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  Discussion on New Sand Arena Wearing Barefoot Feet
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Member:
remmi

Posted on Monday, Mar 30, 2009 - 11:52 am:

All,

I ride in a new sand arena. The footing is washed screened torpedo sand that is course and angular. The footing is nice but I recently have noticed that my horse's feet are wearing. He is barefoot, has good quality hoof but has club feet in front. The sand is wearing his toes and it almost looks like the front walls of his hooves have been rasped half way up due to the sand wear. The hoof wall at the toes is wearing very thin, almost to the white line.

Are shoes the best option? He has slight wearing on his hind feet too, but I sure hate the idea of 4 shoes. I had a friend who trims her own horses out this weekend and she said I was headed for big trouble if I don't fix it.

Any suggestions on changes I could make to the footing to make it less abrasive?
Member:
mrose

Posted on Monday, Mar 30, 2009 - 12:58 pm:

The downside of course sand is that it will wear away bare feet. Can you ride in Easyboots, or something similar? Or try an epoxy over-coat on the toes? I'd guess it's either something like that or shoes. Maybe your farrier has some ideas? What are other people doing? Or are you the only one with barefoot horses?
Member:
dres

Posted on Monday, Mar 30, 2009 - 1:43 pm:

depending on how much you are riding on the sand ,, i say SHOES.. i have a coming three year old that has worn his hoofs down to the 'danger' zone... we put front shoes on him , the following shoe period i had to put hind shoes on him as well.. they were wearing down.. Boots are great depending on what kind of work you are doing..
Good luck..

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Monday, Mar 30, 2009 - 3:02 pm:

Heidi,

Easyboots now has a new boot called the easy boot glove. It needs to be fitted correctly and can be worn with a gaiter. It is very light and perfect for a barefoot horse that does not need protection other than riding. They are easy on and easy off, so your horse does not need to wear them out in the field or in the stall.

I have also had good luck with a product called Hoof Armor. I used it when I was transitioning from shoes to barefoot. The trick was putting several light coats on over several days and at least two light coats on spaced about an hour apart for the first application.

Rachelle
Member:
canter

Posted on Monday, Mar 30, 2009 - 4:16 pm:

As an alternative to shoes, you could consider adding the crumbled rubber to the arena. May be more trouble than it's worth, though, as I imagine you would have to remove some sand first before adding the rubber to ensure the footing doesn't get too deep.

The vast majority of horses at the barn where I board have no shoes and work in the sand/rubber mix. I have not noted or heard of any excessive wearing of the hoofs in this mixture. However, perhaps it's a different type of sand, too...

Shoes might be easier, but wanted to throw the idea out there.
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Monday, Mar 30, 2009 - 4:57 pm:

Redneck engineering first!

Before you do shoes or boots (which are clunky in sand, and can cause twisting), try spraying a coat of Final Net on his feet and, after it dries, a topcoat of Pam. It won't do the trick if he's wearing heavily, but can make the difference if he's right on the edge.
Member:
stek

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 31, 2009 - 10:24 am:

Final Net .. now that's a new one elk! I knew hairspray was good for something :-)

Heidi I was thinking, if he is wearing excessively at the toe compared to the rest of the hoof I wonder if he's not landing toe-first? My experience with club feet is that it can be hard to get them to land right since that heel is always pushing the angle of the hoof up.

I would consult with your farrier and make sure his angles are as balanced as they can be considering what is normal for him. If nothing can be changed there I'd probably shoe him. There are lots of alternatives to traditional nail-on steel shoes out there these days, maybe glue-on would be a good option?
Member:
hollyw

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 31, 2009 - 11:58 am:

Toe-first may be right, Shannon, but I notice that my club-footed gelding with the higher heel always lands heel first, almost with a "splat."

Now, I don't know about this, but I'd be willing to try it if it were my horse and I didn't want to go the shoe route. I've seen that touch-up spray for Rhino Lining, and I wonder if you just sprayed it on the top front of the toe of the hoof if it would act like those heel taps that we always used to get stapled on the heels of new shoes whenever we got them from the shoe store?
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 31, 2009 - 1:01 pm:

Truly, if you're thinking about rhino lining, experiment with final net. The point is to slow your incremental wear each ride, so a little bit of final net before you giddy up really can help with that.

Final Net is for horse hooves, and my blowdryer is to unfreeze my turnover hitch for winter hauling and that bottle of nail polish is for repairing minor dings on the truck, and keeping threaded gate bolts from loosening.... I love my girl products.
Member:
remmi

Posted on Thursday, Jun 4, 2009 - 4:44 pm:

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. The interesting thing is the toe and about an inch up the outside of the hoof wall that is wearing on all four feet, so shoes would not solve the problem. I do have a wonderful barefoot trimmer (Peter Ramey trained) and my horse does land heal first, but somehow he is still getting wear up the outside of his hoof wall above every toe.

I have ordered hoof armor to try - although I have heard good and bad about it. I am glad to hear from Rachelle that she has had good luck with it. My barefoot trimmer said she could fit him with Easy Gloves. That is an option too although it sure would be nice not to have to ride in boots all the time. I am working on upper level dressage movements and I don't know if boots would be too clunky?

