Re: RC: Re: Re: contracted heels

[Trishmare7@aol.com]

No, Maggie's balanced message is correct: going barefoot has it's place, but 
so does a well-shod foot.  Shoe's are *not* a "necessary evil," as they are 
so often claimed to be, else they'd not have been with us for so long. Dr. 
Barbara Page, a sporthorse veterinary in Colorado who has had tremendous 
success working with foundered and navicular horses and a self-proclaimed 
"lover of the barefoot horse," also states that going barefoot is neither 
necessary nor even desireable for most horses, although she does feel that 
all horses can benefit from spending at least part of each year sans 
sneakers, as it were.  The list of veterinarians and farriers that agree with 
her assessment (and whom I spoke with in preparation for writing "Hooves 
Under Pressure" which appeared in a recent edition of "Equus") is too long 
for me to include here.

Trish Marie & King David (who says, shoes are fine, but keep me away from 
those racetrack farriers, holy cow!)
Grand Blanc, Michigan

<<      writes:
      
     <Barefootin' is an incredible discovery for bringing health back to the 
foot.  No more interference, forging, thrush, navicular syndrome..... cures 
founder & laminitis too.  Almost anyone can learn to trim...  >
     
     I agree with Darolyn, It works! Don't put it down if you haven't 
studdied the methods she uses.
     
     Lori Cox
      
     I have to respectfully disagree about barefoot being the cure all for 
everything.  There is NO cure for navicular, laminitis (depending on the 
cause) and founder and barefoot is not necessarily the solution to forging, 
interference and thrush.  Horses can get thrush with or without shoes and is 
a result of poor hygiene, not from wearing shoes. They can also forge and 
interfere with bare feet.  Most of these can be improved with frequent and 
appropriate trimming...  Nelson has brought back many horses to a useful life 
(without shoes) after they have been severely foundered but being barefoot 
did not CURE the ill.  As far as anyone being able to learn to trim...I would 
caution people on this, too.  You have no idea how many people simply have NO 
EYE for balance and angle no matter how hard they try to learn and most are 
simply not capable of holding the foot properly to trim it...by the time we 
get there, the horse has learned all kinds of tricks to avoid keeping his 
foot up and his feet are terribly messed up.  Nelson will help people learn 
to trim if they ask and there are a couple who DO have an eye for it but they 
are the exception.  Our stallion has BEAUTIFUL feet, among the best I have 
ever seen, and he goes barefoot for quite a while early in the season but 
there is no way I would expect him to stay barefoot through an entire season. 
 He would wear his feet down to nothing.... AGAIN, for the 100th time, PLEASE 
remember that every horse is an individual and while the Strasser method may 
be just fine for some horses as well as the Natural Balance and the wild 
horse/4 point trim may work for some, USE COMMON SENSE in whatever approach 
you use.  If what you are doing is working, don't try to fix it if it ain't 
broke.  If you are having trouble, experiment and work with a "professional" 
farrier to find a solution that works for YOUR horse.
     Maggie >>