I have my horse back!! yippee

[Ptaty70]

Hi

Following on from my comment Nik-n-Kia's thread, I got my horse shod on the front yesterday after 2 months of 'ouchiness', despite having very good feet and having managed surprisingly well when the back shoes came off in September. It just wasn't working out.

So I asked the farrier to come out, had a chat, he looked at the feet, found they were very worn despite very little riding and that he wasn't walking properly (obviously.. was very nervous about any type of ground that wasn't grass)

SO, the shoes went back on. Still was ouchy yesterday and I thought it would take a while for him to recover, but...

today, I walked him back from the field and the ears were forward, would walk over any terrain and had a distinclty happy look on his face!! I am so PLEASED!!! that means i can ride at the weekend!!!! yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

You cannot believe my relief! it was killing me. Works for some. Didn't work for my pony.

Still bare at the back...

:D :D :D :D :D

[KarinUS]

Wow. I am sorry that the boots didn't work either. That is really rare. In fact I never heard that the boots wouldn't offer enough protection for wear. The horses on the Houston (big city here in Texas) Police Force work barefoot in boots on city streets. Really must be very rare that they still wear too much. I'd be heartbroken if I ahd to put mine back in shoes. ((Big hugs)), platy and I am glad he's feeling comfortable now.

[Ptaty70]

Hi Karin
I was going to buy boots, then it got to the point that I wanted a farrier's point of view just in case something was really wrong, so gave him 2 weeks off to see if that changed anything, then the farrier came out, so never got to trying the boots.. which I thought were superfluous as he wasn't being ridden and are not meant to be worn all the time in the fields as they are rather wet and slobby at the moment, so they would just come off and wouldn't have an effect as the ground is soft. i would have bought them if he was just ouchy on rides/harder ground, but it seemed to be anywhere - soft fields etc.. and he'd never ever had feet problems, so the guilt escalated as it was 'my fault'.

4 days on and he can now turn on a sixpence on the yard, which he couldn't do before. I gave it time and tried to get through the **ouch** period, but really, 2 months in and no better got me really paranoid/ So I am over the moon he is back to normal and in shoes again. God knows what was wrong...nothing too medical as he was fine after 24 hours!

[Cupcake]

That's fantastic news :D Weirdly enough I've never had any trouble with Skye, no shoes or boots or anything. As you said something just don't work for others. That's such good news :D I can imagine your relief.

[Yann]

Whatever works for you :) Boots would have been worth a try, but they're expensive and sometimes don't work, I should know!:D

[Bebe]

I'm really pleased that you've got things sorted.

Amanda

[Ptaty70]

Thanks everyone! I am pleased to have been able to keep his back shoes off and they are coming along nicely so now he is completely happy.

yann, I was going to buy the boots about 3 weeks ago, but then took the decision not to ride instead and get more professional advice. Am not used to worrying too much about him so the last month,when he should have been getting better, just bothered me stupid. I really thought he would sail through going barefoot at the front as it was so easy at the back and he has great feet. Ah well!

wey hey, I can ride at the weekend (if this bless-ed weather cheers up!)

[Yann]

Front feet always seem to be a lot more difficult to sort out than backs, just the way it is. It can take many months (or even years in some cases) to see improvements and the happiness of the horse and also the rider are important considerations. That's why most barefooters at least start off in boots and often keep a pair handy, a taking a horse barefoot that was sound in shoes shouldn't be a tribulation for anyone :)

Enjoy your riding :)

[Scarlett 001]

I am sure your horse is very happy (and comfortable) now, and so are you. Great to read, as I recall your posts on some other threads about your concerns.

[Ptaty70]

Thanks! I am a person who understands there is a 'breaking in' period, but seeing my otherwise confident, outgoing pony finding it hard to walk forward (and it was really only tentative steps he took but with a very earnest, concerned expression on his face)I really had to look at other options.. I could solve it by putting boots on when riding, but seeing him having problems just walking from the field where I couldn't put boots on him realistically due to mud, it made me depressed!

He is such a forgiving pony, but we tried it and very unfortunately it didn't work and I SO wanted it to work out...

Again tonight, he was fine. Am looking forward to riding out with a new buddy tomorrow (my normal buddy lost her beautiful horse at the same time I stopped riding, so it was easy to give him a rest to see if his feet settled... it makes you more conscious of their welfare when a friend loses a horse...:o )

[KarinUS]

That's why most barefooters at least start off in boots and often keep a pair handy,

That's how we did it. By the time the shoes came off we already had soaking boots on hand and Boa Boots to keep riding for each horse. Being well prepared really pays off in instances like this. Barefoot is not for everybody and in fact for somebody not ready to get involved themselves (effort, time, some money upfront), shoes definitely are the way to go.

