Transition Tuesday Week 24

If You Guys Only You Knew…

Five Things You Should Know If You Are Thinking of Pulling Shoes

Rocky. Photo © Merri Melde.

When I decided to make the transition to barefoot I made a commitment to stick with it for six months. As that date approaches, there are five things that stick out as some of the most important lessons along the way. It has not all been wine and roses: two of the five horses at our place went through some sore weeks. Both cases were due to human error.

Rocky’s sole.

1. The role of the sole

Rocky was the first to get tender: we were merrily soaking his feet every couple of days and then carving out his false sole with a farrier’s knife. We thought we were going to accelerate the process of exfoliation and make the transition faster. Obviously that was the worst thing we could have done: he went from being sound to being tender footed. We quickly changed our strategy and it took him a couple of weeks to be pain free.

Redford’s sole.

2. Even professionals can make mistakes

Redford was the horse who seemed to be suffering the most from the effect of shoes: his hoof walls were separating from white line disease. The first few weeks with him barefoot were mostly problem free. He was moving around fine without boots, but he was a little sore in the heel area which prevented him from landing heel first. I had his feet trimmed a couple of days before I was supposed to leave for a ride. The trimmer left most of the false sole and trimmed the hoof wall down below the level of the sole.

By the time I got home that evening Red could hardly walk: he was really sore. I had another trimmer come and give me a second opinion a few days later: it was decided there was too much sole and it was creating pressure. It was as if he was walking on snow balling up under his feet. The second trimmer brought the sole down to the level of the hoof wall and Red was instantly much more comfortable. He was sound again within a couple of days.

Maintaining a mustang roll.

3. Add hoof maintenance into your schedule

Take a rasp to your horse’s feet once a week – especially if you are working them. Help prevent the hoof wall chipping away by keeping a nice mustang roll around the base of the foot. Regular rasping will also help bring the toe back and can offset a flare if the hoof seems predisposed to flaring.

Pick the feet out regularly: horses can get thrush even in the driest of climates.

Riding Far last weekend with Gloves on the front and barefoot in the back.

4. Ride without boots

Find a trail with soft footing where you can take your horse and ride without boots. It really seemed to speed up the adjustment period for the two tender-footed horses when we started riding them a few miles each week completely barefoot.

Riding the Tonto.

5. Ride with boots

I have had practically no rubbing problems with gaiters over five months of a heavy riding schedule. But a friend of mine took a horse on a 50 a couple of weeks ago and used Gloves for the first time and the horse got rubbed from the gaitors in the pastern area. I suspect this could have been avoided if the horse had been ridden a few times to get used to the gaiters.

Rain – his first ride outside the roundpen took place last weekend.

Success awaits

I took these short videos of the horses at our place yesterday morning after the first cool night of the year. None of the horses were warmed up before filming and they were all worked over the weekend. You decide if going barefoot has been a success for us: I’m off to Moab Utah with a couple of them.

 

Keep up the bootlegging!

 

Kevin