New owner, new horse, barefoot, any hints & tips??

[RRA]

Hello!

I've had my horse just 3 weeks now - she is currently unshod and I was advised by vet at pre-purchase vetting to keep them like that for as long as possible as he said she had great hooves! So far I have just been putting a daily conditioner on them and farrier is due next week. Can you suggest any other good measures/supplements for keeping healthy barefeet? Whilst I'm not really doing any roadwork I would like to keep them unshod for the time being.

Just for reference how regularly do those of you with barefoot horses get them trimmed?

Thanks!

 

[horsey_mad66]

i own a barefoot horse, me and my mum never put anything on them, but one thing we do is milton the bottom of them this keeps them germ and bug free, and if you just put the milton in a bucket and stand your horse in it for about 15 mins, once a week, this keeps them nice. but we arent doing it as much now because its summer and to give them a chance to harden up.

have a really good barefoot trim every 4-6 weeks done by a proper barefoot trimmer.

have a good pair of hoof boots if your horse is ouchy, my mare has the old macs g2's and she is much better in them and gets on with them really well.
http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=832
heres the link ^^^^^

 

[Yann]

There's no real need to put anything on the outside of them unless there's a specific problem, nice feet will look after themselves in that respect. You can supplement specifically for feet, but again unless you have a specific problem it isn't always necessary. Equimins make some good hoof supplements amongst others. The main thing that tends to affect both how feet are looking and how well they cope is diet, to much rich grass or sugary mixes can make some horses sensitive or footsore and cause the hoof wall to splay, so keeping your horse fit and slim and feeding a low sugar diet forage based diet will help in many cases. It's sadly the case that some horses can have fantastic feet and still struggle on rough ground for this reason. So long as you build up slowly roadwork shouldn't be a problem at all, it will actually help to toughen the feet. Also keep an eye out for any infection in the frog or white line, there are various products people use if this becomes a problem.

It's also worth being aware that some farriers are more supportive than others to keeping a horse unshod, and some are better than others at trimming a working horse and keeping it sound and comfortable.

You should have feet trimmed at similar intervals to shoeing, so about 6-7 weeks in winter and 4-5 weeks in summer. The feet are likely to grow more quickly but regular work will keep this in check and it might be that there's not that much to do if you're riding regularly.

Have fun, it's definitely a good option for any horse for lots of reasons

 

[capalldubh]

I own a barefoot horse. My big big big tip is to keep a hawk like eye on the frogs - even if they look OK, aim to get them looking absolutely perfect - so no flaps, cracks or crevices, no smell, gunky stuff or black ooze.

I ignored the sudden appearance of deep sulci in the frogs last summer, thinking it was just the weather and that the hooves themselves looked great. Bad call - it wasn't smelly thrush, but it hurt the horse just the same. He stopped his heel first landings, started landing toe first and weighting the inside of his hoof. We got horrible quarter cracks and a series of nasty abscesses before a sharp vet pointed out that something was wrong. Treated the frogs, and 4 months later the quarter cracks are growing out, the hoof shape has changed, we have heel first landings and hugely increased growth all around.

I used athlete's foot cream when the crevices were really bad, then borax soaks, then once things were clearing up, borax spray or dilute cider vinegar spray every time I clean the feet. Farriers and vets don't tell you about the importance of healthy frogs, you sort of have to find out the hard way If I'd taken the advice of the first vet who saw my horse, he'd have shoes all around and most likely still have sore heels.

 

[iloveshearer]

Shearer has a quick trim from the farrier every couple of months or so, sometimes goes a bit longer.

 

[Hannyhorse]

Fantastic that you had a vet say to keep them barefoot (there are a few around here that have realised how good it is!). There should be no reason why you would ever need to have shoes on, even if you do lots of roadwork provided that you introduce things gradually really - and roadwork is actually very good in moderation. As others have said, the frequency of trims will depend on the amount of work you do with your new horse, time of year, etc, but IMO you should have them trimmed at least every 6 weeks, in order to keep them as healthy and balanced as possible. As others have said, the farrier is also very important as it is quite hard to find one who does what I would consider a decent trim in Berkshire unfortunately - however there are a few around that I have seen really good work from, so hopefully you will have one of them!! The most important thing is not to be afraid to ask your farrier questions and if you are at all concerned about anything, or just unsure, they should be happy to advise you. You are right to ask for hints and tips as a lot of the time it is quite different having a barefoot horse as opposed to a shod one, although it sounds like your horse shouldn't have any problems if the feet are already healthy - all you have to do is make sure they stay that way!

 

[RRA]

Thank you for all your advice - I am going to have a good chat with the farrier when he comes next week and get him to give me a good lesson in hoof care etc anyway - especially me being a newby to all this and see what he thinks about it. If he is not pro-barefoot I will find one that is and take it from there - just want to get it right for my lovely girl!