Taken back shoes off but he cant really walk now!!

[Amber Hughes]

My farrier is fab I trust him and he said the horse would be fine without back shoes so we took them off 2 days ago and now my horse can bearly walk though he is fine on grass

I trust him when he said his feet will harden up but I am looking for reassurance really

Anyone has the same thing happen?

My TB isnt being ridden so thought having back shoes off wouldnt matter?!

[Yann]

Did he trim themtoo short after he took the shoes off? Even horses with poor front feet are normally OK without shoes on behind just being led about, sounds like something isn't right.

[Roofio]

i agree with Yann, sounds like something is amiss - my lad had the most awful front feet but really shocked me with how well he coped to begin with out of his backs.

[Yann]

Every horse that comes to our yard has their back shoes off and not one of them has been crippled as a result, it is unusual.

[cariadbach10]

As I understand,the thinking amongst trimmer is that shoes often disguise underlying problems. I suppose it's a choice of whether you want to continue disguising the problems and put the shoes back on, or deal with the problem itself and keep the shoes off.
Of course that's not a whole lot of help if you don't know what the problem is!

[joeby]

I tried going bare foot with Alfie but had to put just front shoes on as he had flat feet and would rear out on the road when we came to a flinty area. He has coped well and adapted to being unshod on the back tho no problem. Ring your farrier and discuss! I have spoken to another lady who said it took her horse 2 years to get comfortable etc going bare foot but not at the expense of the horse in the mean time. My farrier does not believe in farrier formula and diet supps but always recommends Efol (think thats whats its called will check later and let you know.)

[summerguest]

My horse went a bit sore when hinds were removed but not straight away more a few weeks later...he worked through it and I haven't looked back.

I also took all the shoes off my flat footed tb and she was fine straight away.

The feet may be slightly overtrimmed or he may need time to harden up. I'd keep an eye on it, don't think barefoot suits all horses.

[maverick927]

My horse couldn't walk when he had no back shoes.

He has very flat feet, and the hooves just crumbled away when he hit even a few stones.

He ended up having feet that where way to tiny for his 17.1hh body.

We had to spend a couple of months, with shoes on before he came back right.

I believe that it just doesn't suit some big horses. My pony is barefoot and doing fantastic. Her feet are fantastic.

Pity all four of mine weren't like the pony or I'd save heaps of money