Why did you decide to go barefoot?

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oldie48

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All my horses have been shod. I have a brilliant farrier whom I trust and I've never had an issue with any of my horses feet. Having read many of the threads I'm trying to understand why owners decide to go barefoot. It seems difficult, horses struggle with the transition and there seems to be a need to restrict access to grass, whereas I like my horses to be out as much as possible. However, I'm really interested in understanding the benefits etc and what prompts owners to make the change. Fill me in, please.
 
Mine live out 24/7 although I do restrict grass with an electric fence and feed hay.

I have two that have never been shod and happily prance about on rocky terrain.

My mare was shod, but after her hooves became under-run and long toed, I changed farrier and she was taken BF to correct the damage. She was sound in the field, on smooth tarmac and concrete right from the moment the shoes came off.
 
My horse was lame on and off for a couple of years with no apparent reason... eventually tried to get to the bottom of it, and found he had soft ligament damage. My vet wanted to put wedges on him and give him steroid injections, I was having none of that, so I took his shoes off. A year later and he is doing fantastically. I honestly believe had I followed the vets advice, he would still be lame, or worse, PTS by now.

I had such success with my first horse, and everything I was reading and learning about made such logical sense, that I took the shoes off my other TB. Again, a year later, he is growing a brilliant foot, and although there is a lot of work still to do to his digital cushion, I am 100% certain that my decision will keep him sounder for longer.

I bought a 2yo late last year, and he will never wear shoes. He has the most phenomenal feet, and I know that if I put shoes on him, it can, and probably would do untold damage.

To me its obvious anyway... why would horses need shoes? They have evolved without them.... I personally will never shoe again.
 
Primarily, a recent knee joint arthritis diagosis made taking the front shoes off a sensible course of action, at least for a few months while my mare has IRAP and is on nominal work. My farrier thought it a good idea to see how she is loading her foot. I'd been thinking about taking shoes off anyway before that diagnosis as we'd had a run-in some time ago with LGL and I am now keen to make use of all the early warnings available to prevent that happening again. Any dietary changes/restrictions to grazing are irrelevant to me as I've done all that anyway as horse was IR, and those changes have returned her to insulin sensitivity. I've been really impressed with how she's handled going barefoot, the hooves are not looking bad at all and we've been able to do roadwork since day 1.
 
I'll start by saying that I'm not against shoeing at all, every horse is different and shoeing a healthy hoof is not a problem or for the horses's well being (cushings ect) but from what I've seen, sick hooves can really recover being barefoot rehabbed.

I have a 7yo TB who I am transitioning now. She is stabled during the day (usually 8-4pm) and out at night with 2 low sugar/starch feeds a day as she struggles with sugars in the grass. She is still struggling a bit, especially over stones but has only been out of shoes 8 weeks and has hoof boots to help her transition.

I decided to take her barefoot as we had numerous problems with her back that her feet were contributing too. She had 'typical' TB feet - flat and under-run and would go horribly lame when she threw a show (about 2 a month). I posted a thread about it which started me thinking, but it took me about 8 months to bite the bullet! Every time she threw a shoe, she took off some of the hoof wall. I asked farrier, he was unhelpful and unsupportive and generally did nothing for her. I asked him to help her, he said she couldn't go bf and wouldn't do anything to help her shoeing wise as she would throw shoes. So I got a lovely knowledgeable bf trimmer who actually takes interest in my horses case.

The change has been astounding so far. There is a dramatic angle change in the hoof from when we took the shoes off. This will help her get the hoof shape she needs to support herself and hopefully will get rid of them typical flat TB feet :p;) Her heels have also started to become less contracted and her frog is getting healthier. It is not easy, and if it's going to be done it's got to be done right, but a good diet and road work will help so much and the benefits are well worth it. She was progressively going downhill in shoes but is sound without, albeit a bit footy at the moment but it's early days. The vet reccomended h/b's and remedial shoeing for her but I don't agree with it at all, so I'm doing it my way and the results are coming. It's quite ironic that the horses that need shoes the most are actually the ones that need to get out of them.

