HELP needed/ experiences on bare foot

[blushin_bex]

Me and my horse need help! V sad situiation bought him in oct last year and he has virtually been lame all the time due to his feet :(

Abscesses and corns, bruising etc. Vets and farriers kept saying poulitce... he gets better shoe back on and lame again.

Took him for x- rays and basically long toe low heel so remedial shoeing although sadly few changes in his hoof but vet said not a problem as he has actually been sound since I have had him.

Remedial shoeing started with natural balance shoes- caused abscess, he now has heart bar shoes with gel pads on (after a period of having his foot poulticed) and appeared better, trotted up sound however was still not right turning or on unlevel concrete. Gradually got worse and is now trotting up lame.


Really dont know what to do but am seriously intrested in bare foot (my farrier and another experience farrier who have been working together agree this is next step) . When my horse was initally shod he couldnt stand with out all his shoes off while farrier was shoeing him, if he loses a shoe he is hopping however when poulticed etc i used a boot and he was good with this is.

Would really appreicate your thoughts on how a very footy TB would cope barefoot, am not willing to box rest him for a long as he has had enough in, however I am happy to keep him in at night and out at day with boots to begin with and ride him in boots if sound.

PLEASE PLEASE HELP! he deserves me to sort this out for him, just have major worries as he has caused me so much money in vets bills farriers etc and stress/ worry about being stuck with a lame extremly fresh/ lively tb who needs to be in work!

All thoughts appreicated, Becky

[Bay Mare]

TBs can go barefoot, there's absolutely no reason why they can't.

Do some research into barefoot, the main 'schools' are:

EPs - http://www.epauk.org
DAEPs (same training but the EPAUK have branched out) - http://www.equinepodiatry.net
AANHCP - http://www.aanhcp.net/

I, personally, would avoid Strasser trimming with a very long bargepole although I know that some people on here do use it.

It's probably worth speaking to the trimmers and getting them to come out and do an assessment.


You can always use hoof boots and pads in the early stages of transition and it is worth knowing beforehand that it isn't an easy option, can be time consuming and does require a lot more input from the owner than shoeing ever did. It is worth it, however, if you can put in the time and effort :D


These are Saff's front feet just after coming out of shoes. To think that I thought that they were 'ok'. She had been shod a fortnight before :eek:

Off Fore

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/Barefoot/19june05-2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/Barefoot/19june05-5.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/Barefoot/19june05-3.jpg


Near Fore

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/Barefoot/19june05.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/Barefoot/19june05-4.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/Barefoot/19june05-1.jpg


I need to get some up to date piccies but you can see how beautiful they are now:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/SaffFeet23May07.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/TashaKat/Saffy/SaffFeet23May07.jpg

[Bay Mare]

It's also worth having a look at/following 'FRED'S BLOG' (http://www.unshod.co.uk/articles/fredsblog.php) which shows the rehabilitation of a 5 year old laminitic Hanoverian. It's a work in progress so you can't see the finished product but you can see already how the new hoof is coming through :D

The blog is by Richard Vialls, one of the EPs involved in the EPAUK. He does a lot of rehabilitation work rather than 'bog standard' work and is very knowledgeable and very helpful :)

[Bebe]

My mare is barefoot and whilst she wasn't as bad as your guy sounds, she wasn't too far off. She couldn't stand unshod on concrete, my farrier had to pull & reshoe the same foot vs take all 4 shoes off and do it that way as she couldn't tolerate it. She would also get quite upset when nails where hammered into her hind hooves. She tripped and stumbled a lot yet there was never any real growth for the farrier to do anything with.

I had her shoes removed in Sept 2004 under the guindance of an Equine Podiatrist (I'd tried it with my farrier but as soon as the ground hardened up she was hopping lame) and within a fortnight I was riding her out with only front hoof boots. Soon after I rode her on soft ground without any boots, building up to doing roadwork, etc over time.

It's not been easy as she's a bit of a difficult case all round (she likes to keep me on my toes) and there are times when I have to boot her on all 4 hooves, or just in front, but there are also times when she goes over every surface going unbooted. She doesn't bruise or abcess like she has in the past, I can't remember the last time she tripped or stumbled and her hooves look really, really nice.

It's not always been the easiest path but for us it's the right way to go, shoeing just does nothing for her and we'd have run out of options in the end.

[mayoguinness]

pm'd you:)

[Yann]

She wasn't lame but I took the shoes off my Tb last August as the feet were getting in a bad way and I knew there was only going to be one outcome long term. Her front soles were either completely flat or actually bulging and the frog was the lowest part of the foot. Both fronts were badly flared and she had underrun heels. There's a thread on here with some pictures.

She was initially sore even on level concrete and I had to boot her to pick her feet out and take her to and from the field. Fortunately they moved fields the same weekend to soft lush pasture so she was field sound apart from the first few days with an apparent stone bruise. Within a week all sorts of bits and bobs had peeled off the soles and the frogs had shed down to a more sensible height. I gave her a few weeks off before I started riding her again in boots and pads and we've never looked back.

I know it's going to be a long road (if ever) before I can do everything we did shod without boots, but she's comfortable over almost everything in hand and happy ridden on easy and smooth surfaces. The heels have decontracted somewhat and come back and the sole has developed some concavity (although some of that has now infilled with false sole since the ground hardened up).

You're starting from a more difficult position so you need to make sure you're equipped with the right boots and pads. It'll probably be useful to follow quite a rigorous disinfection regime at first too as infection is possibly lurking in the white line and frog, most people use milton, borax or dilute hibiscrub. Diet is really important too, cut out any sugars and cereals and either feed a specific hoof supplement or something like Topspec. Avoid lush fertilised pasture if you can and supplement magnesium (calmag from agricultural merchants). In essence feed a diet more suited to a laminitic as it will help grow a stronger more capable foot.

The trim is important too, the sole should generally be left well alone and it important to remove as much flare as possible and relieve the outer wall a little at the floor by putting a roll on it.

Read widely :) www.barefoothorse.com and www.ironfreehoof.com and www.hoofrehab.com are all really interesting and useful sites.

Good luck :)

ETA - Giving the foot plenty of work is critical to recuperation, but especially in the early stages it's important to constantly monitor your horse during and after every ride. Work is good, but it's important to back off if the horse tells you you've done too much, so start slowly and build up gradually. It may well be however that removing the shoes does provide some relief of its own and boots and pads will only help that.