RE: barefoot on the WRRT

["Tracey Ritter" <Tracey_Ritter@yahoo.com>]

Dot,

Thank you so much for posting the footing info about the rides.  As a
"barefoot" advocate, I always think it's smart to have easy boots or Old
Macs along just in case!  

I think the biggest problem with some barefoot riders is that they don't
always condition their horses to ride on gravel all the time, nor are they
kept in open paddocks with rocks and gravel strewn about (intentionally!) so
that they have no choice but to walk on it all the time; all little things
that help condition hooves to tolerating being ridden on gravel.  I have
been taking every opportunity to train on gravelled logging roads, and have
added rock and gravel to their paddocks.  My Peruvian doesn't think twice
about powering forward over miles of gravel now.  But, you absolutely *have*
to do this type of training constantly, or it won't work when you need it
to.  

Since not all riders are this dedicated to proper conditioning for gravel
road rides, I think it's important to insist that they bring along hoof
protection, as they probobly don't realize what their horses are in for
after so many miles of gravel.  

A Possible Solution to Ponder:

I wonder if there's a way to have one's horse "gravel certified" prior to
such a ride?!  ;-)   We need to develop some way of documenting the amount
of trails ridden barefoot, the type of terrain and footing on that
particular ride, as well as any pulls or soundness issues that a vet might
bring up along the way.  Almost like a "track record" of how a horse is
doing barefoot and how sound he's been at the past rides that both the ride
manager and vet can sign off on upon completion of each ride.  Like any
other preventative measures, it won't always be foolproof, but then again,
nothing really is.  

Bear in mind that I'm just wondering out loud here, as I understand the
delicate balance between being completely aware of how your horse can handle
the footing based upon his past performance on similar footing while
training or at past rides and protecting a horse from what might be an
under-educated rider who may not realize just how long it takes to get your
horse in the proper condition to handle the kinds of footing they will
encounter on a ride.  

I think it would be valuable to find a way to quantify this for both the
riders who are going out of their way to train for "barefoot on gravel" and
the ride managers so that at the very least the RMs have some way of
determining a particular horse's fitness and suitability for gravel
beforehand, and thus feel a little better about letting a horse ride
barefoot. It's a tricky balance, but I myself would feel better if there was
a "track record" available that included trail stats, miles, terrain, and
vet comments that I could take to each ride - along with my eazy boots that
I would gladly carry in a cantle bag... just in case of unforseen problems
that can happen to any horse and rider at least once in their endurance
riding history.

I hope this is of some value to folks out there, as it will be nice to find
a balance that all can feel better about.  There are relatively few of us
who seek to safely endurance ride barefoot.  Many in this forum believe
that's an oxymoron, so that's where the balance needs to come in;  it's not
fair to those of us who approach this seriously to prevent us from doing
what we've been training to do all along, especially if we have had a good
track record thus far.  

I am certainly looking forward to any *proactive* input and ideas from the
endurance community on how to approach this, for as Dot mentioned, this has
been an ongoing issue.  No private flames, please! ;-)

Kindest Regards,

Tracey Ritter
Portland, OR



-----Original Message-----
From: Dot Wiggins [mailto:dotwgns@ruralnetwork.net]
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2001 12:39 PM
To: PNER LIST
Cc: ride camp
Subject: RC: barefoot on the WRRT


Since this is a recurring thread, I'd like to vist it as a ride manager.

In the case of the Weiser River Rail Trail Ride,   this is a very spectator
friendly trail.
Because it is on an old rail bed it is also rocky most of the way.   Most,
but not all,  of  last year's  riders used some form of extra hoof
protection,  easy boots alone, easy boots over shoes,  hoof pads, or special
packing (packing didn't seem to stay in well)
Regardless of type of foot gear,  we had no pulls related to footing.

I have been with barefooted horses on this trail.  Most find themselves very
uncomfortable within several miles,  all within 5 or 6.
Because it is such a visible event I'm not willing to present the
non-endurance riding public with an opportunity to see limping horses at an
organized event.
Endurance riding is under pressure as it is, without giving away any more
ammunition.
I've heard before "I'll start and if it doesn't work I'll pull."
To me, this is not acceptable, the horse is still sore for no reason.
On vet's approval of each horse, we will reluctantly allow pleasure riders
to start without foot protection, if they ask, subject to being asked to
return to camp at any point, if horse doesn't seem to be doing ok.

Dot Wiggins   RM  WRRT





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