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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 595
 
Location: North Dakota | My mare has had shoes on for 2 years to correct some issues and the plan was to get her back to barefoot when both my farrier and I thought was right. She was "flat footed" as my farrier said when I bought her so we were working on getting her feet back underneath her as they were like pancakes, flared and spread out.
This spring when we put shoes back on, I chose to only do fronts as I wanted her back feet to get used to barefoot as we began our conditioning to get back into shape. That went well and she never really showed any issues on our gravel roads.
Well today is the day. The farrier is coming and I am planning to pull her fronts--hopefully for good!
She tends to not grow very fast so that has been our biggest struggle. I am worried about her wearing off her feet more than she grows.. That is one of my main concerns other than the soreness she might experience after first pulling the shoes.
I plan to continue to use my sole hardener like I did for her hind feet but should I invest in some boots for her? We ride on gravel roads quite a bit but do you use them every time you ride or only for a short bit as they transition?
Is there actually a brand of boots you can actually walk, trot, lope in?
Any other suggestions are welcomed and appreciated! |
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  Ms. Marine
Posts: 4627
 
Location: Texas | Gravel roads are great for destroying a barefoot hoof. If you're going to be riding on them I would definitely recommend a boot.. |
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 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4553
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | Get pure DL Methionine from vet add to grain along with biotin. If you can do it for 5 months you won't need to worry about shoes |
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 Expert
Posts: 5290
| BarrelRacing4Christ - 2017-05-28 11:34 AM
Gravel roads are great for destroying a barefoot hoof. If you're going to be riding on them I would definitely recommend a boot..
How do wild horses out in the desert, mountains , etc ever survive?? |
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Veteran
Posts: 233
| I have easyboot trail boots for front when we go out, since pony has trouble with gravel barefoot. I like them, she seems to. If your horse has narrower feet the cavallos are supposed to be a better fit. Measure carefully.
Edited by hannahbug 2017-05-28 6:20 PM
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Ms. Marine
Posts: 4627
Location: Texas | FLITASTIC - 2017-05-28 2:17 PM
BarrelRacing4Christ - 2017-05-28 11:34 AM
Gravel roads are great for destroying a barefoot hoof. If you're going to be riding on them I would definitely recommend a boot..
How do wild horses out in the desert, mountains , etc ever survive??
I meant when you pull shoes off of one.. sorry should've been more specific. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 595
Location: North Dakota | Thanks all!
I am going to look into a boots for the gravel roads. She seems to be handling barefoot well so far. The farrier will be back in 3 weeks to trim a few other horses and will check in on her to be sure all looks well. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 495
Location: Washington | When you pull the shoes, her feet will get chewed up looking til the nail holes grow out. If she is a slow grower and you ride a lot, I'd have boots on hand just in case. Or get her on a supplement that promotes hoof growth, we've done that, too.
We have had a a few that we ride them enough we wear them down faster then the hoof grows. ALL of ours are barefoot and we ride anywhere and everywhere. I trim our own and trim according to rides/shows/races. |
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