Some useful sites to look at are Rockley Farm and my trimmers' website The Natural Hoof :)
 
I bought a horse with huge feet.

The farrier said shoes would cost me double due to the size.

I looked into alternatives.
 
I don't restrict grass btw but if my horse was exhibiting signs of laminitis - then as a sensible horse owner, I would ;)
 
I bought a youngster and decided not to shoe until she needed it. She's now 9 and hasn't yet, plus are finding out more info about the way the hoof works, or should do, then unless the horse was doing a level or type of work that required it, I wouldn't consider shoeing.

My big chap was shod for years but as he became arthritic I decided to remove the shoes, backs off first, then front. He's still a bit stiff, but hasn't continued on the path of getting worse that he was before.
 
None of mine have ever been shod. Farrier (who is a trad shoeing farrier) says every time he sees them that they have all got fantastic feet and don't need shoes at the mo...if ever.
Simples.
I would shoe if ever required....but only likely if I put either of the two youngest to a trap...
 
When I got my boy he only had one shoe left on and he pulled it off when we were loading him to take him home.

I decided not to put shoes on him unless he needed them. He didn't. He still doesn't. Saves me a fortune.
 
I started to hear about it while I was on my OE over your guys side of the world. tried to get my emplyer to get a BF trimmer as farrier wasn't doing a good job BF but she wasn't interested.

Tried it when I got home and the results continue to surprise me. I have three BF Standardbred aged 11 when he tranistioned, TB aged 12 when he tranistioned and my new Warmblood 7 years has been BF as was a broodmare but irregular trims by inexperienced people, shouldn't be too hard to correct however.

SB when we got him had been left for his shoes to fall off themselves, he would mooch round the paddock after his first trim when we let him go he wouldn't stop trotting around the field trying out his new feet. He doesn't get a lot of conditioning off the paddock but is good on tarmac and small stones.

All mine are out 24 /7 no restricting grass SB and WB on chaff and supplements only, TB gets Oats as well. Ad lib hay as needed.

Tb and SB compete and hunt no problems. Handle the wet better than shod.
 
We had a horse with ongoing lameness problems and unhealthy hooves. We employed an excellent farrier, but he couldn't fix them in shoes, so the shoes came off.
 
12 years ago, my mare threw a shoe out hacking and I didn't realise she'd done it. She didn't break stride. When I found the missing shoe, I started to wonder why I was bothering with them! She had her shoes off and carried on working at the same level. All three of mine have had shoes off and not had bother, though they have worn boots to work over very stoney ground. It saves a fortune and is much healthier for their feet.
 
Farrier advised it. She's got rotated pedal bones but was more than happy to walk without shoes on. It's defiantly cheaper too hahah!
 
Romeo was diagnosed with navicular, I tried the remedial shoeing route which worked for about six months and then he would be lame after shoeing and his feet were awful! So barefoot had to be a better option and he has grown much healthier feet,I don,t think he will ever be a rock cruncher or totally sound but he is a much happier horse and with the help of boots we can still go out and enjoy ourselves!:)
 
I was very unhappy with how my horse was walking, and since he is right outside my kitchen window, I could see him a lot. I didn't know what was wrong, nor could the vet or the farrier, but something just didn't look "right." Also he was a terrible stumbler, which put me off jumping him, and was clumsey on his feet, he never seemed to connect his feet and brain. I went to a clinic where most of the horses were without shoes, and I started to ask questions. I honestly thought "bunny huggers, OK if you have miles of moorland, your own arena and you don't compete." However, I did more research and found out that, in fact, lots of horses were doing lots of things, including competitions and hunting without shoes. I went to some talks and lectures and decided to take the plunge.

I know now that my horse's poor walking was that he was landing toe first. I think that if he hadn't been out of shoes for a couple of years, that we would be lame now with navicular. His feet changed massively in shape.

He was never lame or sore, but I found difficultly in coping! I always wondered if he was going to be OK - stoney car park at the dressage, could he cope doing a pleasure ride at the weekends if I could only ride him in the field during the week and not get out on the roads. So I had his shoes put back on, but I promised myself that if and when I gave up competiting they would come off again, as I believe the health and long term benefits are worth it. He was more surefooted, didn't slip on the roads, iindicated if he was getting too much spring grass, and walked out better.

