The Barefoot phenomenon and the transition phase.

Barefoot is an idea born in the United States and which has spread a great deal in recent years. It includes, in addition to keeping the horse barefoot i.e. without appropriate shoeing so the foot does not come under any constraints, a lifestyle that brings the horse closer to an environment that it would find itself in the wild.
The barefoot philosophy, according to the views of several horse-owners who have adopted it for their horses, helps maintain the mental and physical health of the horse, and they are free to graze in the company of fellow horses in their free time. They then subsequently prove themselves to more helpful when it comes to work-time. What’s more, several horses that suffered from lameness and other discomforts before moving to the barefoot life-style, are now wonderfully reborn under the new way of living and thinking.
In the last feature, we presented the barefoot philosophy and its benefits, while today the focus is on the transition phase and the first step to follow for those who wish to join this innovative way of looking after their horses.
The transition phase starts immediately after taking off the shoeing and is defined as the amount of time subsequently needed, which can vary, for the horse to settle into the new life-style. Initially, teething problems can occur and are to be expected.
For example, just like when a horse is given new shoeing, the horse needs time to get used to it. The horse’s body has to adapt and the following factors cannot be disregarded: increased blood flow to the feet and increased sensitivity and tenderness of the feet. Being factors the horse is not used to, it will feel like it is walking on eggshells.
During this time, the horse undergoes many changes, the first of which are changes to the internal and external structure, leading to a change in posture and joints. There is no need to worry about it though and it is all perfectly normal, and a possible solution in the early days is to allow the horse to roam on an open land-space (pastures and meadows but even sandy paddocks are fine).
To continue, the transition phase is mostly concerned with the hardening of the cornea part of the foot and is the period that precedes that of the naturalization of the foot. To be more specific, the naturalization of the foot is a much longer and complex process and involves a real transformation of the hoof, and usually it takes 2-3 complete cycles, but can take longer. Overall, we’re talking about a period that can last 18-24 months.
While it does require a rather long time, the horse will however be able to offer rewarding performances towards the end of the transition phase, but for more testing tasks the time needed is longer. In short, the key to any aspiring barefooter is PATIENCE.
barefoothorseitalia.it
HSJ