The Barefoot Horse
Many horse owners are discovering that our horses and ponies do not need to wear shoes and that there are significant health, behavioural and performance benefits to be gained by going barefoot.
Most horses can happily make the transition to running barefoot, and can do everything barefoot that they did iron shod, do it better and more safely.
We all want long life, and lifelong soundness for our much loved horses and ponies – so it’s time to rethink the use of metal shoes.
Barefoot horses are generally happy, healthy and more relaxed horses. A barefoot horse will more likely enjoy a longer working life than a shod horse. He will slip less than a shod horse, be less fatiged after long hacks, will be more evenly muscled and will probably be more relaxed in temperament. As a rider, thanks to the reduced concussion, you will notice that you feel less tired and have fewer aches and pains after long rides too!
Every horse or pony can enjoy the benefits of naturally bare feet regardless of their age, or whether they have worn shoes all their lives or only for the past year. Big horses and litle ponies, horses with black, white and striped feet can all go barefoot successfully.
Barefoot must not be seen as a low cost or effort free alternative to shoeing. Barefoot does not just equal shoe-less.
Going barefoot requires committment on the part of the horse owner. As a horse owner wanting to going barefoot, you have to consider the changes that you may have to make to your horse's diet, it is possible you may have to adjust his workload during transition, and you may have to make changes in the way that you keep your horses.
A barefoot horse requires regular trimming and foot care, just as a shod horse requires regular shoeing.
Shoes can often mask underlying hoof problems and soundness issues, and often these become apparent when the shoes come off and the horse is allowed to walk as nature intended him to walk. However these issues are usually short lived and will resolve as a new hoof grows.
So if you find yourself saying “my horse can never go barefoot, his feet are awful” then maybe your horse really does need to go barefoot, to be free of shoes, and allowed to grow a new hoof that is of a far higher quality, and more functional, than the shod hoof he has today.