Going barefoot properly

mystiquemalaika

mystiquemalaika

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2013
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So after a lot of thought and a not so successful attempt not so long ago with hinds(my lack of experience mainly I admit hands up) I have spoke to a great guy who specialises In barefoot.I have been becoming slowly concerned about malaikas feet,fronts mainly and damage been caused by shoes to the condition of them and asked farrier for advice he didn't have much to say.he is a lovely man but doesn't really do barefoot.so having been tweaking diet and having the management side all sorted and now talking to my lovely new hoof man he is coming either tomorrow or early next week to remove shoes and start the the transition to barefoot with malaika and me.he is very good at what he does,his partners horses compete endurance barefoot and his horses are too,has great testimonials and I am very honoured to be having him take on malaika and me as clients.
So I'm anxious,scared and also very happy to be doing this in the right way.
My old horse was barfoot the last year I had her and was great but she was pretty much retired,I'm not sure why I am so scared this time round but am also excited.he also fits and sells boots so I have help all round from diet,exercise etc so fingers crossed :D
 
I have found a new farrier, I did have the barefoot trim but living where I am the other chap said it was too far. See how he gets on.
I have trimmed/she self trims since October so want a check.
We have a gravel loose stone drive and track which is good, roadwork with another stony, rocky track.
She is on magnesium all year, noticed a difference with her.
 
Mine have been barefoot either all their lives (Moët) or since I've had them (Rosie 9 years, major 8 years)....I love the fact that they are barefoot, they have never had a problem, not even an abscess.

All the long reining you do will be brilliant for transitioning. Be mindful of the fact it usually takes time to adjust to different surfaces.
 
I have very mixed terrain around here which is going to be great for her transitioning,he's local to the area and knows the yard well so that is also helpful as he can keep me right with how much to do when so to speak and on what surfaces.seems to be a factor in the transition,what to do when.
Thanks Julie I told him I couldn't ride at the moment and was ling reining and taking out in hand which he said was great and he is happy with her diet so I'm doing something right!
Been doing lots of research he recommended a few sites,lots of work on my part as the owner which is a large part in why I don't feel it worked last time as I couldn't do anything with her then I panicked when she was footy.
Nf I have her on magnitude at the moment has helped her nervous energy, feet I'm not so sure,there may be a better product I can be using,he is going to go through that with me too.linseed,rosehips and a gut balancer seem to be used a lot as supplement for barefoot horses so lots to talk about when he comes!
 
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Well as you know Belle had her shoes off in October last year and to be honest she hasn't looked back, so far she's been fine, I did a lot of in hand walks with her to start with as my trimmer said the more exercise the better, so the long reining your doing will be great for her feet, the only thing that bothers Belle just now is the small gravel that we get on our lanes but I have a feeling she's been getting too much fresh grass so have addressed that now. I have considered boots as my trimmer also fits and sells them, but for what we do I'm not sure they are necessary.
I love the fact she is barefoot but I really need to learn how to do a maintenance trim (trimmer has promised to show me next visit) between his visits so I can keep them tidy though.
Good luck and I would think that as you are managing the diet now you'll probably find it easier this time around. Go in with your eyes wide open (I'm sure you are) expect the odd blip (which may never happen) and be patient x

Cross posted with you MM I use forage plus winter balancer and it seems to be very good, lots of great reviews too although it's quite expensive.
 
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Thanks kr I may pester you with lots of questions of is this what happen with belle etc so hope you don't mind!
Thanks I will look into the supplement,I don't mind paying if its what is best for her.her diet is fast fibre with oat straw chop and hay chop as a feed with a vit min supplement,biotin and magnitude,she gets soaked hay and is in during the day off the grass for 10-12 hours with a muzzle on at night,we long rein or walk out in hand in the evening so she is off the grass during the day for upto 14 hours.she is grass sensitive I feel and our grass is lush!having the muzzle on keeps her moving,large field and lots of mooching around to find the best bits she can get through it so at least I know she doesnt just stand eating in the same spot all day.mixed terrain in the field and to the field aswell.
Boots I will get as a back up as there are some testing parts of track that boots may be needed for, for the start so if I at least have them at hand I know I can pop them on if/when needed.comfort blanket for me aswell I will admit!
So glad belle is doing well barefoot and its working for you both :D
 
Well the shoes are off!her back feet are not as bad but she did have a 3 month break from shoes on these.her fronts are very flat,we have flare,stretched white line bad heel angle and a toe that's running away but her soles were harder than he expected so that was good but they aren't great.they look a mess because of nail holes,some of which were not in good places which I questioned on last shoeing but was told it was fine.so I have ordered keratex hoof hardener but this is for soles only and feedmark benevit advance vit min supplement to change over from naf.I am to walk her out around the fields and good tracks for the first week in hand,we went out for over an hour last night all was good she had a couple ow moments when she stood on a stone in the undergrowth the gravek she has to walk on to her stable is a touchy affair but she is not lame and Steve told me not to worry this will come and she is just feeling like I would with no shoes on which of course made perfect sense.he sees no reason she can't go barefoot with work and the right diet etc.he is happy with her diet just a swap in the vit/min supplement was all he recommended.in during the day out at night muzzled he said fantastic so carry on as normal in that respect.I am scrubbing and purple spraying morning and night as nail holes need to be kept an eye on.
So he is at our yard on sat again for another horse and wants to give her a check over,tidy up if needed and depending how she's going this week he will measure up for boots for the fronts as an incase but he feels she will be ok while we are doing inhand work.all been well after sat I have to start taking her on smooth tarmac aswell which is not a problem we have a good long uphill stretch right by the yard which we can go on and off, in and out of the fields.I have a book he lent me to read,starting that tonight,the barefoot horse and he is in it :) so all in all I'm happy and full of info atm.not expecting pretty feet for a wee while till nail holes grow out,I'm to expect chipping to start with.
 
