All natural horse care in the west of Ireland

Tommy has now been without metal shoes for four months. He is still lame if I take him out without his boots. I thought he would be more sound at this stage.

Took him out for a walk today in hand wearing his Epic Bare boots with easy-up buckles and he seemed much better. He has lost muscle on his rump so I am going to walk him in hand for the next few weeks to get him a bit fitter before I ride him.

My neighbour is an experienced horseman and insists that because Tommy is a thoroughbred he will not be able to go barefoot. According to him he will only be sound if he is shod. He likens a horse wearing hoof boots  to a human wearing diving boots!! He makes me doubt what I am doing but I know in my heart this is the right way to go.

I really do want to avoid metal shoes if possible. I do not feel safe on a horse in metal shoes. I have been on a few shod horses and I do not like the way they slide if they spook. Tommy is a kicker with other horses and I don't want any of my other horses injured by a horse wearing metal shoes.

My other two are barefoot so I am going to try my best to get Tommy barefoot as well. Magpie took two years to be totally sound on all surfaces. It might take as long with Tommy. If it does it does. We have plenty of time. 

I have been scouring the net and for all the failed attempts there seems to be an equal amount of successes so I am going to keep going. As long as he doesn't get too uncomfortable we will keep going.

I am also looking for a barefoot trimmer in Ireland to get some help with Tommy's transition. No joy yet but I will keep looking.