Re: Ex racehorse Thoroughbred going barefoot! Piccies

Just an update on the barefoot situation with the TB - we are getting there, slowly though! The horrible heat in his feet did settle and I have been watching his grass intake and making sure he is in by 6pm and not out 24/7 - have put him onto simple systems so no sugar in the feeds, feeding linseed, biotin, seeweed etc, all mixed by the company. We are using the boots to get him to the field and back and have also used them for riding over harder ground, again he is coping, not 100% happy but, I need to get him moving to motivate the feet, we are taking it slowly and carefully. We have had some bruising to the sole on his left foot, from the field, and one of the cavallo horse boots tends to rub his heel, the other is absolutely fine, not sure if the fit is correct or whether its still due to wearing them in. But he does have one foot bigger than the other, the smaller hoof is the one that he fractured when a youngster at training. He still finds it painful to walk from his stable and around the yard on concrete and refuses to go any further than where we hang up his hay net, I am scrubbing the bottom of his feet daily with a soft hand brush and injecting diluted bleech into the gap the farrier put in after widening the crack, so to avoid infection/seedy toe. Although its only 4 weeks since we took his shoes off, it feels like 4 years, I am permanently looking at his hooves and feeling for heat! The hooves are holding up quite nicely after his trim ( 1 1/2 weeks ago) and not chipped any further, but the morning dew on the grasss has helped. The only thing with the boots, and they are easy to get on and off, is that when he is being ridden, you can hear him clipping them from behind, as he does over reach, also they seem rather clumsy, we are only walking him in them and I know you are suposed to be able to gallop around with them on but, because he has typical TB legs, they seem like wellies attached. Shall and try and attach a photo of him wearing his cavallo horse hoof boots. Its probably going to take time for him to get used to wearing them. After all he has had shoes on for most of his life and now has leather trainers on!

Have attached photo showing hoof where farrier removed some of the seedy toe and widened it to allow me to clean it, doesnt look very pretty though

Re: Ex racehorse Thoroughbred going barefoot! Piccies

Good to hear that things are starting to settle for you. If you find that the cavallo boots aren't suitable then try a different make. I have heard that renegades are very good, although they are alot harder to get hold of. Hopefully as the diet starts to grow a better hoof then you will be able to use the hoof boots less. I used to use boots every time i rode now i hardly ever use them when i ride.

Re: Ex racehorse Thoroughbred going barefoot! Piccies

Just thought I would update you with regards to our horsey going barefoot, we have turned a corner, and he is now sound on the concrete yard which is fantatstic, I am still scrubbing his hooves each morning with milton and flushing the cracks, he did develop a small hole underneat, between the outer wall and the water line, and so I flush and put putty in, not sure if its an abscess that came out or even a stone that pushed and penetrated, as the hoof sole is very fragile still. He is ridde in his hoof boots but, barefoot in the field. The heat in his front feet have now settled and gone, we are watching his grass intake as this can make a barefoot very footy and he is on Simple Solutions feed. He still has a long way to go. He is still throwing his head up on contact, have changed his bit to a neuve schule as recommended by Rowena Cook at the ROR, we have had his back checked twice. I know his feet are probably still sore, but then they have been sore since we have had him, as he could never keep a shoe on.

You can see the horrible separation in the photo and his feet are very flat.

Re: Ex racehorse Thoroughbred going barefoot! Piccies

Thank you, I need to speak to my vet as we need his teeth checked again, as its nearly a year since the last time but this time I shall make sure he is fully sedated and not have him freak out and rear up and over, will be a year in September when he fractured his face etc. I have noticed that the front frogs look a different to the backs, they are not as rock hard but, then they have only been out of shoes for 5 weeks! - But they are sort of shedding, this is normal? There is no heat or pain there.

Photos are farrier trimmed. Although they dont look that bad, they are paper thin on the outside and I know they shall collapse, you can peel away at the layers, you can see the hole in the front underside, Probably seedy toe

Re: Ex racehorse Thoroughbred going barefoot! Piccies

I have got some of the wraps but, when I pull the  boot on, the wraps go upwards, not having much fun with them! - He is inbetween trims at the moment and they are getting tight, which doesnt help either. I cant believe how much his feet have grown in the past 4 weeks, since the last trim, when he was shod, there was never any hoof to remove.