Hiya,

We have chosen to go barefoot with our horse. Even so he is very young so he would not have shoes anyway at this age, but with the help of our barefoot hoof trimmer I hope to be able to keep him barefoot.

Any one else here that owns a barefoot horse? Do you use the hoof boots or are you able to go without?

Hi there, my pony is barefoot!

I just have her trimmed when needed. I go by te advice of my farrier, and he will tell me when/if the time comes for her to need shoes.

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I really do not want shoes for my horse. They restrict the hoof mechanism. So if his hooves go down too quickly I want to use those hoof boots. You only put them on when you need them and apparently that makes them last quite long, so would work out cheaper than shoes or about the same price.

hi, one of my ponies was barefoot until he got to the age of 9 then i had to have shoes put on his front feet. he used to be fine but then all of a sudden he started to like tip toe (very short strides).he was doing it all the time then. the farrier then suggested having shoes on. after that he was fine..i think it just depends on your horse and how much and where you ride your horse..don't think there is any reason why barefoot shouldn't be tried

I would recommend you have a good horse podiatrist instead of a farrier, but with that your horse should be fine and quite happy barefoot without the need of boots. But all horses are different so you'll just have to work with the podiatrist and see how things go. But deciding to go barefoot from a young age is great, as your horse will never get used to shoes, rather than a horse that has had shoes for years and then goes barefoot (takes a little getting used to!). If any problems do occur the podiatrist should be able to nip them in the bud. Good luck x

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Plymouth Pet Sitters - Dog walking, dog boarding, cat sitting, small animal & horse care
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My horse has been barefoot for 4 years now, it's the best thing i've ever done for her.
8 years ago she was diagnosed with navicular syndrome, she was crippled lame and I thought as best I was going to have to retire her, and at worst it doesn't bear thinking about
My vet recommended having her shod in Natural Balance shoes, which did help a bit, but she had to be shod every 4 weeks on the dot or she'd go lame, she'd often have days or weeks off lame, she had to have the chiro every 6weeks as she got so stiff in her shoulders...
So, then I took her barefoot...and she's never had a lame day since (well from the navicular!!)...she's trimmed by a podiatrist and her feet have improved no end since having her shoes off. Initially I used hoofboots but she can work on any surface now without boots...and she only needs routine chiro checks now and she's never tight in her shoulders as moves so much free-er.
I worship the ground my EP walks on

My horse is barefoot, after a severe case of laminitus he was out of work for a year, when the farrier tried to put eggbar shoes on him he was rearing up finally he got them on but it crippled my horse again. He was out of action for another month after i demanded him to get them off (bare in mind to put eggbar shoes on would have cost me £120 each time). Anyway i decided to go barefoot with a barefoot trimmer which is different to a farrier as they trim your horse to its natural state. Unfortunately my horse is very sole sensitive on his fronts so i purchased the boots and he is perfect with them, the only problem i have ever had is when my horse is flat out galloping he overreaches and pulls them off. Overreach boots don't seem to work, so i tend to not bother with them if i know it will be a fast ride.
With your horse been young i think his feet will toughen up quicker than mine, my horse can't walk over loose stones without looking dog lame so if he can do that i doubt you would need the boots.

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The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog!

I had a young shire and he was barefoot, he sometimes stumbled but I kept him trimmed reguarly and was proud of his nice round feet
Then three years later in his new home I saw his feet looking a bit unkempt, at first I was disappointed, but after watching him in the field moving about , I noticed he was moving more freely and easily
I dont understand it, but I can only imagine that because his feet were badly overgrown when I bought him , he was more comfortable to let his feet chip and grow in their own way.
i dont have any moral to this story!

jessegee

My friends and I all have working barefoot horses.

The horses are 17hh+ Warmblood x TB, 16.2 Dutch Warmblood, 16.1 Thoroughbred, 16.1 Anglo Arab, 15.2 Andalusian (PRE), 14.2 pony of indeterminate breeding. On the livery yard we keep our horses, there are two more working barefoot and most of the rest are shod only in front.

The 16.2 Dutch WB wears boots all round for hacking sometimes, but not always and the 16.1 thoroughbred (ex racer) always wears boots in front for hacking. The boots used are Easyboot Trails and Old Mac G2s. Both horses gallop when wearing them, but don't jump.

We mostly tidy our own with occasional help from our farrier, but have used EPs in the past for a compromised horse., ie a pony with metabolic disorders.

Conditioning and diet are a huge part of keeping our horses in work and sound.

my lad is barefoot but again he is only 3 so he wouldnt have shoes yet any way, he has wonderful feet and we hope to keep him barefoot if possible.

Although not ridden we hack him out in hand, its ten mins on the road to the paths, and the paths are a mix of sandy and stony, he was a liitle tender on the stones at first but with regualr walks (average 4 a week) they have toughened up, we took a new route and got lost a couple of weeks ago, we came across an old train track with awful stone on it, it was a wide track but there was a path we needed to reach on the other side, he walked across it no problem.

I too have thought about hoof boots, would like to know more about these, I would maybe like to drive him one day is the future and think then I will have to think about shoes or boots? would boots be safe to drive in?

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emma x-x-x