My barefoot transition

I was reading information on horse health, biomechanics and hoof structure before I even had my own horse. Just because I found it interesting, and because all that information is so readily available, thanks to the internet. As I was soaking it all in, I told myself that once I had a horse of my own, he would be barefoot. Shoes, though they can help with several issues, though they are needed in some cases, are not actually ideal for many horses. It can be so much better for the horse to have healthy, bare feet that can do their job in terms of traction, feeling the ground, absorbing shock and so on. 

When I got my horse, he had shoes on his front hooves and nothing on his hinds (he was a kicker so it was safer that way). I’d known him for several years before buying him and could remember a time when he had been left barefoot (though that had not lasted very long). So I knew it was possible for him to be kept that way and I quickly formed the idea of ditching the shoes.

Why didn’t I do it straightaway? I’m not sure… It was winter. The conditions were muddy and horrible. A few weeks after I got him, he hurt one of his hind feet hitting it on a rock and was out of work for some time. He had a bad case of thrush on all four feet. He seemed comfortable in his shoes. The quality of his hooves was not fabulous: the unshod hinds did not look great, chipping, cracking... 

And all the people at the livery yard where we were at the time encouraged me to keep his shoes on. One farrier even advised me to put shoes on his hinds since they were so weak. He told me that if this was his horse, he wouldn’t leave him in that way (=in pain). 

I didn’t go that far, but I left the shoes on. Another “obstacle” I was facing was that the farrier taking care of my horse was not a barefoot trimmer, but it would have been very badly seen if had had changed to another one. 

I talked about taking off the shoes in the spring when he was seen by an osteopath. The osteopath emitted doubts, not because of the hooves in themselves but because this change would stress the whole body of my horse – whose state had horrified him.

Came the summer. My horse was in a better shape. He moved better. The quality of his hooves had improved. I was tempted once again to get rid of those shoes. And I took the plunge. It was not that easy: I knew I would face judgement and criticism from other people at the livery yard, and though it should not have mattered to me, it made me uncomfortable. I asked the farrier to take off the shoes “for the summer holidays.” The fact that I wouldn’t be riding much was a good pretext. And my horse was barefoot.

His feet were horrible at first. It doesn’t help that he has got tiny little hooves for his size. This tends to shock people and make them think he hasn’t got enough sole or toe or whatever. No. He’s just got small feet, made even worse by extremely short pasterns. He was fine walking at first then became uncomfortable and slightly unsound: I read that this was normal as it took a couple of weeks for normal blood circulation to be re-established in the hoof – and pain to be felt. 

As the weeks passed, it became easier for him to walk on different type of terrain. I was lucky because he did not have the massive difficulties some horses face when they are transitioned. I bought pair of hoof-boots to help him over rocks and gravel. He wore them for most of our trail rides in the winter and I did feel that they were a great investment. He walked a bit funny when he first had them on, but when he realised how comfortable they were, he soon got used to them. The only problem was that he sometimes lost them in deep mud or when he galloped too fast. 

Most people, when they transition their horse to barefoot, employ a barefoot trimmer. I did not because I did not like at all the way the hooves of the few horses that were barefoot at the livery yard were trimmed: basically, they all had the heels chopped off. Moreover, I wanted to avoid the drama of using another farrier and so on. So I stopped using a hoof-care specialist altogether (please note that I do not recommend doing things in that manner, I am just relating my own experience). 

That does not mean I left my horse’s hooves without care. I bought a rasp, watched videos, read articles and decided to do it myself. Most of the trimming, however, was done by taking my horse over all kinds of ground, from tarmac to rocky paths. It helped that the shape of his hooves was decent to start with and that thanks to a good vitamin and mineral supplement, what was growing was quite good quality. 

So basically, my horse was self-trimming with a few corrections from me. I would not have gone down this route if the shape of my horse’s hooves had been off, or if there had been serious issues to deal with. But I do believe that the efficiency of self-trimming is underestimated. 

The osteopath that had first seen him came back, over a year later, and was quite pleased with both the evolution of my horse and that of his hooves. Of course, these hooves are not very neat or very symmetrical. They do not appear to be perfect. But as the osteopath pointed out, we must see the horse as a whole and not obsess over the perfect shape of the hoof. My horse has conformational defects that influence his hoof growth and shape. Yet what matters above all is how he is able to move, carry himself and remain sound.

I asked other people for advice about those hooves, including a trainer who had known my horse for years. This trainer judged them to be satisfactory. Recently, another farrier – examining my horse for lameness (bruise) – had a look at them. I was very pleased when he declared that my horse didn’t need shoes at the moment – especially coming from a farrier specialised in corrective shoeing. 

Again, I was lucky that the transition went very smoothly and that I was able to fully take on the care of my horse’s feet. I learnt a lot about hoof structure and hoof shape, but also about nutrition (vitamins and minerals are so important!) and how the health of each part of the horse’s body reflects on the others. 

What was not so good was the constant peer-pressure and criticism. “When are you going to put shoes back on your horse?” “OMG your horse’s feet are sooo short!” “Has your horse seen a farrier recently?” “I wonder how your horse can walk with feet like this.” “I’m in pain for him.” “His hooves are not the right shape.” Those constant remarks made me doubt, especially since I’m a first-time horse owner and all those people were older and more experienced than me. I doubted even more when my horse had abscesses and lameness problems, questioning if I had made the right choice or if I was irresponsible to be taking care of his feet myself. 

I found it very hard to admit to other people that my horse was no longer seen to by a farrier. Self-trimming is often considered to be a form of negligence. Thinking that is missing the point: I did not leave my horse’s hooves untrimmed until the flares and extra bits broke off. I took him on the road. I trotted and cantered him in the forest. We went up and down hills. And his hooves acquired the shape they needed to have to do all this. Sometimes there were chips. Then I smoothed them out. I worked on his toes. I let his sole exfoliate naturally (and helped a bit if it took too long to come off).

There was a time when I nearly called a barefoot trimmer. I had not had access to my horse during the French lockdown, so he was left without hoof-care for two months, in a field, in spring. When we were reunited, his feet were awful (as you can imagine). But fortunately, I did manage to get them under control again (do not underestimate the power of trail-rides in the forest!). A couple of months ago, I did a 30 km ride on my horse, on tarmac and dirt paths. No lameness. Not a single chip on his hooves. A happy horse who went on and on and on, kilometre after kilometre. Looking at his hooves at the end of this ride, I felt that it was what I had wanted to achieve with them all along: functional hooves that helped my horse to feel well. 

On the whole it was a wonderful experience and a great learning curve. Given the choice, I would do it again in the same way, except I would probably ditch the shoes earlier. Once he was used to being barefoot, my horse was definitely happier and more sure-footed. 

Of course, if his hooves ever develop problems and/or need remedial shoeing, then I will follow that route and let professionals take care of his feet. For now I’ll go on with what I’m doing, gaining more experience as I go, learning, making mistakes. And letting my horse, not the people around me, guide my choices and the decisions I make for him.