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Re: [RC] Barefoot/Shoes? Advice needed PLEASE! - LONG & Slightly OT? - Jon Bendtsen

Den 30. aug 2005 kl. 12:33 skrev Sarah Simmons:

This all started last September when I pulled my
horse's shoes to give his feet a "rest".  He was

was it iron shoes you took off ?



pulling a shoe on practically a biweekly basis back
then because (I thought) of all the mud he was turned

I dont understand. Do you mean that the iron shoe is forced seperate from the hoof, usually because the back legs steps on the back of the front legs, cathes the iron shoe and then when the front leg moves ahead the shoe stays put, seperating the hoof and shoe, often resulting in some damages to the hoof?

My horse did that, and as a result i started trying various
forms of rubber boots.


out in.  After 6 weeks of being barefoot I noticed my
horse's feet looked really bad, like he had foundered.
  He was also very sore.  I called my farrier out and
he said, "Yup, looks like he foundered!" and then I
called my vet out for X-Rays and advice.

What did the vet say? did he founder?




I just don't know what to do about my horse's feet.
My vet is the one who reccomended Pete Ramey and his
barefoot "Natural Horse Trim".  They suggested him so
strongly they made me feel that he was the best
choice.  They are the only reason I got Pete Ramey and
left Merlin's shoes off.  Otherwise I would have let
my normal farrier keep working on him and put
corrective shoes on him.

i think it is easier to make corrective shoes from iron rather than making/using correcting rubber boots.


My husband and I have bought a new home and will be
moving Merlin in October.  I was thinking the other
day that when I move Merlin I might start using the
farrier at the barn there and having shoes put back on
him.  He only started being sore after I took his
shoes off!!!  And Pete said he had foundered before
that so ...?

it is common that horses are more sore, and acts like they are walking on burning coals when you just remove the shoe. The horse, just like you gets used to wearing shoes. As a result you will most likely have to use iron shoes for ever, or rubber boots for some time when riding (maybe forever)

i heard that once a horse founder it is more likely to do it
again. Thus i dont think it foundered because you took
off the iron shoes.


I mean I understand the theory behind having a
barefoot horse, and I understand that nailing a shoe
on a foot opens the foot up to infection from the nail
holes, causes a lack of shock absorbtion and more
concussion on the joints, etc.

On the other hand, Pete did tell me that it would take
ONE WHOLE year for him to get to where he needs to be
with his feet, and that includes one whole year on
this diet, which we really only started a month ago.
So I feel like I need to give Pete more time.  I mean,
why would the vet and so so many other people around
the world be reccomending barefoot horses if they
weren't seeing some great benefit from it?  You know
what I'm saying?

I switched to rubber boots 13 months ago because my horse repeatedly lost iron shoes making more and more damage to the hoof. 15 month's ago the damage was so much that the farrier said that iron shoes could not be mounted for some time. And then the horse was sore walking on forest roads made from small rubbles. So i started looking at various rubber boots and settled on the original easyboot, mainly because they were cheap, and unsure if they would work i was reluctant to spend alot of money. But they did work. The horse was no longer sore, and could be used as before. Occasionally the horse lost an easyboot. This was 4-5 times in a month of 1 hour daily riding. Some months later the hoof started chipping off at the area where the teeth bite into the side of the hoof. I tried flattening them and putting gaffa tape above it, but then the boots almost fell off. My horse as very vertical hoof sides, so your experience my be different. I started looking at other options, and settled for boaboots since the original easyboots was hard to put on. However the boaboots did some chaffing/rubbing on my horse, even when i used the gaiter. Besides this the wire started breaking. Most likely because of my usage. I like jumping, so i jump over stuff, and both broken wires was because the wire got caught in some sticks while jumping. So i started looking again at other boots, and settled for easyboot epic, as i believed the design errors in the original easyboot was fixed. And it seems like they were fixed.

I got my epics some weeks ago, and they are the easiest boot
ever to put on. Very easy. And i have not lost it yet. The teeth in
the side are covered by plastics from the manefacturer, so no
problem there. However, i do get a little ammount of chaffing
occasionally, but i dont think i have to worry about that. I'll see when
i have used them for some more time. But right now i prefer epics
over any other boot/iron shoe.


Merlin's feet cause a tremendous deal of grief for me.
 I want to do the best thing for him, and pretty much
everywhere I read online and everyone I talk to tell
me they think barefoot is best.  *sigh*  I would not
be keeping him barefoot if he was sore 24/7.  He is
sound on soft ground and in the grass.  He seems to
only be sore on gravel and pavement.  We will really
see once we move him because their little paddocks at
the new place are very dry and hard with nowhere near
as much grass as he is in now..

That sounds exactly like my horse. No problems in the fields but he doesnt like gravel. I would recomment trying easyboot epic. Perhaps if your horse has the right size hoofs, you can even try their new model easyboot bare. I feel your grief, i had the same thing with my horse when he had hoof trouble.


What do you think about his feet?  I mean to me what
really sticks out is that he was NEVER SORE until I
pulled his shoes off last September.  I always want
the best for my horse.  I am open to just about any
suggestion at this point.

you might want to check this site. http://www.tribeequus.com/boots.html they have compared various forms of boots.




JonB


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Replies
[RC] Barefoot/Shoes? Advice needed PLEASE! - LONG & Slightly OT?, Sarah Simmons