He has had his shoes off in the winter, which was great as he didn't slip in the snow, so next December they are coming off again, and maybe off for good.

Incidentally, ALL horses should have a break from shoes to let their feet recover, something which seldom happens now are horses are ridden all year round.
 
4 reasons.
1) rubbish feet that were getting worse
2) the horse started to refuse to walk downhill
3) horse was usually footsore/lame after shoeing
4) horse was as clumsy as hell
5) financial
 
For me - 'shoes' with special inserts messed with my hips and knees.

For horse - master farrier wrecked my competition horse and wanted to shoe and pad my pasture ornament 2 year old.

I've never regretted it and I've learnt a lot.
 
After years of not having any probs with my TB mare in shoes, my farrier announced that her back feet had 'stopped growing' and her heels were crushed as the hoof was not strong enough to support her weight! This didn't sound right to me so I did some research and asked him about taking the back shoes off to allow her feet to strengthen up. His response was that she'd never cope due to how weak her feet were. He hasn't been back to here since that day nearly 9mths ago. Not only did we go without back shoes, we took all of them off! She was sound on soft ground and smooth surfaces straight away and was booted in front for hacks but back boots didn't stay on. Despite her back feet 'not growing' she's still not down to bleeding stumps ;) We had a couple of abscesses in the back feet recently which cleared up quickly, the soles are now exfoliating to reveal good concavity which had been hidden up to this point.
I don't restrict grazing time but the field is fairly bare and we seem to be coping fine. I still boot her fronts for longer rides (2hrs+) other than that though she is bare allround and doing well.
 
I first went barefoot with my mare.....she'd had the best part of 18 months off through lameness (navicular syndrome was bandied about but nothing conclusive diagnosed dsepite MRI's) and remedial shoeing had done nothing other than make her increasingly uncomfortable. After reading many a barefoot post on here with horror and being a complete un-believer :o, I realised I had nothing to lose by trying and started the journey by taking her shoes off and leaving her in a field for 9 months. Trimmer then came out to us the following spring and set us on the road to barefoot success (I was still using a farrier for my other 2 at this point) - my mare gradually became sounder and a year on was in full work completely barefoot - she grew some mighty wonky feet but it seemed to work for her.

I then took my TB barefoot in December 2011 after he became increasingly unsound through shoeing - he was the horse that had to be shod one foot at a time, constantly pulled shoes and half his foot with them, ended up nail bound on a couple of occaisons, and in the end it got to the stage where he would be lame for days on end after each shoeing. I had also lost complete faith in my farrier who constantly bled the 'TB's have crap feet', 'you can't improve them through diet' etc etc and generally did not seem at all interested in attempting to make things better - I might add that my vets regarded my farrier as one of the best in the area.

So off came the shoes in early December 2011 with the intention of they can always go back on again in the spring. I invested in some boots for him, and at that stage realised I probably wouldn't be going back to shoes as the boots were quite simply amazing! First time I rode him in them it was like he had springs, he was suddenly so comfortable, and we could do everything in them!

We are now almost 18 months on from when the shoes first came off and despite a few set backs unrelated to the feet he does amazingly well. He is sounder, and moves straighter and looser than he ever did before.
 
Ongoing lameness problems not relieved by medication or remedial shoeing. Horse had been shod all his life until the lameness problems led us to Rockley farm and barefoot.
His grass intake is very limited as it quickly became apparent that was a major cause in his problems. Of course, it was also a problem whilst he was shod, its just the signs weren't quite so easy to read until he was barefoot!
 
