hoof boots - all the time???

[**Dreams**]

I went barefoot with my Cob about 6 months ago as he just kept ripping his front shoes off and was starting to damage them and get sore.

So... i decided to go barefoot and I have to say his feet are in the best condition I have ever seen them!

Anyway, I just have a couple of questions which I hope someone can help me with. At the moment I hack out 2 or 3 times a week on a mixture of road and grass verges and put his boots on (Old Mac's) every time we ride. I was just wondering whether we need to wear them all the time? We don't go on any stoney or uneven ground.
Also, i have seen people saying how hard their horses hooves have become and they never have to put boots on - silly question, but how do you know if your horse has hard feet or not?! Bobs aren't cracked or crumbling anywhere. These boots are such a faff it would be heaven to not have to put them on every time!

[pineapple]

you could ask you farrier if he think his feet are now in a good enough condition to hack out with out the boots.

if you want to you could try taking off the front boots and taking for a short hack, normally they get harder as the horse works on a hard surface. but its important you dont do much, my horse used to try towalk on the grass when it got too much for his feet and in the end he had to have shoes put back on the front feet.

however, my pony hacks out with out any shoes or boot so it can be done, but must be gradual.

[KateWooten]

Just try it. Horses aren't born with metal shoes on ... if you put metal shoes on, then obviously their feet soften up and you need to then rehab them in order to toughen them up when you take the shoes off again.

Hoof boots are useful for when you have to do more work or tougher work, than the feet are ready for, but really, I don't put boots on until the hoof itself is telling me it's not coping - say, the horse is struggling over stony ground, or there's far too much wear on the hoof. You can really play it by ear a lot with barefoot, because the hoof reacts to the conditions it finds itself in. You'll find if you start using the horse more and more on different terrains, his hoof will attempt to grow more and more in order to cope.

I'd just start taking them off and start with short hacks - or take them off for the last ten minutes of a ride - and build up from there.

To be honest, I think people can get a bit over-cautious with the job of toughening up the feet ... all my four are barefoot, and of those, at least one was shod before, and I really don't think too much at all about conditioning their feet, except to keep checking them and adjusting the amount of work if there are problems (which there haven't been).

[MelanieD]

After 6 months new growth should be close to the ground and feet should be toughening up nicely, but how much you can do without boots does depend on how bad they started out.. Can your trimmer or farrier give you any idea of how much work would be ok to do without boots?

Best way to try it is a short hack to start with (30 mins or less) and make sure he's sound during the hack and not sore the next day after it. Keep an eye on wear, if the frog is ending up sticking out beyond the heels or you're seeing lots of wear to the edge of the sole and the frog you might be getting too much wear (some horses will get sore, some won't). If all fine at 30 mins then try longer rides and build up gradually. You could do some rides with boots and some without, maybe just save the boots for longer rides. Also if you do get a tiny bit too much wear then working in boots for a few days can encourage the feet to grow more.

[lachlanandmarcu]

Def try it in winter, mine needed boots most of the summer but has been fine (better in fact) without them in the winter. In the summer they help protect her soles from the hard and stony ground, but in the winter she slips too much in the mud and has better grip without them and is completely sound. :)