Can she go barefoot?

[silverleprichuan]

I know almost everyone has a slightly different opinions about this but I was wondering if you think there might be a chance she could go barefoot? She is sound and happy shod all around but I think her feet will be more healthy if I can transition her over.
My vet and farrier both think that she should be able to but I would also like some other opinions.

[Phil Armitage]

Does FR mean Front right? Judgeing from the posistion of the hands holding foot up it is the right foot. I am currious to what the Front left foot looks like and why does your farrier have rim pad on the front foot shown?

[Forgewizard]

That "FR" pic, shows a terribly deep center sulcus of the frog. Most likely having an infection of deep seated thrush. The heels could be opened up more, the coronet bands on the hinds are a bit wavy.

These hooves look like they have excess depth. Are you at the tail end of your shoeing cycle? What interval are you on?

The off hind hoof has a bowed outward dorsal wall.

What are you doing with the horse?

Was the toe of the shoe on "FR" squared and ground off by the farrier or did the horse wear it that way? If the horse wore off the toe, then the hoof toes are NOT suitable for the horse and they need reducing. If the farrier ground them off, then at least he/she recognized that the horse's breakover and toes need to be brought back.

regards,
Kim

[Phil Armitage]

It is probably impossible for us to determine if your horse can go barefoot, however if you can answer the questions we come up with, maybe it will help you answer it for yourself.

[silverleprichuan]

Yes when I said FR I meant front right sorry that I did not clarify that. I have very aware that she has thrush in that foot my farrier and I are working together to help get that cleared up but we have had some pretty wet weather lately so it's been difficult but she is slowly getting better. My farrier lightly "squared" off both of her front feet to help her move better.
She has a rim pad on both front feet because 2 months ago she got a huge sub-solar bruise that we believe was due to a rock getting wedge underneath her hoof while playing in the pasture. My farrier put pads on her feet more comfortable while it healed, and my vet put her on antibiotics just in case. He put them on both feet so she would be balanced. She is moving comfortably and we are keeping them on one more rotation just to be safe. At this point, I believe she is at week 3 or 4 of her 5-week rotation.

Paxton is an eventer but during the school year I can only ride 2x a week so she gets one day of dressage and one day of trails with very light jumping. During the summer, she is ridden 3 to 4 days a week and does more trail riding and hill work.

She spends her nights inside during the winter and spends her days inside during the summer. Her turnout has a varied footing, will this work to her advantage? Once she exits her stall she walk about 100 feet down a paved driveway, then she walk across 1/4 of dry lot (pictured below) then she enters her 7-acre grassy pasture with rocky patches.

I do not have a picture of her front left at the moment but I could get one on Tuesday, at that time I could also get a back left if it would help y'all.

Thank you for taking the time to answer this, I truly appreciate it.

-silver