It was after I realised that my farrier had been messing my horses feet up (1 he had made her front feet too small and the other although she didn't look too bad did develop a side bone). I did find a better farrier and their feet improved but at the same time I started researching feet and kept coming across these post by the barefoot taliban which at first I dismissed as fanatical but somehow I kept going back to them and then there was a post by Oberon, I think, about horses not having a rest from shoes any more which made me sit up as my older mare had worn shoes continually for about 10 years and the younger for about 5. I then decided to give them a rest from shoes and had them off in December 2010 and it went so well that I haven't had them back on since and now have no intention of doing so unless absolutely forced. Both seem perfectly happy and the younger mare whose balance was not good is so much better - I am sure it is because she can now feel her feet and knows where they. She is a lot more sure footed when galloping about in the field. They are sloping and she used to look as though she wasn't going to be able to stop and did hurt her back when she lost her backend when trying to stop one day but that seems to be a thing of the past now (crossing fingers) and as other have pointed out its a lot cheaper!
 
Just the thought that nailing bits of metal onto a living creature probably isn't the most sensible thing to do!
There are good alternatives to traditional shoes these days and it sits easier with me to use those if necessary.
My cob is barefoot and needs boots occasionally when growth doesn't keep up with wear or when on very challenging surfaces, but we then take them off and he is back as nature intended.
 
Back in the horrendous winter a few years ago I decided that since it was very unlikely I would be doing much hacking I would take his shoes off for the winter. Took him out for a few hacks before he got his shoes back on and he was totally fine so I thought why bother paying for shoes if I dont need them!
 
My mum bought a QH who had navicular. Reaching the end of the road I figured I had nothing to lose so got a trimmer and tried bf.

It was a disaster!! I knew nothing and looking back knowing what I do now I don't think the trimmer did either! Her feed advice was way off and the trim left QH lame. It reconfirmed my thoughts that only ponies and cobs in light work could be bf...

At this point I changed vet practice, they were/ are incredibly anti-bf so on their advice QH was shod with wedged egg bars...

QH was pts a year later.

My TB mare was seen every 6wks by vet recommend farriers. She was never quite right to me but I was clearly dismissed by my vets as a paranoid numpty. I'd trotted her up numerous times for vets and they couldn't see anything. The last time I trotted her up for them would be Sept/Oct 2009.

I moved out of their catchment area Nov 2009 after QH was pts. At that yard used yard vet who said my TB had kissing spines and spavins. This was despite seeing a McT-C regularly and vets. TB referred to vet hospital for a lameness work up and was given a clean bill of health.

She went noticeably lame in June 2010. I'd moved yards at this point so got previous vets out. She was referred to their clinic and navicular was diagnosed. I was told that it was 8/10 for how developed it was and that it would have to have been underlying for at least 9mths (you do the maths...). I was told that my only " options" were to Bute her until she broke down completely, denerve her or pts. I asked if I could try barefoot as I'd read it about here but was told no, her feet were balanced and barefoot woukd not help.

Putting her first I had her pts as I didn't want her to suffer and I personally dont agree with denerving.

I posted on here in reply to another thread about navicular and was shot down in flames by CPTrayes with her moronic claims that bf cures just about everything...

I started a thread on here asking for some sort of proof that barefoot did 'cure' navicular as these bf hippies kept claiming.

That led me to buying Pete Ramey and Jaime Jackson's books. I could barely read them through the tears... They made so much sense, something just clicked with me. Every day I'm overwhelmed with the guilt at having my mares pts. If I'd just trusted my gut instead of listening to the vet I'd still have my 1 in a million TB mare :(

By this point I had my current tb gelding. I'd bought him from the field so obviously I put shoes on him as every horse in work, especially tb's who have the feet bred out of them, need shoes.

I found a trimmer and got his shoes off. It most definitely has not been easy. He'd been shod at 16mths and when the shoes came off giving his body a chance to fix itself he almost ( well his body rather than him) went through a sort of meltdown. It's been a steep learning curve and hard going at times but I truly believe it's saved my horse from further damage and that if I'd kept him in shoes he'd have broke.

Regretfully I'd stayed with the same vet. Something which has completely come back to bite me in many respects. A weight was lifted just getting away from them.

Getting off track, sorry. I can now look and see that my mares feet weren't balanced and it makes me so angry that they, the " experts", couldn't see what is now so blatantly obvious. The final straw was these expert equine vets saying that the frog doesn't/ shouldn't be in contact with the ground...

