barefoot endurance riding / training & conditioning techniques

[Tracey Ritter <tracey_ritter@yahoo.com>]

Kathy,

Thanks for your reply.  I guess I did not adequately emphasize in my first post that while we do have nice soft pasture ground in the summer, and even squishier ground in the winter ;-), we make it a point to do our training on gravel roads (such as gravelled forest logging roads) at every given opportunity so as to slowly condition their feet for whatever terrain they might come across.  Since we do have the surroundings and climate you describe, we will have to go out of our way to add rock and gravel to their paddock this winter, around their feed and water areas where they spend alot of time standing, as well as all around the gate areas and primary walkways.  That way, they will begin to become accustomed to it if they have to stand on it long enough.  It's just a matter of them having to get used to it, that's all, which they will eventually... Darwin has proven so!

Another thing to consider is that horses live in some very inhospitible places in the wild, like Egypt, the Russian Steppes, and our own Western U.S., where rock and compacted dirt and clay predominate.

What is interesting is that Xenophon wrote about this very subject in his book, On The Art of Horsemanship, written in 360 B.C.  I shall include an exerpt from Chapter 4, "On Horse Care":

"Like one has to care for the horse's proper feed and permanent bodytraining, to keep him in a good condition, so one because of the same reason also has to pay attention to regular footcare. Moist and slippery boxes damage basically healthy hoofs. To get them not moist one shall design the boxes a bit sloping and to avoid slipperiness one should pave the ground with stones of the size of hoofs, because such a stone-ground strengthens the feet of the horses standing on it. Further the groom must lead the horse to a place out of the stable, where he curries him. Also he should bind away the horse from the crib after the morning feed, therefore he goes more willingly to the evening feed. Also this place beside the stable will be adjusted best and make the feet strong, if one spills four or five carts of round, fistsized and about one pound heavy pebbles and mounts them into iron edges, so they are not scattered. If the horse stands upon these, it will be just as if he always went part of the day on a stony way. Necessarily when he is curried or defends against flies he must use the hoofs, just like when walking. Also the frog of the hoofs becomes firm on the pebbles."  - http://www.horseclick.com/HorseClick-Xenophon-5.shtm

As I mentioned before, using Easy Boots or Swiss Boots over your horse's hooves is a great way to aid in conditioning their hooves for new terrain they might not be accustomed to, or for periods of long, hard, continuous use that they also might not be accustomed to.  They don't interfere with the circulatory system in the hoof and leg, are not as concussive as steel shoes, and they don't need a farrier to put them on! :-)

What's most important is for everyone to keep on learning about this, as there is still so much out there that we don't know yet.  It will also be important for those of us who are conditioning and/or competing barefoot to keep the list posted as to how many miles they complete successfully (sound), any training or conditioning techniques they run across, etc. so that we can all continue to keep an open mind about the very viable alternative of having our high-performance equine athletes perform "a la naturel".

Thank you for listening and for keeping the flow of information going!

Tracey Ritter, Portland OR  (FORMERLY of El Paso, TX, where I spent the first 17 yrs. of my life!)  (Sure don't miss those dust storms!)  ;-)

> [...]
> we've been doing *all* training  barefoot.
> [...]
>Tracey Ritter, Portland OR

I think it's a very good idea for people who are pushing
the barefoot idea to make sure they post where they
are from and how long they have been conditioning their
horses hooves for barefoot.

Certainly, areas like the east coast and Portland, OR /
Seattle have softer ground than other places because of
the moisture in the area and the length of time the ground
has been decaying.

There is no way I'd subject my horses to being barefoot
at our new place here in Santa Fe.  There are areas in 
and around Santa Fe that have more moisture and top
soil than our rugged beautiful land.  Here, I have rock.
Fragmented, solid, sharp rock.  Made it very interesting
to get any kind of fence up.

No way I'd expect Blue to ship out from the CA coast, (good
top soil, great moisture constant), where he's been barefoot
for the last shoeing cycle, without putting a new set of shoes
on him first.  I'm worried with shoes.

Texas is a schitzophrenic state.  Huge differences between
El Paso, Dallas / Fort Worth, and Houston.  Houston is a lot
like the east coast with humidity, green decomposed earth,
and coastal areas.  El Paso is like a lot of NM... hot, dry, 
rocky.  Dallas / Fort Worth is like ... Dallas / Ft. Worth.  :)

If you are going to push "barefoot", please make sure you
specify what kind of ground is normal for your horse's day
in and day out living, what kind of trails you ride (gravel on
soft dirt is different than gravel on 1" hard pack over solid
rock), and what kind of surfaces you do your AERC miles on.

Kathy Myers
Santa Fe, NM
AERC # 14992
... still horseless, but hopefully only until Saturday!!!

"We should have a great many fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for what they are, the signs of our ideas only, and not for things themselves."

-Locke, Essay on Human Understanding

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