Re: Barefoot Performance Horses

["shelton" <dshelton@usurf.com>]

Hi Kat,

Glad you're feeling up to sharing, especially on the topic of barefoot
performance horses. :)

> I competed in 50 mile endurance rides on my Arabian Stallion
> barefoot

How did you convince ride managers to let you ride barefoot? I'd planned to
do my first ride, a 30 LD, this month barefoot. Ride Management decided, at
the last minute, they would not let me start if I showed up barefoot. Is it
because I'm new and they don't know me, therefore feel I likely don't know
what I'm getting into (which I may not! <grin>)? Whereas you are known and
they trust your judgement of your horse's capabilities?

By the way my horse has never been shod, we've been conditioning on rocky,
sand and hard footing. We had just recently rode 20+ fairly rocky miles in
Yellowstone without any problem. I have put road base (very rocky) in an
area of my pasture which my horses must cross many times daily. All of which
I'd relayed to ride management.

Am I looking to participate in the wrong sport with barefoot horses? I am
very willing to use easyboots when neccessary and even bought a pair for the
fronts for the ride. But didn't feel we had all the bugs worked out to where
we could start in them. As they say never try something new on a ride. I
feel I would have been better off to have pulled from the ride if problems
developed than to try to do the ride in easyboots without any preparation in
them.

Cheryl, who was very disappointed to cancel my long awaited first ride just
two days before I'd planned to leave. But I'm still hoping to do that first
ride next year! In the meantime we're working towards making easyboots work
for us.