What would you pay for this horse?

EllenJay said:
Not picking on you - but sometimes barefoot is not the best option. My old boy was barefoot for 7 years, then following acute laminitis, followed by a diagnosis of equine metabolic disorders, with rotated pedal bones in both front feet, I went down the route of remedial shoeing. The difference in the horse was immediate. The look of agony on his face was relieved, he trotted off the lorry after the first shoeing, when before it took 3 of us to persuade him to walk was amazing. Barefoot has its place - as does appropriate shoeing. This was done in vets advice - where barefoot trimmer was all for leaving the status quo.

The change in my boy was amazing - he happily gently hacked for another 5 years and has been retired and field sound for the last 5 years (without shoes)

Sometimes (often) vets do know more than owners
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Not going to go any further with this except to add that if a horse is lame barefoot, he's lame. All shoes do is mask the problem, not cure it. There are quite a few practices in the equestrian world that belong in a museum, and shoes are one of them. IMO
 
Bellalily said:
Not going to go any further with this except to add that if a horse is lame barefoot, he's lame. All shoes do is mask the problem, not cure it. There are quite a few practices in the equestrian world that belong in a museum, and shoes are one of them. IMO
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I would invite you to keep horses in large parts of the home counties where we are privileged to have clay soil and very large, sharp flints. Very few barefoot horses around here unless they stick to a crawl/slow walk!
 
There's lots of veterinary treatments that only mask the problem not cure it, but from a horse's perspective I don't think it minds.

I'm a big BF advocate but I'd absolutely put some sort of protection on a metabolically compromised horse that was struggling.
 
Bellalily said:
Not going to go any further with this except to add that if a horse is lame barefoot, he's lame. All shoes do is mask the problem, not cure it. There are quite a few practices in the equestrian world that belong in a museum, and shoes are one of them. IMO
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I think its like us though. I am sound with shoes but take my shoes off and walk on a stony track- id be hobbling. Some horses have (its their conformation) very thin soles and feel the stones. Shoe them and they are sound.
 
stormox said:
I think its like us though. I am sound with shoes but take my shoes off and walk on a stony track- id be hobbling. Some horses have (its their conformation) very thin soles and feel the stones. Shoe them and they are sound.
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There remains a VERY big question how many of them would have thin soles if they had optimum feeding and optimum conditioning. It's my belief that those are very much the minority and that most of those would, if tested, turn out to have metabolic issues. Many horses that 'have to be shod' simply belong to owners who don't have the time, especially in winter, to get the miles in that some horses need.

You could easily walk on a stony track if you built up the callouses on your feet over time. Most horses are the same.

Readers please note - 'most' does not mean 'all.
 
ycbm said:
There remains a VERY big question how many of them would have thin soles if they had optimum feeding and optimum conditioning. It's my belief that those are very much the minority and that most of those would, if tested, turn out to have metabolic issues. Many horses that 'have to be shod' simply belong to owners who don't have the time, especially in winter, to get the miles in that some horses need.

You could easily walk on a stony track if you built up the callouses on your feet over time. Most horses are the same.

Readers please note - 'most' does not mean 'all.
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Yes i agree i could harden up the soles of my feet, but i also think as some horses have thinner skins, thinner coats, and less keratin production they can also have thinner soles than other 'commoner' (for want of a better word) hairier types.
 
stormox said:
Yes i agree i could harden up the soles of my feet, but i also think as some horses have thinner skins, thinner coats, and less keratin production they can also have thinner soles than other 'commoner' (for want of a better word) hairier types.
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I have a homebred here with very thin soles, as did her mother. Both were black, mother TB, daughter welsh x TB. Both were kept with a sugar free diet, and given weeks off without shoes to help foot growth. both evented to a high level so had to wear shoes as we needed to stud up. My farrier says he sees a lot of abcesses in BF horses, and that every horse is different. Needless to add these horses have always had adequate minerals and vitamins.
 
Most of mine here have been fine barefoot or at most booted in front. However I do have one with thin soles despite never having been shod, from foaling to the age of 6. Old pasture, low sugar, mag ox, blah blah blah. X rays, workups, multiple orthopaedic issues but nothing metabolic (he is only 7 anyway). Abscesses regularly due to said thin soles and in his case shoeing definitely increased his comfort before he was retired. I'm not a fan of shoes if they can be avoided and have rarely had to resort to them, but to pronounce them as only fit for the museum shows a lack of wider knowledge and not much experience with many horses imo.
 
Bellalily said:
Not going to go any further with this except to add that if a horse is lame barefoot, he's lame. All shoes do is mask the problem, not cure it. There are quite a few practices in the equestrian world that belong in a museum, and shoes are one of them. IMO
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This sort opinion Is what makes it so difficult to persuade some vets that bf is a place in management it’s a too narrow way to look at it .
Bf is a management tool like lots of others including shoesing .
 
sport horse said:
I would invite you to keep horses in large parts of the home counties where we are privileged to have clay soil and very large, sharp flints. Very few barefoot horses around here unless they stick to a crawl/slow walk!
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Mine have all managed as have many I have worked with over the years and I am currently based in Essex
 
ycbm said:
The vaccination required is flu, not tetanus. Tetanus is not contagious and of nobody's business but the owner.
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Yes, I was not suggesting she had to vaccinate against both to compete - I just said vaccinate. I also never said tetanus was contagious and sure its of nobodys business but the owners, but this is a forum where things are discussed. I have heard first hand horror stories about horses dying from tetanus and I really do not get why anyone would put their horse at such a risk. And no, Im not even pro-vaccinate. I very carefully select which vaccinations I allow my children to have for example but on researching flu and tetanus for horses I continue to give both.
 
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