I love the idea of Final Net - I would not mind spraying his feet before each ride. My barefoot trimmer has warned me to stay away from certain chemicals that can be damaging to the feet, so I would want to understand what is in Final Net.

I also have been told to remove some of my sand and add wood shavings to reduce the abrasiveness. Anyone have any experience with that?

Thanks much.

Heidi
Member:
stek

Posted on Thursday, Jun 4, 2009 - 5:33 pm:

Heidi I would worry about boots being clunky too, but not sure what your best solution will be.

Adding wood to the sand might work but it really depends on your climate. Where I am in the pacific northwest wood in an arena breaks down very quickly (like one year) and ruins the footing. If your climate is drier that might work better, but for me it would mean scraping out all my footing and replacing it every year .. not do-able!
Member:
canter

Posted on Friday, Jun 5, 2009 - 7:12 am:

Heidi,
Two thoughts, for what they are worth:
~Most hairsprays have a lot of alcohol in them - I would be concerned that the Final Net may be too drying on the hooves. But I've never tried this so can't say for sure

~How 'bout adding recycled rubber crumbs to the arena? The sand/rubber mix arenas are not uncommon. Two of the 3 barns I've boarded at have this mix and there's been no damage to hooves. Will certainly avoid the breakdown of the wood that Shannon describes above.

Good luck finding something that works well for you and your horse.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Jun 5, 2009 - 8:10 am:

Heidi, another option is to realize that this is the way the hooves wear with this use and this ground and just accept it. Currently the wall in these areas are receiving more pressure than the rest of the foot and so the foot is being remodeled by the abrasive surface to maximize the ease of break over. It is possible to imagine too much wear but the changes you describe may be well within acceptable limits if I understand the post right. You see horses on the desert with hooves like you describe.
DrO
Member:
remmi

Posted on Friday, Jun 5, 2009 - 10:33 am:

I don't know why I have been resistant to the idea of rubber - I guess it's because I have been to a few barns with bad rubber and it turned into black dust that would go up your nose when you rode - Yuck! But I know there are very good rubber products out there and it's certainly a proven strategy. I need to investigate that further for sure.

My dressage instructor adds wood shavings once per year to her sand arena - they do break down but she uses MgCl for dust control and has no dust problems at all. They water but not that frequently. Her footing is awesome - and yet everything I read says wood is not a good solution.

I am going to try Hoof Armor and see what that does before making any changes to my arena. I have read mixed reviews on it's effectiveness but my purpose for using it is different than most people's - as I don't need protection on the soul but more on the outside of the hoof wall. I will report back on how it works.

Dr. O - that is an interesting perspective and I like that idea. Do you think that the abrasiveness on the hoof wall will eventually lead to a tougher hoof wall? Fortunately my horse does have very good feet and the wall is at least 1/4 inch thick - but it has worn in front to about 1/16th or so, and I was concerned about whether that would make the coffin bone vulnerable or start to affect the strength of the laminae connection? I will take some picture of his feet and post it this weekend.

Thanks All.

Heidi
Member:
corinne

Posted on Friday, Jun 5, 2009 - 2:00 pm:

Heidi I have an 11 yr old Arabian who has been barefoot his entire life. The footing at our new barn is wonderful in every regard, sand in the outdoor, rubber, sand and MgCl in the indoor. The rubber footing in the indoor is very quality and doesn't degrade like you describe. I love it. I did notice that he was wearing quickly in general compared to how he wore in the mid west as the sand is a bit more course. Outside, and maybe as a result, (without the rubber) he wasn't as surefooted. I too was also worried that the quick wearing would cause inflammation and thus could affect the coffin bone which might have been my own paranoia. We opted to put shoes on him and I am very happy with them as he is very surefooted in the outdoor now plus just seems more able to engage the hinds and sit better since we put the shoes on. Good Luck with either acceptance and acclimation to the footing or going with a different option!

v/r
Corinne
Member:
vickiann

Posted on Friday, Jun 5, 2009 - 9:48 pm:

I agree with Dr. O.

And if the foot is well balanced but is wearing more in a particular part of the hoof, that may be because there is extra there that needs to wear and go away though sometimes other causes may be involved such as the balance and way the rider rides and sits.

The Arabian drill team that I used to be on for several years rides in sand all the time with small pieces of rock mixed in. They are not in shoes.

These horses, who are trimmed by a good, natural type farrier, who balances the feet well laterally and medially, have no problems whatsoever working on that surface.

My farrier suggests placing river rock where the horses have to walk through it a few times daily to build strength and toughness, or taking the horse out and walking him (and working up to some trotting) on asphalt or cement.
New Member:
npo33901

Posted on Monday, Jun 8, 2009 - 2:37 am:

Yes Vicky from AZ , I am from old E.
Hoofs have to harden up - my horse had such thin walls, nails were staying in, shoes falling off all the time. My farrier (natural trained as well as conventional ) took all shoes off . I had to walk my horse on asfalt/concrete . moisten hiss feet daily for few months . His hoofs changed , even reshaped . Local terrain is hard, with a lot of stone. My arena is river sand/river stones/rubber . My horse is now 4 years without shoes and is doing very well . Will try to make a picture .
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