The barefoot Irishmen!

There are horses that are difficult to shoe, then there’s Murphy! In the two and a half years we have had him, we have lost count of the number of farriers we have been through. Murphy clearly had a very bad experience of shoeing in the past, as even under the strongest of sedation he would attempt to kick the farrier into next week. He would stand for the vet or the “back lady” messing around with him, but there was something about the hapless guy with the rasp and the apron that brought out the homicidal maniac in him (never far from the surface let’s face it). Sedation was costing us £200 a month, and we simply ran out of local farriers willing to shoe him. It was indeed Chestnut’s farrier, who suggested we try Murphy barefoot, so off came Murphy’s shoes. We expected all sorts of problems, sore feet etc, and of course at some point we would have to get someone to at least trim his feet.

Well the sore feet bit didn’t really amount to much: he picked his way a bit more carefully over sharp gravel but that was about all. As far as trimming went, the more we researched barefoot methods, the more we realised that this was something we could learn to do ourselves.

Well it’s nearly a year and a half since Murphy went barefoot, and it has been so successful that Chestnut is now as nature intended too!

If you are interested in barefoot trimming look at http://www.barefoothorse.com/. Please keep in mind however that not every horse has good enough feet to go barefoot (though I would contest that most have), not every owner is robust enough to trim a large or difficult horse, and do consult your Vet before making any decision to go unshod. Good luck!