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

You have been very lucky I would say just to take shoes of and carry on as normal, a lot off it is to do with diet and the crap we put into our horses. Cereal, molasses, starch,sugar,grass are all known to weaken the feet making it harder.
.

Why do some people (not having a go at you especially thatsmygirl) assume that all shod horses eat rubbish? We have had a mixture of shod and unshod horses for years and have fed a 'natural' diet for years - grassnuts, dried grass chaff, linseed oil, minerals. I've just taken my mare's front shoes off and she is having no problems at all, so far.

ETA and we've only ever had a farrier deal with their feet - 3 extremely good ones over the years.

 

[Oberon]

Why do some people (not having a go at you especially thatsmygirl) assume that all shod horses eat rubbish? We have had a mixture of shod and unshod horses for years and have fed a 'natural' diet for years - grassnuts, dried grass chaff, linseed oil, minerals. I've just taken my mare's front shoes off and she is having no problems at all, so far.

ETA and we've only ever had a farrier deal with their feet - 3 extremely good ones over the years.

Calm down - no one assumes "shod horses eat rubbish". We look at diet as the first reason for failure as it's the most common reason. Occam's razor. Sometimes the best diets that tick every box still doesn't mesh with an individual horse...

For example - I was feeding all the right things to my horses....then I had an analysis done of my forage and discovered all those right things were the wrong things for my yard .

Sadly a lot of horse owners (obviously not yourself) but myself included - have read the bumpf on the side of feed packets and fallen hook, line and sinker for it.....I know better - but I still have to check myself when I read a horsey magazine and resist the urge to buy that 'magical new supplement' .

We stopped listening to the horse and started listening every other expert out there - and that needs to change.

 

[Oberon]

Just wondering what it actually is, as I have took both horses barefoot and literally took shoes off (including one which had all fours on) and carried on as normal the next day with no soreness schooling and hacking (under the watch of my farrier). I am lucky in the fact I have two 'rock crunching' horses so I am very interested in what kind of cases require careful rehab, how it is done and what the outcomes are I know about Rockley Farm etc but would be interested to hear about how people have done it themselves too, and if it was a success-particulary in cases where it was not a success.

This is a dressage horse from our yard. Been sound and competing since rehab - and he has the prettiest hooves around
http://www.progressivehorse.co.uk/html/shoko.html

The things involved with rehabing a horse by BF usually involves:

1) Reviewing diet (sorry if that offends anyone )
2) Movement (with the horses comfort ?boots and pads needed)
3) Trimming (sympathetic trimming)
4) Treating thrush
5) Looking at other issues if there has been chronic lameness...such as ulcers, body problems needing therapy, saddle refit (BF horses can muscle up and need a wider fit).

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Calm down - no one assumes "shod horses eat rubbish". We look at diet as the first reason for failure as it's the most common reason. ..............................


We stopped listening to the horse and started listening every other expert out there - and that needs to change.

I'm quite calm, thank you!

I have read many of the evangelical 'barefoot' threads and many, not all, of the evangelists DO give the impression that all shod horses eat cereals and sugar.
I agree that the feed companies are better at marketing than nutrition and must admit that it is only within the last 12 months (and we really should have known better after our past experiences) that we have vowed NEVER to give any supplements with more than one ingredient.

I wish that every-one who deals with horses would listen to the horse in front of them.

 

[tallyho!]

Barefoot rehab, for me, is more to do with when you are dealing with a horse that has numerous problems, having tried the popular route of remedial shoeing and drugs combined with all possible manner of other therapies has not had the ideal outcome and so therefore is being rehabilitated using a barefoot methodology, be that from whichever "school" one chooses.

As a matter of fact, for most of these cases, a diet that has been unsuitable for that case, when modified, offers the most results in hoof horn quality, whereby, combined with sympathetic trimming, or not, produces results. Or not.

 

[Oberon]

I wish that every-one who deals with horses would listen to the horse in front of them.

True dat

.