Irish Draught - Barefoot

[Mareish]

I have just got myself a new youngster, he is full ID and I was planning to leave him barefoot.

Do any of you own large barefoot horses and do they seem to cope ok?

He is going to reach at least 16.3 and will be chunky but he has good feet as far as I can see.

Thanks for any advice

Jo

[senjj]

We have a heavy hunter, a TB cross heavy hunter, an ISH (17.2) and a warmblood all barefoot now since 2002.

[Iron Maiden]

JS was barefoot - I'm sure you've seen pix of him, he was a 16.2 very heavyweight traditional hairy vanner type. He had cracking feet but they weren't trimmed properly by his old farrier and they got very long and flat, and he used to stumble an awful lot. When the shoes came off he never looked back! We showed, hacked on all sorts of going, show jumped, did dressage & hunter trialled barefoot. He didn't just cope, he thrived! I'm sure your horse will be absolutley fine :) Got any pix btw? He sounds gorgeous ;)

[carthorse]

Ooooh another ID - pictures please?! How's he bred?

I've got an ID & I must admit I don't think he would cope barefoot, he doesn't have good feet & we have to be very careful with them. That doesn't mean your's won't though, I know of two people on the intelligent horsemanship forum who keep & ride IDs barefoot.

I hope you have loads of fun with him, IDs are lovely people :D

[Mareish]

Trying to remember from his passport, he is Skippy / Enniskeane Prince lines - Dam is Lymesbrooke Fantasia. Lots of growing to do !
This was one of the ad pics, he's such a baby
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/Mareish/Travis/Travis2.jpg

This was just one off the mobile when I went to view him, we pick him up Saturday :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v691/Mareish/Travis/Travis-1.jpg

[Roofio]

J is 18.1hh of non specified breeding ;) possibly some kind of warmblood, possibly some kind of Cleveland bay X. Either way, he's big, not particularly heavily built but still solid - i suppose you'd describe him as a gentleman's hunter. Anyway, his shoes came off in august to try and sort out the mess they'd got into and he's doing really well so far - if yours is already unshod i'd carry it on - shoes made a total mess of J's feet, i would need a lot of persuading to shoe now :)

ETA - just seen the pics, *swoon!* Jrs name was skippy before he was JR - what a silly name for an oss!

[Iron Maiden]

He's lovely - sort of half baby hoss, half big hoss at the moment by the looks of him! What a kind face he has. You lucky thing Marish :D

[Mareish]

Thank you :)

[carthorse]

I can remember Skippy from when I was a kid, that must be a way back in his bloodlines (& I'm showing how old I am :o). He was a very influential stallion & popular for a long time because he threw lovely stock. Enniskeane Prince always looked a lovely stamp to me. You should have a lovely horse there :)

He's got a lovely kind look about him, a really sweet baby. Will you keep us posted with pics as he grows up? How old is he & what's his name? Sorry for being so nosy, tell me to go away if you want!

[ashlingm]

my id went barefoot briefly, - i wasnt doing much with him during the summer so i thought id give it a go since id prefer him just to chill out and be a horse over the summer anyway cause he gets worked a good bit in winter.
anyway went lame after a week or so, turns out he couldnt cope without shoes (i left him 2 months cause i know it can take some time for a horses feet to adjust) ended up having to a specialist equine hopsital as my vet didnt know why he was going lame
turns out without shoes a muscle in his foot was rubbing off a bit of bone and getting irrated and sore hence making him lame and his foot to flare a bit - the only solution - a good pair of shoes!!
just goes to show going barefoot does not suit every horse, and i wouldnt like to take that risk with him being sore again. he is however able to go without hinds but will probably need fronts for the rest of his life (might try again when he retires...well we'll see what happens)
so basically id say give it a go, but do your homework and be aware of any changes in his feet and if it does all go wrong dont be too proud to go back to shoes. as much as people sometime moan about them they fixed my horse!!

[Mareish]

Thanks Ash, my Farrier is good and will say if he needs shoes, my mare is shod.

Carthorse, will update the pedigree when I get his passport Saturday. His name is Travis (Oak Meadow Monarch on his passport) and he is 17 months.

Seemed like a big dork and we have started calling him Trevor already :D

[chewitmonster]

Silver is IDx and has been barefoot since the beginning of June this year so...about 6 months. Trimmer is really impressed with his feet - he is a surprise to them, his feet were pretty poor and now they are on the verge of being better than my mums horse who has been barefoot for about a year or more.

taken when we'd just had the shoes taken off. Need to get some more up-to-date ones as hes lost weight and his feet are looking soo different
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/chewitmonster/silver%203%20june/DSCF0378.jpg

[Yann]

He's sooo handsome :D Great to hear he's doing so well.