barefoot horses

[Rides 2 Far <rides2far@juno.com>]

>>Another alternative, atthe bare minimum, is digging out a water pool
around the horse's water tubso their feet can soak ( the pool needs to be
deep up enough to cover the>>>>coronet band) >>>>while they take a drink.

I totally disagree with this practice.  Maybe things are different where
you are, and where this was written, but around here if a horse stands in
water, he stands in red clay mud.  Go out and put your hands in it for a
few minutes to "moisturize them" then take them out and let them dry. 
Now do that for a few days and see how dried and cracked your hands get. 
Nothing will draw the moisture out of your skin like that drying mud.

So...why are my hands not dried and cracked?  Because the moisture comes
from inside.  What dries my hands out the worst?  Washing them too often.
 Do I always use soap?  No.  I teach High School Art.  That means I have
to teach pottery.  I dip my hands in water and work the clay, then dip
them in water again.  When I need to get them clean I just wash in water
and go on.  My hands eventually dry out and begin to split at the
knuckles.

I have a pond in my field.  Thank goodness my horses stay out of it.  I
sold a mare with good feet to some people with a pond in their field and
she got the habit of standing in it.  Her feet were destroyed.  They
owned her for a couple of years and then I got her back for 1/2 price. 
She'd been unshod during that time.  The hooves split bottem to top all
the way around and it had gone deep. I traded her for even less money to
get rid of her on the condition that they use the money saved to help
bring her hooves back.  They didn't stay with it and the last time I saw
her the hooves had taken on the look of a cow with cloven hooves.  It was
awful.

I guess there may be instances where the moisture would help.  I have
been known to massage hoof cream into the coronary band, but I don't
recommend that anybody put a mudpuddle next to their water trough around
here unless they're going to wash them off and towel dry them afterwards.

Angie
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