How many people's horses are completey barefoot?

[CatOnLap]

It saves no money if you cannot ride your barefoot horse over the terrain you need to travel on. The vet/farrier bills and time off for a stone bruise that becomes an abcess is going to outstrip the cost of a set of shoes.

The sad truth is that there are many horses out there who were never bred to be barefoot. We all know of at least one horse who couldn’t make the transition to shoeless.

But it is also true that many disciplines still look in wonder/disapproval at barefoot horses. I showed my dressage horse barefoot all the way to FEI levels and people were always so surprised, asking how did I get such good movement out of a barefoot horse. That is a comment I do not understand. Fortunately, there are more barefoot horses up the levels now.

[rainechyldes]

[QUOTE=CatOnLap;4194254]
I showed my dressage horse barefoot all the way to FEI levels and people were always so surprised, asking how did I get such good movement out of a barefoot horse. That is a comment I do not understand. Fortunately, there are more barefoot horses up the levels now.[/QUOTE]

I’ve run into this comment too, having people say wow, nice trot (endurance styles extended trot, and then go one to say hmm if he were shod he’d probably move better… mm he has a 14mph trot, I think he’s moving out just fine:) )

I do actually see the reasoning behind this belief. If a horse isn’t really conditioned to being bare, they will not move out as well as if they were shod depending on terrain. Kinda like a person can run along a gravel driveway, but if not used to it, they tiptoe, - least I do.
Barefoot horses competition horses, I think are more common now in some areas then others.

Even here I still get a raised eyebrow from certain vets if they are new, and don’t know me at competitions, if I bring one of my barefoot horses. Especially if they ask boots? and I say, nope, no boots.

[mjmvet]

back on topic?

Mine is barefoot - has been for 9 years of her life. Most of our riding is on sand or squishy fields…some hunter paces. She grows more hoof than I can keep up with, lacking a lot of miles of riding and abrasive surfaces. Never had a problem with it. I would consider boots if our riding surfaces changed and she needed them.

[midwestrocket]

My horses are only shod in the spring/summer months. Like march to sept. The rest of the year they go barefoot with no issues. our trails are rocks and uneven could potentially present a stone bruise from dried up river beds from time to time… but ultimately no issues. there is an old saying that everytime you put a nail in a horses hoof you put a nail in his coffin…now I’m sure that is just an exaggeration…but horses went for how many years without man bugging him and they were better than amazing

good diet and a good farrier can ensure a healthy barefoot horsie

if they do get ouchy I know a few people that use pine tar to harden up the soles of their feet.

[CosMonster]

Midwestrocket, if they are sound in the winter, why do you shoe them in the spring/summer? Is it the increased workload?

I’ve never heard the saying you mention. I do a lot of reading of old farrier texts and the closest I’ve ever heard is the US Cavalry shoeing manual referring to shoeing as a “necesary evil.” Where did you hear it?

Boy, this post sounds like I’m picking on you…I’m really not, I promise! I’m just honestly curious. I don’t really care if other people keep their horses shod or barefoot; I don’t think shoeing is evil or anything like that. I just spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about horse’s feet.

[midwestrocket]

I shoe because of increased workload. I run NBHA and IBRA barrels in addition to my newfound interest of competitive trail and the occasional cow chasing… all seasonal things my riding unfortunately gets literally cut in half in the wintertime.

I don’t know where I heard that now that I think about it! lol But everytime I get a horse shod that experssion crosses my mind.

you can pick on me, I don’t mind! :winkgrin:

[LittleblackMorgan]

My boy has never worn shoes. My farrier RAVES about his feet-hard, large and cupped beautifully.

I trail ride ALOT. Through everything, including rocks. He hardly chips, and had 1 absess that scared me enought to buy Epics. I used them a couple times but found that I spent MORE time worrying about the damn things unclipping than enjoying my rides.

We go through mud, and water, snow and ice (though not by choice on the ice). Road riding, beach riding, hunter paces. My bill is next to nothing when everyone else is paying for borium in the winter, and my boy is the last to skid out on ice. No snow balls in his feet!:winkgrin:

[Trakehner]

My mule is barefoot all the time. We do semi-rocky trails and hard packed clay trails. No problems. My arabs were always barefoot.

[Oakstable]

My Oldenburg/Dutch gelding has never worn shoes.

He goes out on the trails once a week on hard rocky ground, and he is ridden three other times per week in a sand arena.

He had a stone bruise only once after some rainy days when his feet had softened up. It went away in a week.

[Mtn_trails]

My mustang Zephyr is barefoot and if I have my way she will never wear shoes. Her feet are rock hard and beautifully large, wide, and perfect. I not only trail ride her in the mountains over some really rocky terrain (like last weekend, the only mark on her foot was a small chip), but also show in unrecognized local shows in dressage, jumpers, and now eventing.

