Dear Jan, I have a couple of questions for you. What sort of yard surfaces etc, do you need to have if you are thinking of leaving your horse barefoot?, and also does it matter if you do some roadwork, or does it have to be none at all?. The reason I ask is that I have a young horse who is Arab x Native(probably New Forest)that I am considering keeping barefoot. He is currently doing a little bit of roadwork anyway as he is being introduced to traffic, and his feet seem fine at the moment but unless I go on the roads then I have nowhere to ride. If I moved him to another yard what facilities would I need etc, to keep his feet natural and healthy?. Thanks Lorraine.

Hi Lorraine,

Road work is a good thing, and will help to condition the foot once properly trimmed. If he gets too ouchy at any stage of his transition you might find road work is just quick walk (in-hand, 10-15 minutes) on the road to stimulate circulation.

The ease of his transition to natural barefootedness is dependant on what is in there to be healed and restored, which is often hard to gauge until you get going. As he's young, and if he's never been shod, in theory he shouldn't have too many problems.

The absolutely essential requirement for keeping a Strasser trimmed horse is 24/7 turnout in the company of other horses. Natural or man made shelter must be provided and the horse should not wear rugs, bandages or other form of 'clothing'. Ideally, the horse will have as varied and natural a diet as possible for the domestic horse - you can buy hay from different sources and add certain tree branches (these help the teeth wear properly too if no bit is used - see Bitless Bridle discussion - superb invention, I'm getting one!), also add herbs and grasses to your field. You will need to be able to add hard and stoney (river stone) areas to your field to help with foot conditioning, and to maintain elasticity in the horn, the horses will need to be able to wet their feet for about 15 minutes a day in summer when the days are dry - you will need to soak or make a 'pond'. As for yard surfaces - I have a barn that the horses use for shelter with a concrete (agricultural grade) floor. Some people I know have wondered whether the concrete was good for the horn, but I have not had any problems with it and don't know of anyone who has providing the right grade is used.

It's a big commitment to start with, but so very worth it.

Hope this helps.

Jan