*without starting a debate* Can I have some advice please?

When i got my tb exracer mare she has been in a field barefoot for 4 yearsd without seeing a farrier and her feet were dreadful, as she is the same as your tb, farrier trimmed her but had him out nearly every week to help with abssess, he suggested putting the 4 point natural banance shoes on and she has now been sound for 2 years and her feet wil never be perfect but they are as close now as they will ever be.
Try asking you farrier to see if this could help your tb, i only say this as mine is at home totally on grass, and she still was foot sore and had absess's.
Or as others have suggested take the hinds off first to give the horse time to adjust.
At the end of the day you will do what is best for your horse and this is just my experience
 
My mare was barefoot for the first few months I rode her (had her on loan first). she'd been on field rest for a year so hadn't been shod and I was a Working Pupil and wanted to save the pennies. there was almost no hacking where I kept her, she just went in field/school and the very occasional hack

I had her checked by the farrier every 4 weeks as he was on the yard anyway. He said her feet were fine and occasionally tidied them up, but warned that if she did anymore road work she'd need shoes.

Put shoes on her only when I moved to a yard with more hacking. Farrier who shod her said she had really good feet. she's a TBxWelshD. After 18months of shoeing she has no splits/cracks or anything like that...

I personally think, if carefully managed, it does many horses' hooves good to have a "shoe break".
 
Hi laniep...
If you read further up in the thread you'll see that in a reply to Tierra I've already explained that she is currently shod to NB/4point principles, and why it is that we're just not making any progress
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Old mac boots are very good the ex racer who was stabled next to me had his shoes off one winter (horrid crumbly feet) and he was fine with them on for hacking and turnout..in the spring he had shoes put back on and the break seemed to make a world of difference

good luck
 
I think she needs a break from shoes anyway really... she raced on the flat at 2 so would have been plated up in advance of that, and has pretty much been shod non stop since then (when we acquired her she had no shoes on, but had obviously been shod and they'd been left to remove themselves
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, and then she was shod with us once she started proper work and has worn shoes ever since, with the exception of a couple of months when she had them removed while she was injured) It's almost like now she has a 5 rising 6yo's body, but tiny 2yo feet as they've never been allowed to spread as they would normally
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Now I sound like a neglectful mummy, but it has only been her final growth spurt when all of a sudden it's really noticeable!
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We'll see how she goes, road work is very minimal at this time of year anyway and I have a fair amount of grassy tracks to ride out around instead of the roads anyway, which is a godsend
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Agree that conditioning will be needed, but thought little and often as she adapts would be better than just taking away her shoes and expecting her not to notice the gravel? I was going to use carpet to start with, as I'm keen not to make her any more sore than I absolutely have too....

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You sound like you are coming at it from the right place - time, patience and less is often best is what I have found. If she has been plated/shod since such a young age, the feet will need time to heal themselves. Most horses "fail" on the unshod/barefoot front because they can't have the time they need (this isn't a criticism of anyone, I am very realistic in that some horses have a job to do and owners don't have the time to tranisition them as slowly as some horses need - in that case shoes are the best option).

For your mare OP, it sounds like that you are taking a very sensible course. If you want her happy and sound for many years to come, it makes sense to take some time out to let her feet recover now - just like we would with a tendon injury.

On the boots front - Old Mac G2's are excellent - certainly best for all round traction, although the Easyboot Grips are the best for traction at the moment, but aren't any good apparently if you do a lot of road work, as they are too grippy.

I personally found Easyboot Epics too slippery for off roading and have heard lots of reports that Boas are frankly lethal on anything slippy, as are Easybares.

With regard to slipping/non shoes - I have found that once my mare's feet developed into a better shape with good trimming, she slips much less than when in shoes and has a much better awareness of her own balance. We have happily competed showing and XC on grass with zero problems and in fact she is much more balanced and confident. Same goes for my sister's gelding who has done all manner of PC events on grass with no problems, even with more novice riders on board and also my friend's 17hh warmblood who does open ODEs, showjumping, dressage on grass with no problems.

Good luck
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Thanks for taking the time to write such a helpful reply
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We've had our issues, but she really is something special and I want her to still be going strong in 15/20years time, so I'd better sort out these problems sooner rather than later. It's a pain in the bum as it is yet another set back in our progress, but no harm has ever come of taking things slowly anyway!
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Having lost Cybele earlier this year to a string of issues that I think essentially came down to foot balance and conformation I want to preserve Boo as best I can
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I'm not too worried about the slipping, she's fairly good at self preservation/balance and I'm not the sort of person that relies on studs for everything (actually I never use studs, for anything!
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) so it shouldn't be a massive jump for her to make in that respect
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Do you have any advice on use of pads within the boots? From what I've gathered (head now spinning from soaking up so much info lately!) pads are trial and error for each horse? What would be a good starting point? I'm hoping we don't need to rely on them to keep her comfortable, but forewarned is forearmed and all that!
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i did this with my ish.
my farrier at the time said she would probably 'cope' with having just the backs off in the winter if i did no work with her.(so i took them off as she wasnt in work)
her feet responded really well,she hardly noticed they had gone!!! so i kept them off when i started working her.
i just put some keratex on her soles and didnt ride her as much as normal(started her as if she was totally unfit and built up work gradually and avoided really stoney/gravelly areas)
took fronts off 3months after the backs and she was slightly more footy on those but they hardened up and she hacks out happily on all surfaces for an hour or so
feet look tonnes better,no chips.
 
