Our barefoot journey begins. 1 month in pics!

MrA

MrA

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Feb 8, 2012
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I'm so excited the trimmer is booked in for lunchtime Wednesday to remove Ales front shoes and trim his backs.

I've got my cleantrax all ready and I'm sure the lovely trimmer will give me lots of advice but if anyone on here has anything to add I'd be very grateful.

I'm slowly learning to just go with my gut with him and stop listening or worrying what others say. He's looking amazing currently and seems very happy and content :) and that makes me really happy!

Yesterday I just sat in the field, he came and blew on my hair and then rested him chin on my head for a moment before wandering off to graze. He's such a special boy :) even if I never ride him again he still makes my life so much better and more fulfilling :)
 
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Good luck with the barefoot. Ziggy and I have had ups and downs with it, but I think it is the obvious thing to do for a horse/pony on rest or light work.

I hope the trimmer is helpful!
 
Jane&Ziggy said:
Good luck with the barefoot. Ziggy and I have had ups and downs with it, but I think it is the obvious thing to do for a horse/pony on rest or light work.

I hope the trimmer is helpful!
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Thank-you, yes I think it's the right thing to do whilst he's not in work. She was very thorough and informative when I asked for her opinion a while back :)
 
I really like tcp/anti back first aid type wash - throw in a bit of water and scrub with hoof pick brush once a week I find keeps in top of thrush without being too aggressive :)
 
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popularfurball said:
I really like tcp/anti back first aid type wash - throw in a bit of water and scrub with hoof pick brush once a week I find keeps in top of thrush without being too aggressive :)
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Thank-you I've got Milton which is a sterilising fluid so will use this :)
 
Hopefully he will do well. Don't be alarmed though as his feet will probably look worse before they look better. My boys feet all crumbled away up to the nail holes but then the good stronger hoof above the hole grew down and his feet looked a lot better and stronger. Although I must say i think Ale's feet look better than my boys did when his shoes came off and he now has brilliant strong hooves .
 
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joellie said:
@Ale how's he getting on going barefoot ?
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Thanks for asking :)

Really well so far! His feet did break back a little but not as bad as I was expecting! They look nice an neat currently but a little short, but most importantly he seems comfy. I'm spraying Milton into the frog cleats and white line every day to clear up any thrush and he has some white line disease so trying to clear this up. Trimmer is back in 3 weeks time but so far I'm really pleased :)
 
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He doesn't seem at all sore on them, in fact today he had a little trot around and looked great!
 
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I've just realised its been a week, was going to try and photo once a week at the start so I'll try to remember tomorrow!
 
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I think you will find his feet will seem 'shorter' bare, they often get too long when shod and then when they start self trimming (the breaking and chipping) they bring the foot back to where it really needs to be :) I was really happy last week after doing a slightly longer ride with more road work Jess' back feet chipped really well, she has totally sorted out the flares and longer foot I have been struggling to get under control that last few months while she has been kept on soft ground all the time :p
 
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Jessey said:
I think you will find his feet will seem 'shorter' bare, they often get too long when shod and then when they start self trimming (the breaking and chipping) they bring the foot back to where it really needs to be :) I was really happy last week after doing a slightly longer ride with more road work Jess' back feet chipped really well, she has totally sorted out the flares and longer foot I have been struggling to get under control that last few months while she has been kept on soft ground all the time :p
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This makes sense :)
 
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What lovely neat little feet he has :) The nail holes seem to have grown down a lot already.

It all sounds very promising so far doesn't it?
 
Bodshi said:
What lovely neat little feet he has :) The nail holes seem to have grown down a lot already.

It all sounds very promising so far doesn't it?
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It's not obvious from the picture but one hoof is alot smaller than the other which we are hoping will increase in size now it's not being held back by a shoe!

I'm really pleased with how well he is doing so far, had a lovely trot around today and he looks great still. Lovely to see him metal free and comfy :)
 
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Trimmer is back again today to see how he is doing so I will get some pics once she has been.

So far I think he's been doing really well, doesn't seem sore even the couple of times he has walked down the road.

He does appear to have a touch of thrush so ill be interested to hear what she suggests and how she thinks his feet are doing.
 
So pleased with how they are doing.

Trimmer was very impressed with them so much so that he doesn't need to be seen for 6 weeks now :D

Frogs are already looking alot better and they are just looking fantastic really. After the next trim the nail holes should be gone completely.

So happy with how they are looking already. He was quite comfy to walk along the road briefly today, had a little ouchy when he walked across the car park and obviously stepped on a stone but apart from that he was striding out happily!
 
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