Barefoot question...

[HairyCob]

As some of you know, I've been attempting to 'head towards' barefoot with Dolly, and she's been 'bare behind' for the past seven weeks since the farrier last came out. She's been absolutely fine, apart from a bad case of thrush, which she'd have got in these conditions barefoot or not, and I've been riding her out once or twice a week (all I can manage in the winter) on the roads (bridleways and fields waterlogged!) with no problems at all.

Farrier came back today and I asked him to assess her back feet, as I was worried about the amount of 'frog shed' from the thrush, and thought they were a bit 'short' where they've worn down.

Now, my farrier is NOT an EP or Strasser-y type, but DOES encourage barefootedness wherever possible, and DOES do more than your average 'pasture trim' to bare feet- takes a long time 'balancing' the foot etc.

He has advised me that although Dolly's backs are fine at the moment, and that they are in very good shape with no cracks, chips or flares from being barefoot, that he believes the minute I start doing any more work with her, they will wear too quickly and she will have to have shoes back on:mad:

I did question how other people's horses cope when they are barefoot, and he says that different horses wear their feet at different rates, and that because Dolly seems to be wearing hers quite quickly, AND the fact that we have to do a LOT of roadwork, that in his opinion, Dolly won't cope with being barefoot with a higher workload, unless the majority of that work is done in the field or an arena- we don't have an arena, and anyway hacking is more my 'thing'!

Now obviously I do plan to increase her workload come the spring, and we do have to do a lot of roadwork, so currently the plan is to keep her barefoot until his next visit and then put shoes back on her hinds.

Do any of you 'barefoot experts' have any opinions or comments? Would her feet wear away and make her sore? I have to say I'm inclined to believe my farrier, her feet HAVE worn down, and he didn't trim ANY horn off her hinds today, but I'm open to suggestion and would love to know other's experiences:D

[Bobbin]

Mmmmm well seeing as I'm in the depths of barefoot despair at the mo I have quite a few opinions.

Bry is very heavy on her feet and wears her fronts down very unevenly as she moves like a weirdo!! I have had concerns about her feet being to short and Poohsmate even commented on them being short BUT my EP assures me that they are fine. She says Brys feet will wear down the way they want to. Apparently BF horses tend to have better digital cushions on their back feet than the front but again my hoss is the other way round. Bry also has completly messed up frogs from the bad thrush she had in the autumn. I have 100% trust in my EP so I can only go by how she guides me.

With regards to the cracking and flaring you need to give her feet a chance to toughen up and also remember that the weather is awful at the mo. I am convinced that Bry is footsore due to having sodden frogs. I am going to change her routine so she is only out for 6 hours a day and see if she improves. I have also changed her feed on the advice of the top spec helpline so she is having a more balanced diet. Did you manage to get hold of any calmag? You really need to get as much of that as you can into her.

I think people are under the impression that if a horse does go footsore that you should just give up. Ask anyone this can be a long process.

The other option for you is the hoof boots. I know it's pricey but they really are a godsend.

Let me know if you want the number of my EP, even if you just want to give her a call and have a chat, she is lovely and she'll help you.

xx

[No_Angel]

All my horses are barefoot, and all i do is roadwork, i have to ride at least 1/2 hour to get to any grass.
I personally have never had any troubles with feet wearing down, my cob always has to have masses of hoof cut off every time my farrier comes, and my ex racer always has some taken off as well.
perhaps your farrier took to much of her foot off after taking her shoes off? feet always grow less in the winter anyway, well my lots do.

[Yann]

In most cases I think you'd be lucky with a lot of horses if you can take the shoes off and carry on regardless, but you stand more chance of it with the hinds, especially if you're doing roadwork rather than stony tracks. It is the wrong time of year really as wet fields soften horn, especially on horses that aren't long out of shoes. All you can do is give it a try and try and build up slowly, although something like Keratex hoof hardener may give you the boost you need in the short term, I'd only put in on the sole rather than the walls though.

Aside of your horse showing discomfort look out for the heels dropping below the level of the frog and losing definition in comparison to the rest of the foot. If you can balance wear and work in the short term though you'll be surprised how quickly the foot will start to alter, roadwork is just what you want for strengthenin hooves. There are no guarantees and a lot of variables though, the trim included, you'll just have to see how you get on. Unless you're lucky getting a good working hoof unshod can take a lot of time, money and effort.

[Bay Mare]

Now, my farrier is NOT an EP or Strasser-y type, but DOES encourage barefootedness wherever possible, and DOES do more than your average 'pasture trim' to bare feet- takes a long time 'balancing' the foot etc.


I wouldn't worry if he were an EP but I would if he were Strasser!!! The two methods are about as far apart as you can get :eek:

If she has thrush this won't be helping her comfort levels. It's more important in an unshod horse to tackle thrush than it is when they're shod. A Milton soak (you know, the nappy stuff) would be a good idea and then look at other options for keeping on top of the thrush. There are various methods including borax, cider vinegar (1:1 dilution with water with optional drops of tea tree oil), Pioneer Personal Care tea tree soap and WLD balm (gorgeous stuff) or even honey! There is also a mix being used at the moment consisting of olive oil, grapefruit seed extract and tea tree (but I can't remember the quantities).

Handwalking in pads (sole mates) would probably be a good idea as would getting some hoof boots to ease the transition. Correct conditioning is key as the foot needs the stimulus to grow. It's much easier when the ground is drier and Saffy was growing horrendous amounts of hoof in the summer despite the fact that she doesn't do much road work!

It IS possible and there are an increasing number of barefoot horses out there these days to prove it but you have to get the trim right, the conditioning right, infection under control and listen to what your farrier/trimmer tells you. You are probably going to be limited with regards to what you can do at first but if you're willing to take the time and listen to advice from your professional then it can be doable.

Farriers do tend to use the old 'the hooves will wear down too fast' statement but that only shows their lack of understanding of the equine foot! I'm not saying that all horses can go barefoot or all owners but it's certainly not a given that if you do road work then you will HAVE to have shoes! Even if it's difficult initially hoof boots can be a godsend and at least they're only wearing them when you're riding and have the rest of the time with bare feet.

I would avoid anything to do with Strasser with a very long bargepole though!

[MelanieD]

Early on after taking the shoes off is the worst time for getting too much wear so it may well get better pretty soon. In most shod feet the inner wall is quite thin, or even almost absent at ground level if there's white line disease lurking. In barefoot horses there's usually plenty of inner wall and it's that that should be taking the wear with the outer wall rolled slightly. The problem after taking shoes off is getting from one to the other. Road work is good for inner wall but until the inner wall has had some time to grow back you have to be careful of getting too much wear. It usually takes a month or two to start getting some decent inner wall at ground level and after a whole 'new' foot has grown in there's usually some very big improvements.

Might be worth looking at diet to make sure she has everything she needs to be able to grow new foot as fast as possible to replace what's being worn off.

The other comment I just can't resist making is that sometimes a farrier's idea of a too short foot and the horse's idea of a too short foot are very very different!

I've got two barefoot. One took about 6 months to be able to do any road work without boots, but she is a bit of an extreme case since her feet were horrible to start with and had really messed up heels that couldn't take any wear. Now she has something like decent feet I never have to worry about wear anymore and she does lots of roadwork and some really rough tracks. My other one has never been shod and has always been utterly unbothered by anything, if her feet get a bit too short she just gets plenty of sole callous and carries on perfectly happy.