Problem with barefoot

Innocence

Innocence

New Member
Jun 1, 2009
7,694
0
0
I have recently been trying barefoot with my pony but it's an uphill struggle.

He was really bad on his feet when we first took his shoes off but put it down to adapting to the ground and tbh the feet looked fine, no bruising and he seemed to eventually become sound on soft ground but did trip and found it difficult to walk on stony ground.

Had farrier out on Monday to trim the feet, he didn't actually trim them just bevelled them as he didn't want to make them footsore. Blaze is now really footsore on one front foot (his black one, pic shown below) but his other one looks fine. What do you guys think?

blazefoot_zps339f0aec.jpg
 
Can't see much from that pic but there is what looks like bruising on the right side of the pic on the sole adjacent to the white line. If one foot suddenly gets a lot worse than the others then it is often either a bruise or an abcess brewing.
 
More pics

photo_zps815251e2.jpg


photo1_zpsff8ada0c.jpg


photo2_zps84e2bdff.jpg


He doesn't seem to be tripping anymore but is definitely still in pain when walking on uneven surfaces causing him to stumble on occasion.
 
I'd shoe then, nothing natural about what we ask the domesticated horse to do.
 
Hard to be sure or certain about anything from photos but the foot looks pretty weak and flat soled to me, and it does appear that there's bruising too. Does he have a history of being overweight or laminitic? What is he getting feed / forage wise? How long have the shoes been off?

If you're going to carry on barefoot then hoof boots are probably a necessity, at least for the time being.
 
Again pictures difficult to see clearly - looks as though heel is under run and toe flared from side image - indicative of feet post laminitis or possibly with current laminitis
 
I am afraid I agree with Wally.

Our horses are not kept in any way naturally - we keep them on grass in perhaps at most a 10/15 acre field, generally in environments where there is either too much grass or too much mud.

I would put shoes on - IMO (head down, prepares to be shot) what a lot of people put down to low grade lami, is actually footsore.

We hack out on stones, gravel, roads - not at all natural IMO.
 
Well I had his shoes put back on tonight. He has not had lami with me but farrier thinks he has had it prior to me owning him because he had rings on his front feet.

His feet are very flat at the front and both fronts were starting to bruise. Those pics were taken a week after they were bevelled annd he had his shoes removed a month and a half ago.
 
Hope he is more comfy tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Horses for courses really I think. Tobes has really good feet, strong, round and don't break. But he does not like having both front shoes off at the same time and really mucks around.

Farrier does half and half for him - one side and then the other - Tobes has big frogs (meant to be good?!!!), but clearly it is painful standing with them on the ground.

He would be hopeless barefoot, although in theory, strong round feet, good soles and big frogs he would be an ideal candidate.
 
What we ask of them isn't natural, yet we take it for granted as normal when they can't even comfortably stand or walk on the feet god gave them. In any other animal it would be considered a sickness or a serious defect, but we very often just nail shoes on and ignore it. Please nobody take that as a dig, we all do the best we can for our horses and shoeing is very often the best solution all round. But it's not the only solution.

OP, you're quite right to have done something to make your horse more comfortable, but given the apparent condition of those hooves, the bruising, the rings and the amount of sensitivity they've been showing at a time of year when the grass isn't growing I would personally watch him like a hawk and manage him as a potential laminitis candidate. I suspect that even with the shoes on he may well still show some sensitivity over stony ground, especially when the spring grass arrives.
 
^^ or possibly cushingoid based on the time of year.

I think the biggest "unnatural" thing we do is our turnout - especially for natives. We throw them out in fertilised fields, with no weeds and little hedge row and fairly flat. Having tough harsh terrain is what keeps their metabolism working and blood sugars controlled.

However, this isn't and shouldn't be a debate about natural/unnatural. Just as the same debate applies with tack or handling. It should always be about what works for the horse.

Silver had very similar feet to those above - I chose barefoot as she tripped a lot shod, was petrified of the farrier and I struggled to find a farrier who's work I was happy with (I was new to area and on first yard/first pony). It's been a long slog, her feet are fab now - but everything is tightly managed - diet, turnout, exercise, foot care (scrubbing out feet) etc. we do use front boots for work - out terrain is harsh, but I have always said if I can't find boots to adequately fit, and she was not comfortable then I would shoe.

On the flip side, others don't have access to the set up I have - and shoes are the best way forward - it should always be what is in the interests of the horse based on the environment/lifestyle available.

As an aside from this slightly - would imprints offer more than regular shoes? I know they are used in laminitis however I don't know the technicalities/deciding factors in using them?

Other wise my (guess) would be to use natural balance shoes or at least side clips over toe clips so breakover/toes can be bought back
 
Myself and my farrier have had long long discussions about his feet, this was the 2nd attempt at barefoot, the first time i gave in after a week because the ground was so hard (time when we had no rain and there was a hose pipe ban) he really did struggle to walk. I thought i would give it another shot in Jan as the ground is really soft at the mo and tbh he was sound on grass and in the sand school, but seeing him struggle on concrete/uneven ground was not fair and after a month and a half of perserverance i have just had the shoes put back on. He was tentative walking out to the field this morning but i think he is just getting used to walking in shoes again and there was no stumbling.

It's a shame because my cob is barefoot, has been all his life and would have like to have kept them the same, but it's not meant to be.

At the moment the pony is fed speedibeet and graze one with MagOx, BY and biotin supplements. The amount is very small and only to get the supplements in. Come spring the speedibeet will stop and possibly the graze on if i can find something to replace it that doesn't contain nasties and is palatable.

I too feared he had the beginnings of cushings as he was drinking and weeing loads but this stopped about a month ago, now he doesn't drink in his stable at all and barely eats apart from picking at the grass in the field, his evening feed and picking at a haynet which is more of less full in the morning. I did try him on Agnus Cactus for a few days but he hated it and kept leaving his feed.

When he was barefoot, his feet were picked out and cleaned plus sprayed with frog oil but it made no difference.

When the grass begins to grow he will be muzzled again and kept in a bare paddock like he was last year to control any lami that might occur. I am also going to get vet out to do cushings test and look at his mouth.
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back