Sounds like everything is set up pretty well, hope it works out :) Only comment I would make is that the Benevit Advance contains manganese and iron which are usually already plentiful in UK pasture. Might be worth trying something like the Pro Hoof supplement, which has more copper and zinc in as well, uptake of these can be inhibited by high levels of iron and manganese and both are important to hoof health.
 
Thank you yann,this is a mine field to me so I appreciate all input as i hold my hands up to not knowing!she has been on magnitude for over a year as she was nervy and flighty and It seemed to make a difference,that was on recommendation of the vet,so if I go for the pro hoof would I keep feeding this along side or stop?or if I go benevit would I stop magnitude as she did seem to have deficiency and add more copper and zinc?sorry lots of questions!
 
I read that wrong you said maganese,oh dear that's a new word to me!sorry I'm going to be in need of a lot of help here.
 
Lol! Manganese and Magnesium are two different things :D If you went with Pro Hoof then you probably wouldn't need to add the magnitude - it's an expensive way of feeding magnesium oxide anyway, you can get it more cheaply as a plain product from the same people who do the Pro Hoof, they also do the copper and zinc as separates.

If you stick with the Benevit then it might be useful to keep up with the magnesium, and also add a little bit more copper and zinc.
 
I gathered they were,I'm thinking I've probably been reading manganese as magnesium for along time and not even realised as I've just done it with your post!Steve did say the magnitude was expensive and said to change once the tub ran out.I definitely need some lessons on the extras in all these things.I will take a look at the pro hoof and try that.thank you for replying yann I was hoping you would :) and please correct me on anything I'm saying/doing wrong I'd much rather know as I really am novice at this.
 
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Have you thought about joining the Phoenix barefoot forum? There's a tonne of useful information on there, google it and the link will come up.
 
I just took the shoes off and asked farrier to make sure he gave me a good edge roll and balanced without touching frogs or soles. He has done so and now pony is sound all all surfaces for nearly a year :smile:
 
We are aiming for the roll but because of the damage to her feet and nail holes he can't roll,the previous farrier has rasped too much and too high and left the hoof wall to thin so we need good growth to come first,he has rolled the edge as much as possible but there really isn't much to work with at the moment.its only stones and gravel she is ouchy on the frogs and soles are not too bad in the grand scene of things.one nail was at the half way mark to give an idea of things :(
 
Walked out tonight,she was good as gold,she actually stepped off the grass on one of the tracks onto the rougher terrain,not stoney but rough and was fine went for a while then took herself back on the grass,just letting her pick and choose for now and get the feel no pressure on her.took her time on the gravel by the stable but this is fine ,so another go tomorrow out for a walk will go through the woods,nice and soft no stones but slightly different for her feet.
 
Well she is still ok,chipping away at the nail holes look pretty awful but sound and happy so I am to calm down.Steve is coming in the morning to give her a check over and may measure up for the boots,I feel I would feel better if I had them to help put my mind at rest while we are out walking but that's me,will be talking tomorrow on what do.keratex arrived on wed put it on then and again today just the soles as instructed I am sick of purple spray I am not the best with the bl***y stuff gets everywhere,today squirting into a nail hole it all back fired and all over my face and malaika has some rather fetching purple splodges on her lovely white feathers,as Steve said last week do you fight with this stuff,well it would seem so!but it is doing the job so I shall continue to paint both malaika,the stable and myself for the foreseeable :rolleyes:
 
Steve had a look at her yesterday and said someone has been busy,I straight away thought s**t I've done something wrong and said in a bad way to which he no not at all :) he was pleased with her frogs on her back feet said and her front feet are starting to show signs of improvement already,he laughed at all the purple stay outside my stable and on my boots and on malaikas socks and said good for keeping on top of it!he didn't do anything said she is sorting herself out very well and for now to keep doing what I'm doing,we are walking 1-1.30 hours a day,done longer on Fri about 2 hours all on grass and he said she wasn't sore and the movement will be doing them the world of good so to keep going!the nails holes are chipping but her hoof wall has been left so thin around them we need to just let them do what their doing and he reckons in about 12 weeks they will be grown out.I am to start introducing 5 mins a day on smooth tarmac mid week and after 7-10 days build it upto 10mins and so on.boots he said last time we will leave for now while we are doing all in hand,other than the track and gravel on the yard she is walking well and comfortable,she is getting better on the gravel,takes her time but isn't stumbling as much.supplement arrived yesterday so started introducing that and the keratex done the course now once a week.his gut feeling is she will be a good barefoot so long ad I keep up the work!happy happy happy I am doing something right thank god!he will see her in 3-4 weeks or before if I feel any chips need a tidy up I can send pics if need be so all good :) I am sure I am going to do something wrong and all malaika and his hard work will be ruined :(
 
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Oh and I have to say he is just the best as I freaked out on Fri thought something was wrong I rung him he said I could send pics and bless him he put my mind at rest I really am over the moon that he took us on and feel so lucky and honoured to have him looking after my baby girl as I really was at a point I thought what on earth am I going to do so highly recommend him!
 
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