Thread: Abscess nightmare

I will admit that the time barefoot has been great. No more worrying if all the shoes are still attached when the horses come in from the field. No more worrying if the appointment is made with the farrier. No more fear of nasty surprises/infections hiding under the shoes. Foot chipped a bit ? A bit of a rasp to smooth edges until next farrier visit is fine. If you're a week late, it isn't as catastrophic as it could be with shoes....

Another rug COSTS more than hoof ointment lol DONT BLAME ME PMSL

Hmmm, I wonder if there are certain lines with less good feet? All the arabs I know have superb feet, and all the horses I've heard of doing endurance barefoot are arabs too.

Thanks for the advice Gives me an excuse to pop into DH, however if I come out with a new rug, I am holding you responsible lol jen x

Quote: Originally Posted by JustJas Our horses are both barefoot. Our cobby mare thrives and has iron feet but out arab has weaker hooves. She has probiotics to improve her feet. It is working. Do you think it is possible to do long distance hacking barefoot though? I worry that it may wear his hooves down too quickly?

thanks everyone. I am trying different methods. vet wrap, duck tape etc. The ground is just so muddy and so scare an abscess will return.....

Quote: Originally Posted by Stormin Interesting that you add arabs to your list Yann. My farrier always comments on the quality of Zsaïm's feet, telling me that arabs usually have crap feet. He may well be commenting on shape rather than structure/quality though ? I would get him to tell you what he means. A lot of people just take the farriers words for it. Give him a good quizzing! That's why I love my EP (shoes or no shoes) she...

Quote: Originally Posted by Yann The general view is that horses's feet adapt to their environment, and this is borne out when you look at various feral populations. Horses living in rocky semi deserts have superb tough hooves with strong walls and thick soles, horses on lush boggy grassland often have weak walls that flare and break off easily. It makes sense because a horse that can't self trim its hooves in the wild is easy prey....

There are many barefoot endurance horses. Jas's problem is in her one white hoof but that could be the fact blood flow is impaired due to an injury that damaged her pastern years ago. I am hoping probiotics will sort it.

I think your plan sounds like a sensible one,and if he is only working in the school at the mo,then can't see him being too footsore Quote: Originally Posted by Riley Roo Do you think it is possible to do long distance hacking barefoot though? I worry that it may wear his hooves down too quickly? This is always the worry isn't it,growth vs wear.I guess it depends on how quickly or slowly his hooves generally grow?? and how tough the...