To me going barefoot was a bit like investing. You are 'paying' upfront and get the dividends later. IMHO with shoeing you get the payoff right away but it's not near as good of a return in the long-run. ;)
I think you made the right decision for your situation, considering your level of involvement. :)

[Ptaty70]

Karin, can I just ask out of interest, how long did it take your horse to get used to being barefoot?

I thought that 6 weeks (him being hardy and all) was enough, especially as he doesn't do that much work. is that a long or short time???

I also thought i was not a namby pamby owner who 'humanised' their horse, but he really did look concerned even on softish paths... coming from the field where he gallloped like a madman.

I SO wanted this to work, but seeing him being happy again has made me glad we went back to shoes. He is back to the horse i know and love and phew, the worrying has stopped! Just waiting for the next thing now... oh yes, the summer is coming so COPD will be my new 'worry'!

[KarinUS]

That one is tough to answer because I think our definition of it varies. For me the boots are a tool to be used whenever necessary to have them be comfortable in their work. Just the way you view shoes as something to keep him comfortable in his work rather than an indicator of him being unsound, right?
So if your question is at what point did all of them go on major trail rides without boots my answer would be never. I just put them on when I think it will be rough on their feet. But since we did use them from the start I really never missed out on any riding either. Because they wore their boots early on tehy never wore doen the hoofwall enough to make them ouchy in the field. In fact even the TB soon cantered down the gravel road (without rider LOL)When we ventured into this I think we had all the bases covered.
Does that make sense? I love them being barefoot but I'd never be willing to let them suffer for it. I know you are the same. :)
With involvement I meant being prepared as far as information, tools, knowledgable support goes - not being willing to let them be sore for weeks.
For us even two years into this a major part of our weekend is still dedicated to barefoot care (we have three so one is always due for a maintenance trim, etc.). But seeing the changes I have seen, makes it all worth it to me. :)

I really hope I am making myself clear. I don't think you are a namby pamby owner. I KNOW how much it takes to make this work. It's easy to get off-track if a piece of the puzzle is missing. :)

[Ptaty70]

Karin, I totally get where you are coming from:p and I wish i was in your position, I really do. Boots were going to be bought but he really wasn't happy even after 2 months to the point I wasn't riding...which isn't the be all for me.. I went a bit 'cold pony' (pony equivalent of cold turkey!!) and didn't like it (I even went to spend some time at another stables to be near lots of ponies as it affected me more than I thought), plus him being really uncomfortable

My problem was that he was hardly being ridden apart from the first weekend (which was a mistake).. and spent all his time in the field and the stable... can't understand why his feet wore down so much when his feet are so strong otherwise.. no flakiness, never ever lost a shoe....

I put it down to the individual pony and that he just didn't make the grade. I really wish he could have:rolleyes: ! I shall let him off his 'ouchiness' as otherwise he is the most perfect pony in the world... oh did I not say...EVER. Seeing him hurting after such a long time really hurt.

[Yann]

Tess struggled over anything other than soft pasture at first, just like yours. I had an oversize pair of boots with pads in that belonged to Rio that I used to and from the field and on the yard that were easy to get on and off, so she was kept comfortable pretty much at all times. I also used hoof hardener to give her a boost and this was also in the summer, so the feet were dry too, it all helped. We managed without the boots round the farm after about 3months as the lane to the field was very stony, but she was back in ridden work and flying in just a few weeks. If you can't keep the horse comfortable then the feet are going to struggle to improve.

There may have been other things going on with your horse too that your farrier may or may not have picked up on which might have made a difference, I'm all for good farriers but sometimes the particular knowledge that a specialist trimmer can bring to the situation can make the difference between success and failure.

[martini55]

I'm glad to hear your horse has improved with shoes. Barefoot certainly isn't for every horse and if I had a horse that was working well in shoes but became very footsore barefoot I think I'd want the shoes back on too! There have been days (before I got my boots) when I just thought I wanted Martini's shoes back on. But then in our case shoes simply mask the underlying problem. She is sound in the field and in boots though so I don't worry too much about the fact she takes her time coming in. Six weeks to me doesn't seem like a long time but I think that's because I know in my head it will take months for my horse's feet to improve (though I have seen a difference in one month so I am very hopeful!).

Have a good ride, the weather is certainly nice up here :)