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 Veteran
Posts: 114
Location: southeast | Any experience going from shoeing barrel horse to running barefoot? |
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 Lady Di
Posts: 21556
   
Location: Oklahoma | I have and the experience I had was not good. I prefer my horses shod, however, barefoot is better than a bad shoeing. I bought a gelding that had been futuritied...poor thing was only 6 (he's 7 now) and has had shoes on since he was 2, and it was NOT a good shoe job. He was walking crippled since he came off the trailer. We tried adjusting his angles and putting a bigger shoe on him (this horse weighs around 1200 and had a triple 0 on him, and his feet needed a 1), but he still wasn't traveling right in the back end. He ended up with broken splint bones in both hind legs (don't know if he came to me that way or if he broke them after I got him) but the best thing I did for him was to pull his hind shoes. It's been 5 months now and he is traveling the best he's traveled since I've owned him and he is almost normal. I am so excited because this horse was NICE when he was hurting. He's had 5 months of straight turnout and at least 3 months of no shoes, so I'm really excited to see what he can do now. I doubt I'll ever put shoes back on his hind feet unless he just can't stand up in the turns, or his feet fall apart, simply because he is so much more comfortable without shoes.
Edited by dianeguinn 2014-03-27 8:25 PM
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 Veteran
Posts: 268
| I ran both my horses barefoot last year. Ran my mare with shoes the year before. She is very setty and I would not run her with shoes in the back anyway because she doesn't need the added traction and works better without hinds. However, she always threw front shoes (even with bells on 24/7) and when I got her, her feet were way over trimmed - having her barefoot has allowed her feet to expand and become healthier. I don't ride on gravel unless it's the only place to warm up at a race, etc, but I am happy with how she works barefoot. She's got good feet and is not tender. I do get her trimmed approx every 4-5 weeks when running barrels - she grows a lot of foot very fast. My other mare has the best feet and doesn't need shoes. Both can stand up on any ground. But I've had horses in the past who needed shoes or worked better with them. I think it depends on the individual. |
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 I'm not opinionated
Posts: 4597
Location: Online | I just started trying barefoot with one horse and so far it's working very well. I have some that cannot go barefoot right now until I get their feet grown out and strong from being shod constantly since they were 2, (off the track). I have a great farrier working on them.
I think it depends on the horse. Some horses do well barefoot and others don't. I wouldn't be dead set on one or the other, barefoot is definitely better on the horse. IMO. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1062
Location: Probably On the Road to the Next Barrel Race! | rodeomom13 - 2014-03-27 11:05 PM I just started trying barefoot with one horse and so far it's working very well. I have some that cannot go barefoot right now until I get their feet grown out and strong from being shod constantly since they were 2, (off the track). I have a great farrier working on them.
I think it depends on the horse. Some horses do well barefoot and others don't. I wouldn't be dead set on one or the other, barefoot is definitely better on the horse. IMO.
I run 4 barefoot, and have for 3 years. Depends on the horse, I had one that needed front shoes for awhile...my husband learned the "barefoot trim" method, and we have never looked back...must have a good/great farrier |
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Veteran
Posts: 114
Location: southeast | The issue I am having is keeping her sound in the front. She paddles a little with one of her front legs, always has, and is slightly pigeon toed in the same front leg she paddles with. She was sore in her fetlock, per a good soundness vet, so we injected it in the fall of last year. It helped for several months then I turned her out for two months. I kept her shod while she was turned out but when I got her back up she had popped splints on both front legs about 2" below her knees. She travels sound and you cannot see anything unless you put her in a tight turn at full speed. Then she bails out and cannot complete her turn. I am beginning to think its shoeing that is causing her problems....Hope this made sense....I am open to opinions.
She consistently pulls the front shoe on the leg I'm having problems with. I've had three different people shoe her over the past year. The farriers I use are knowledgeable and trained. The last guy shod her smaller and tucked the heels to keep her from pulling. I don't really like the lack of support in the heel with her shod this way
Also, I've had her to at least three different vets, done x-rays and ultrasounded her several different times, which were always normal. The only thing that really came up was when we flexed her then blocked her. Her fetlock showed soreness that's when we injected it.
Edited by Graceofgod 2014-03-28 5:48 AM
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| Every horse is different; When natural selection was the breeding grounds you had to have good strong feet. Humans have intervened in the breeding process and some horses just don't have good strong feet, or the genetic ability to grow them no matter the situation.
My boy wears fronts year round and rears when we are in running season. He was barefoot when I got him - and presumably had been for the past 13 years. He wasn't comfortable on harder surfaces and riding down dirt roads (had been living in a pasture eating grass for most of the 13 years not doing much) so we put shoes on him. Tried to pull them that first winter as I usually do with my horses, and the horse was dead lame for 2 weeks. I expected a little "offness" during adjustment, but when I called the farrier out at the end of those 2 weeks there wasn't a spot on his sole that didn't test sore with the hoof testers. He's had fronts on since. Currently he's also wearing pads on the front as we get through "crappy footing season". His hinds adjust much better to being without shoes than his fronts, so he still goes without those during the winter.
Proper shoeing is important. When I first got him he wore a size 1 on one front and a size 2 on the other. Then the next farrier worked his 2 down to a 1. Since moving to Iowa my farrier here has gotten both fronts back into a 2. His hinds have gone from an 0 to a 1. He is moving and running better than ever, he has heel support! I've also become more educated in what I'm looking at vs blindly trusting my farrier because the horse isn't dead lame and he says its the right things to do. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | My gelding was barefoot in the back from august until this week to help with a hind end issue from too much traction. We put plain shoes back on because he had gotten foot sore. |
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