The Frustration of Taking Your Horse Barefoot

Back in 2014, a thoroughbred was donated to our therapeutic program. His name was Nightwatch.

Nightwatch had quite the career before landing with us. He was a thoroughbred off the track, then he was an A circuit Hunter for some time, and then he was in the VB Mounted Patrol. He was absolutely well loved his entire life.

When he came to us, he was getting older and his body was changing. I think he was about 15 or 16 when we got him, and his body was dealing with a number of challenges. During schooling sessions, I realized that he wasn't sweating like he should, and he always sounded like he was having a hard time breathing. With the help of our vet, we were able to identify that one of his pharyngeal flaps was paralyzed in his airway, restricting his access to breathe. This was creating a slew of other issues, to include anhydrosis (the inability to effectively sweat and regulate his body temperature). His back was really sore and tender from ill fitting saddles and because of his tight back, he had a nervous twitch that would show up frequently in his head.

Amongst all of the other things I was trying to do to make him more comfortable, I learned the importance of rehabbing a horse's feet in order to positively impact the rest of their body. I observed that Nightwatch could not hold shoes on the front and had terribly cracked hooves. Our farrier at the time chalked it up to him being a "thoroughbred" with "crappy feet." I wasn't convinced.

"How could his hind feet look amazing barefoot while his front feet were falling apart with shoes?" It didn't add up.

Nightwatch ended up being the catalyst that pushed me to take all of our lesson horses, and my personal horses, barefoot.

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Since then, I've been able to guide horse owners through the transition of taking their shod horses barefoot. It's been an interesting journey and I have learned a lot over the years.

While we have been met with different rates of success, I still firmly believe that barefoot is healthier for the horse overall. There is one exception, but I will get to that later.

One of the main reasons many owners struggle to transition their horses barefoot is because they are not taking the whole body in to account. It is imperative that horses be taken off of their high-grain diets and be fed a forage-based diet. They also need as much movement as possible during the day and a shorter trim cycle. Over the last couple of decades, having horses shod every 6-8 weeks was the way to go. But when your horse is barefoot, the best way to make lasting change is to do small trims every 1-3 weeks.

When barefoot horses are trimmed on a longer trim cycle, their feet may look really good, but then random symptoms can present themselves which indicate the trim took too much. In my personal experience, horses may walk fine on the concrete and out to turnout, but when ridden, they will try to walk on the grass versus our sand arena. Their resistance patterns are also more inclined to show up - like locking in the jaw or heavily falling through one shoulder or the other. They may also look ever so slightly off once they get moving. For these reasons, it's important to find a trim cycle (usually 1-3 weeks) that works for each horse. We have one horse where I trim his front hooves one week, and hinds the next, so all of his feet are on a two week cycle. I also have to be sure not to take too much, because I want him to remain comfortable and functional so he can stay in work and keep moving, versus making him uncomfortable to where movement is sacrificed.

Paddock paradise set-ups have become particularly useful with barefoot horses. A track system is designed to encourage the horses to keep moving in order to reach food and water sources. Many owners will add in varied terrain (such as rocks, gravel and cobblestone) to challenge the horse's feet and proprioception.

Forever an interesting topic to me, it is important to recognize that the horse's feet are a direct reflection of what is going on in their body. If one side of their foot is contracted (or even if the entire heel of one foot is contracted), chances are the muscle that runs up in to the body from that area is also contracted. A tight muscle is further pulled by tight fascia, which starts to limit the proper function of bones, ligaments and tendons. These restrictions will always show up in the feet.

Getting a horse's whole body more comfortable has to do with unwinding tight fascia, releasing tight muscle and allowing the horse's hoof to expand and return to normal function as a result. I understand that many people have success doing the same with shod horses, but I don't believe you can ever allow the horse's body to function fully as nature intended unless they are barefoot. At some point, you will reach a plateau.