[Arabian_Knights]

Barefoot Baby

Horse #1: My arab had shoes once upon a time before I had her, but not since I got her. She has worked up to 5 days a week at times and has been great. I just recently got the ‘riders rasp’ to extend the time between trims. So far it is easy to use and helped get rid of some chips.
Horse #2: the new Hanoverian is 4 and never had shoes. I thought he would need them but the farrier says he has great feet and so far just need to have his toes trimmed a bit shorter. I’d like to keep him barefoot as long as possible. I am really thrilled to hear so many WB owners here that are able to keep their horses unshod.
AK

[AZ_Native]

Here is my 5 year old Trakehner, never shod, sound in the Rockies on any terrain. Beautiful feet ! Trimmed by the best in the area, DH Check out the shape, frog , and heel buttress !

http://picasaweb.google.com/lynn.stpeter/FarleighAndTweeterAt562209#

[whitesage]

My 7 year old Bashkir Curly gelding has never worn shoes…and never will as far as I can tell. He did have some soundness issues related to his hooves a few years back, so we switched to a Barefoot trimmer and his hooves have looked great since then. He was being trimmed at an angle that left him steep in the front before…

We do trail riding and pleasure riding, nothing very strenuous at this point. Hooves have never been a problem that couldn’t be cured with Thrushbuster…our rainy season can be very very rainy.

[Heart_s_Journey]

My 6 year old SSH gelding had shoes on the front when I bought him, but has been barefoot 2 years this Sept (had them pulled before he was shipped). He’s been fine on all surfaces, though I do avoid rocks when possible.

Note - all four hooves are the yellow ones though there is some black running through them. I use a farrier that only does barefoot trimming.

I have boots but have only used them twice when the terrain was extremely rocky. I carry them in the trailer, but they are gathering dust.

I had a TW before him that never had shoes until I sold him… I ache thinking he’s wearing shoes now on what were fabulous feet…

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

Completely bare by default

My 15 year old TB, former racehorse, shod all four for LIFE, has been barefoot for a month. His history:

Late spring, came up lame in dressage clinic when doing lateral work. Possible navicular or digital flexor tendon lesions was the diagnosis (haven’t done the x-ray series yet). Mild lameness all summer as we tried special shoes, then shoes + pads + epoxy, etc. Kept losing shoes and finally went barefoot by default–nothing to nail to. Long toe, low heel and very FLAT feet.

Of course the boots I ordered didn’t fit, so he’s been completely barefoot for two weeks +. Immediately his toes broke off to the white line, but otherwise his feet have held up surprisingly well (especially in light of all the nail holes). I only gave bute once at the beginning (also applied lots of Durasole that first week). He is now sound on the pasture and just a bit short strided on the arena base (no sand yet–perfect hard ground). Even getting better on gravel this week when he crosses the drive. I’ve tried (but haven’t quite done it) to walk him every day on the hard base. He also must go 150 yards on packed dirt to reach the pasture. He lives outside.

I’m tentatively hopeful and would like to see him stay barefoot from here through the winter (and perhaps beyond?). He was/is my hunter/dressage horse. What has been really interesting is I’ve noticed his front feet are not quite as flat as they were before—I had no idea feet could change in two weeks. It’s subtle, but I wish I had been taking pictures.

If he is sound and is ridden I will shoe if necessary, but am enjoying our experiment so far—especially since he is totally comfortable most of the time. He has had about three months off from riding and after the arena footing is in next week I’m going to lunge him to see if he is sound (his lameness shows on the circle). We may start walking under saddle then. Sorry for the novel, but this has been really fascinating for me. This was defitely a horse everyone said could never go barefoot.

[fabuleux]

The horse I just got is completely barefoot at the moment. He was being ridden in a cushy indoor ring with great footing, and has since moved to my place with no ring at all. We ride in one of the pastures.

He has been having some soreness issues, so I’m going to try riding him in easy boots, and I’m going to talk to the farrier about possibly putting front shoes on him.

He isn’t really “lame” or too sore- I can still hop on and do a little bit of trot work- and he is happy to do it. He is just a little bit off. I hope we can get the problem solved…as much as I would like to keep him barefoot, if he needs shoes we will make sure he gets them.

[cloudy18]

13 yr old Morab gelding, barefoot, 20 year old Morab mare, barefoot. No issues other than the mare doesn’t seem to like gravel, but we don’t ride on enough of it to justify shoes. I’d try boots first. And she goes on it, doesn’t seem to be gimpy. She just gets off of it whenever possible, sticking to the shoulder. Last summer her hooves did this horrible looking chipping thing, but then they would chip all the way around and look decent again before the farrier came out. No unsoundness with it. This year we have had none of that.

[katyb]

I have three horses - my 13 year old TBish (auction bought, can’t read her tattoo) mare who came to me barefoot, her four-year-old filly (she was bred when I bought her, baby looks more TB than mom), and a 19 year old haflinger/welsh pony who is a saint, who also came to us barefoot. No boots, natural barefoot trimmer, and all three ride everywhere comfortably. We have very rocky trails here (east TN), not just gravel type rocks but large river rocks, rock formations as part of the trails. My mare is bouncing back from her second abscess in almost five years right now. Those are the only two soundness related issues we’ve ever experienced. Abscesses have been really common here this summer, I guess because we’ have so much rain. I hope not to have another; I hate seeing my girls in so much pain.

[nmazteca]

Do you ever want company from elsewhere? We’ll bring our own horses. LOL

[nmazteca]

My horses are recently barefoot. On turf and sand, I ride without boots. On trail rides, the boots are on. Missouri trails are for the most part rocky. My riding horse is doing well.