I use Solemate pads which are bit more expensive than some, but they are a special type of material which as well as helping with comfort, also can help condition their feet while they have them on. I get mine from my KC DAEP trimmer, but you can get them in the UK from here too now AEP Supplies .

Also IF you ever want to source a good Barefoot trimmer, the website lists how to locate a DAEP in the UK - I can thoroughly recommend this organisation for trimming services. Hopefully you won't though and your farrier will do a good job - contrary to some barefoot opinions, there are good farriers out there quite capable of keeping barefoot horses working.
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Just seen your post .I had same problems put my tb on nutional hoof supplement and his feet are now brilliant.I also have a good farrier which Im sur e you have which helps pm me if you want details on hoof supplement it really does work.,he keeps his shoes on full 6 weeks .
 
Some excellent replies on here, and though I'm in the barefoot camp I've nothing to add. Everything I would have said has been covered by YorkshireLass, Nuffield and Doublethyme.
 
Brilliant, thankyou! So from that I gather that you buy the pads acording to the weight of the horse? Really not as complicated as I'd thought! *phew*
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One of the other sites I'd looked on had a huge range of different pads in different densities, colour coded and everything, I didn't know where to start!
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Will hopefully be able to stick with my beloved farrier, he's very minimal with my barefoot broodmare and will cast an eye over her when he comes and occasionally alter the balance slightly if she's getting a bit squiffy (but since losing the shoes she seems to have sorted her own balance out, when she was shod we'd always be battling against them flaring inwards), but never makes her sore afterwards
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From what I gather from lurking on the barefoot forums I should be running away as fast as I can from my farrier as he's only interested in butchery
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Hey tamster,
It seems this post has actually been good for relations between the traditionalists and the 'barefoot brigade'
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Thanks for backing up the advice given, I feel a bit less scared about it all now
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Yes, well it's not like there has to be division between the two camps. I have two horses, one is barefoot, the other is shod at the moment. Much as I would love to transition her, she is in intensive training at the moment and the time isn't right, as you do have to take the workload back to minimum at the start of a transition process if you're doing it properly.

I don't know about scary barefoot forums, but the one I find best is here:

http://www.enlightenedequitation.com/ee/boards/index.php?board=43.0
 
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I'll look into the Boa boots then
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When you say you turned out in them.... did they keep the dirt out ok? I have visions of all the dust/dirt/mud getting inside the top of the boot and rubbing? I am probably way of the mark, but then am completely unaware of this whole other world of barefoot management!
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They are really good boots. Get them with the Gaiters (mine came with them, but just check as it could have been an offer!). I just got a pair, because my pony was sore on 2 opposites (ie. a front and a back) so I just used them on those! But for riding I use them on either fronts or back for balance obviously. They have holes in the bottom to let water drain out but this does mean dirt gets in. I just make sure I take them off at the end of the day and rinse them out with some water to keep them clean for the next day. I didnt find they rubbed anywhere as its just a case of some grit in the bottom, I didnt have any problems with dirt round the top of the boot or anything. Only problem I had with them when he was turned out in them was the dial covers came off twice which meant a hunt round the field! Spray them a bright colour!
 
my 2 TB's are shoe less behind and cope fine, they do SJ and hunter trials, hacks 2-3 times a week. i also ride a few horses that are totally barefoot and barefoot trimed, they all do well and go over any ground, but this takes time.
i used to work at a barefoot racing yard, and we had horses that were fine but others that just could not do it.
all the best??
 
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I don't do anything different... Blue has only had fronts put on this time of year and i don't change anything, Holly has no shoes at all now as she's not doing a huge amount of work and we haven't chanegd anything for her either.

I perhaps would be careful on roadwork and maybe not do too much but aside from that!
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my big wb has been shoeless for about 8 months now. farrier trimmed him this morning and said his feet are better than they have ever been. i hack him out in a pair of front Marquis Supergrip horse boots, which fit brilliantly and don't spin, move or rub. he's very happy in them, no problems at all, and they've nearly paid for themselves already, as trims are so much cheaper than shoes.
it's a good time of year to make the change anyway, as the ground's pretty soft most of the time. good luck with it!
 
Wow, more brill responses
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I'm off on my hols for a week beginning the 29th so have decided to leave her shod until then, and then take the shoes off after I get back.
I was going to take them off this morning, so that she's got a easy couple of weeks to start adjusting to life barefoot, but then decided that as the ground is just so hard and frozen that I'd leave them for now, especially as if she is going to abcess at all she'll end up doing it while I'm away (don't really want mum having to poultice repeatedly on her own while I'm away) and I'll worry too much about it!

Thanks again for all the advice and good luck vibes!
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