Yet another barefoot post (sorry!) - Advice needed, pls

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Teamo

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I have a (relatively) new horse which came to me in shoes. I had his backs taken off about 8 weeks ago.

His feet now look something like this:
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As you can see his hoof walls are really quite thin. All my other horses have good feet, and can happily hack anywhere. What type of terrains would you say its safe to hack this horse on?

He's 100% sound on grass, arena surfaces and roads, but he's careful over rocky paths. I took him out for a hack last weekend over some fairly challenging surfaces, and though he was picky about where he walked on the very stoney ground, he trotted home happily on the roads afterwards. His feet were quite chipped by the hack, though, as you can see in the photos.

Opinions would be appreciated.
 
Looks like he has good frogs and soles. I'd do plenty of road work to wear down his feet and stimulate new growth. Then they should grow out at a better angle without the bullnosing he has at the moment.
 
So you don't think he needs the toes rasped off a bit? and the chipped edges smoothed off?
To me, his soles look good, but as there are nail holes, I would expect the walls to appear much weaker than they will be once nail holes are grown out.
 
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He's got lovely frogs! Work him on any surface he's comfortable on, and as much as possible. Little and often will be best till you are more confident about his feet.

You can see the new growth angle starting at the top of the foot. In the meantime I'd just keep the edge of his hoof-wall rounded to minimise chipping.
 
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MrsD - These weren't taken long after he'd had a trim. The chips in the edges were caused by the hack, hence me thinking that I shouldn't work him over the stoney surfaces until his feet have hardened up a bit. The problem is, I have to ride over that track to get to any hacking!

Here's another pic:
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I'm by no means an expert, but it doesn't look to me like there's much more to take off?

WoodfordFox - yeah, I was really impressed at how quickly his frogs have come on :). Just a bit worried as I have to take him over some pretty rough ground in order to get to any hacking...

ETA: This may sound dense, but can I rasp the chips out myself? I don't want to be calling the farrier out all the time, but I'd be very wary of weilding a rasp myself!
 
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" ETA: This may sound dense, but can I rasp the chips out myself? I don't want to be calling the farrier out all the time, but I'd be very wary of weilding a rasp myself! "

Yes you can smooth the chips yourself, it is not difficult at all :-)
I use the Stanley Surform ( http://www.toolbox.co.uk/stanley-surform-shaver-tool-2862-76809 ) which was recommended by my barefoot trimmer :-)
 
I round the edge of the hoof off on mine (Don't take any off the bottom though) and I'm no farrier. As long as you don't get too carried away and you don't rasp the hoof walls you'll be fine! (And it is harder than you think to rasp hooves!!)
 
You could also use pads and hoof boots whilst he is transitioning. That way it will help to stimulate his feet but give them protection from stones and the like at the same time.
 
Ooh, ok, I might give the rasping a go then.

ISHmad - Will his feet wear down and harden in hoofboots? (I've never used them before). His soles and frogs are quite tough already, its mostly the chipping I'm worried about.
 
Yes you can smooth the chips yourself, it is not difficult at all :-)
I use the Stanley Surform ( http://www.toolbox.co.uk/stanley-sur...ool-2862-76809 ) which was recommended by my barefoot trimmer :-)

Yup, I've got one of those too! Just round-off the edges. His feet will chip at least till you get past the nail holes. If he's having trouble on rocky ground, hop off and lead him. I have to lead my horse over the cobbled farm-track where I keep him till we get to the road / fields, then hop on at a handy mounting point!
 
WoodfordFox said:
Yes you can smooth the chips yourself, it is not difficult at all :-)
I use the Stanley Surform ( http://www.toolbox.co.uk/stanley-sur...ool-2862-76809 ) which was recommended by my barefoot trimmer :-)

Yup, I've got one of those too! Just round-off the edges. His feet will chip at least till you get past the nail holes. If he's having trouble on rocky ground, hop off and lead him. I have to lead my horse over the cobbled farm-track where I keep him till we get to the road / fields, then hop on at a handy mounting point!
Click to expand...

I've bought one :D Just hope my farrier doesn't kill me for messing with my pony's feet :p

Leading him over the stoney ground is an idea... I could even pop hoof boots on for the difficult part (its about a mile) and hide them in a bush at the end of the path and stick them back on on the way home.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I feel a bit less apprehensive now! If this goes well I'll be taking his fronts off come winter. Not bad for a horse that was racing a few months ago :)
 
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