A friend and I always talk about how ignorance was bliss. It was so easy to trust vets and farriers, feed mix & molassed chaffs while not stressing over grass, minerals and the judgement of others!!

So in a nutshell I'm beyond grateful to CPTrayes for continuing to bang her head on my brick wall. While I live with the heart breaking guilt about my mares at least I know, finally, that I won't ever repeat those mistakes.

It's a hard way to learn so I'm hoping that my out of character gut spilling may help someone avoid repeating my mistakes.
 
TPO said:
My mum bought a QH who had navicular. Reaching the end of the road I figured I had nothing to lose so got a trimmer and tried bf.

It was a disaster!! I knew nothing and looking back knowing what I do now I don't think the trimmer did either! Her feed advice was way off and the trim left QH lame. It reconfirmed my thoughts that only ponies and cobs in light work could be bf...

At this point I changed vet practice, they were/ are incredibly anti-bf so on their advice QH was shod with wedged egg bars...

QH was pts a year later.

My TB mare was seen every 6wks by vet recommend farriers. She was never quite right to me but I was clearly dismissed by my vets as a paranoid numpty. I'd trotted her up numerous times for vets and they couldn't see anything. The last time I trotted her up for them would be Sept/Oct 2009.

I moved out of their catchment area Nov 2009 after QH was pts. At that yard used yard vet who said my TB had kissing spines and spavins. This was despite seeing a McT-C regularly and vets. TB referred to vet hospital for a lameness work up and was given a clean bill of health.

She went noticeably lame in June 2010. I'd moved yards at this point so got previous vets out. She was referred to their clinic and navicular was diagnosed. I was told that it was 8/10 for how developed it was and that it would have to have been underlying for at least 9mths (you do the maths...). I was told that my only " options" were to Bute her until she broke down completely, denerve her or pts. I asked if I could try barefoot as I'd read it about here but was told no, her feet were balanced and barefoot woukd not help.

Putting her first I had her pts as I didn't want her to suffer and I personally dont agree with denerving.

I posted on here in reply to another thread about navicular and was shot down in flames by CPTrayes with her moronic claims that bf cures just about everything...

I started a thread on here asking for some sort of proof that barefoot did 'cure' navicular as these bf hippies kept claiming.

That led me to buying Pete Ramey and Jaime Jackson's books. I could barely read them through the tears... They made so much sense, something just clicked with me. Every day I'm overwhelmed with the guilt at having my mares pts. If I'd just trusted my gut instead of listening to the vet I'd still have my 1 in a million TB mare :(

By this point I had my current tb gelding. I'd bought him from the field so obviously I put shoes on him as every horse in work, especially tb's who have the feet bred out of them, need shoes.

I found a trimmer and got his shoes off. It most definitely has not been easy. He'd been shod at 16mths and when the shoes came off giving his body a chance to fix itself he almost ( well his body rather than him) went through a sort of meltdown. It's been a steep learning curve and hard going at times but I truly believe it's saved my horse from further damage and that if I'd kept him in shoes he'd have broke.

Regretfully I'd stayed with the same vet. Something which has completely come back to bite me in many respects. A weight was lifted just getting away from them.

Getting off track, sorry. I can now look and see that my mares feet weren't balanced and it makes me so angry that they, the " experts", couldn't see what is now so blatantly obvious. The final straw was these expert equine vets saying that the frog doesn't/ shouldn't be in contact with the ground...

A friend and I always talk about how ignorance was bliss. It was so easy to trust vets and farriers, feed mix & molassed chaffs while not stressing over grass, minerals and the judgement of others!!

So in a nutshell I'm beyond grateful to CPTrayes for continuing to bang her head on my brick wall. While I live with the heart breaking guilt about my mares at least I know, finally, that I won't ever repeat those mistakes.

It's a hard way to learn so I'm hoping that my out of character gut spilling may help someone avoid repeating my mistakes.
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My heart goes out to you. It's a hard road to travel, but we live and learn.
 
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