Re: RC: Re: barefoot

["Nancy Mitts" <mitts_n@hotmail.com>]

1. If a ride manager is going to have requirements stricter than AERC 
requires they must publish it in their ride materials. Would riders really 
want to wait till they get to the ride for the vet to decide if they need 
shoes?
2. The manager will often know their trail better than the vet, and the vet 
will follow their recommendation in this regard anyway.
3. If the vet check is away from camp & it's up to the ride management to 
haul horses in, they should have the right to eliminate a likely problem in 
advance.
4. With all the recent talk of how we need more 
restrictions/rules/requirements so endurance "looks better" to the public & 
that we don't abuse our horses, how would we explain that ride management 
isn't allowed to try to prevent barefoot horses gimping around in the rocks?

BTW, I have only used the "strongly recommended" statement myself, the vet 
checks have always been in camp. I think only a mule has actually started 
w/o shoes or easy boots. (Went 25 miles okay.) If I had to have a vet check 
away, I think I would want to require "hoof protection" of some kind. At any 
rate, I wouldn't want to give up that option.

Nancy Mitts



>From: "Sue Riegel" <riegels@cdsnet.net>
>To: <guest@endurance.net>
>CC: "S.K. Williams" <skwilliams5@home.com>
>Subject: RC:  Re: barefoot
>Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 18:46:39 -0700
>
>Lynda, having just come up against this very subject at a recent ride,
>here's
>what I have learned.
>
>Perhaps I have missed something, but there is no rule in the AERC rulebook
>requiring horses to be shod.  The rules state that Veterinarians are the
>sole
>authority for deciding what criteria will be used in a ride, including
>metabolic
>and physical requirements; and their decisions are final!
>
>However, a ride manager it seems can place a restriction on a ride 
>requiring
>horses to be shod with little more background other than  personal opinion
>(i.e., "I believe it is cruel to compete a horse barefoot").  This seems to
>be stepping into the
>veterinarian role, IMO.  I believe a ride manager, knowing the terrain and
>conditions
>of said ride course, has an obligation to alert potential riders that 
>"shoes
>and/or
>pads, are strongly suggested".  It's then up to the rider to properly
>evaluate the
>horse's experience, conditioning, and foot soundness, and make the decision
>for
>that ride.  It's also up to the ride vet who vets that horse in for a given
>ride to make
>the decision based on the foot in front of him, that the horse is fit to
>start.
>
>Admittedly, an improperly conditioned horse that is competed barefoot has a
>distinct disadvantage and most likely will be pulled at the first vet check
>for
>lameness (and the rider pulled for stupidity!).  However, IF a horse has
>been
>properly trimmed, and IF a horse has been properly conditioned for barefoot
>distance work, that horse ought to be able to compete...... under all of 
>the
>requirements placed on any other shod horse in competition.
>
>Sue Riegel, So. Oregon
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: <guest@endurance.net>
>To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
>Sent: June 26, 2001 4:03 PM
>Subject: RC: barefoot
>
>
> > Lynda Thompson beattyrugrats@juno.com
> > I keep reading about barefoot riding.  Are people actually doing 
>endurance
> > rides barefoot or are they using some sort of hoof protection?  Is it an
> > AERC rule to use hoof protection or just a ride rule.  I have seen it on
> > entry forms.  Thanks for the help.
> >
> > Lynda
> >
> >
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