Barefoot Endurance

[Darolyn Butler <darolyn@swbell.net>]

Hi Riders,
Just did our first "Barefoot" 50 Miler.  Mark & I took 3 "barefoot" horses
up to the Bell Cow Boogie in Oklahoma this weekend.  Neither of the 3 of
them had warn shoes for at least 6 months or more.  We had done a fairly
conservative "natural trim" on them the few days before, (we didn't want to
take to much sole off & go run them really tender), but they all had decent
feet with really nice "fat" frogs.

We were blessed with the dubious good luck of a really muddy trail.
Unfortunately, Mark's horse pulled something high and went out at 25, but
CeCi & I finished 3rd & 5th on our mounts.  This was the horses' first 50
milers as well.  Besides the slick and deep mud, the trail had a lot of hard
clay rock, some smaller rock & a little "gravel & asphalt" road.  At the end
of the ride they showed to be slightly tenderfooted on the rough gravel, but
sound and happy on the grassy trot out area.

I re-read the book "A Lifetime of Soundness" by Strasser on the way home and
became more and more convinced that this is the way to do it, if at all
possible.  Natural horsekeeping is actually pretty natural to most Endurance
Riders.  I encourage you all to look into it to see if it works for you and
your horses.  The horses need to be out 24/7, have exposure to water for
their hooves, and a certain amount of activity.  That fits fairly easily
with most long distance riders routine.  Check it out.  & YES....  they do
recommend some sort of foot covering if you are in a "non-rocky" area & must
go run in rocks.... so don't try any of this until you have read and studied
the whole program.  I ordered Jamie Jackson's, "The Horse Owners Guide to
Natural Hoof Care" today.  That's the next step into this thing I'm told.

We are having a Natural Trimming Clinic on Dec. 19th with Martha Olivo here
at Cypress Trails.  Time -- 8-5:00,  much of the day will be lecture on the
physiology of the horse & Natural Trimming.  At least two horses will be
trimmed and demonstrated on.  She will take appointments to trim horses on
Dec. 20th.  Only 5 horses will be taken on the 20th, so if you are within
driving distance (or flying--we're close to Intercontinental) & interested
in this, e me or Vickie Hudson (she's assisting me in hosting this clinic)
hudsonhou1vsh@aol.com  or call Phone: 281 454 5592 and we'll sign you up.
My number & e mail is below.   The clinic is limited to 25 people & it is
half full already, so don't delay if you think U want to do it.

Check out these web sights for more information if you like.
www.tribeequus.com  ,
 file://www.barefoothorse.com/  ,      www.alltel.net/~star/page4.html    ,
http://members.screenz.com/gretchenfathauer/       //www.thehorseshoof.com/

Good luck & long live the "barefooters".
djbd & the cowboy

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                     Darolyn Butler-Dial & Mark Dial
21415 Cypresswood Dr. Humble, TX 77338
                         TOLL FREE # 1 800 228 8768           Farm:  (281)
446 7232      Fax: (281) 446 0113
                             e mail: darolyn@swbell.net    Web Page:
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