Re: Re: barefoot

["Robyn Levash" <questarabians@inreach.com>]

>>>>About trimming sole and frog: I wouldn't recommend that ANYONE trim AT
ALL
without at least doing a lot of reading first, and preferably getting
hands-on help.  There are certain areas that should not be touched, and
certain areas that might need trimming under certain circumstances and
hoof types but not others, and other areas that are very important to keep
at a proper length (for the INDIVIDUAL horse--and learning to use
markers within the individual hoof takes practice!  Even the same horse
may need 4 different trims, one on each foot).>>>

I totally agree with you Abigail. It is so important for people to educate
yourself before pulling the shoes and hittin' the trail. I have a Strasser
Certified Hoof Care Specialist from Arizona come about every 4 weeks now. He
not only trims, but he educates us on what each individual horse needs, so
we can maintain the trim in between visits. He is very open to modifying
whatever is necessary to help that individual horse, but #1 is a sound
healthy horse. There are so many technicalities and small room for error.
There is just no subsitute for consulting and hands on help with a well
trained, and experienced professional. There is only so much you can learn
from books, tapes, and clinics.

By the way we did our first 50 in a year barefoot. It was my horses third 50
barefoot, and my boyfriend's horse's first 50 barefoot. Both horses were
incredibly strong --- I had to do a lot of holding back.  Neither horse had
any problems with tripping, ouchies, or anything. This was their home
trails. The footing is good >>> mostly sandy decomposed granite with very
few rocks. We came in 12th and 13th out of I think 45 riders? I was pleased
with their performance. My horse had straight A's all day. My boyfriends
horse was A's and B's.
I tell ya it is just so nice to not have that worry about losing a shoe, or
easy boot ect.:)

Robyn

Bear Valley Springs, CA




--- Original Message -----
From: Abigail Aiyagari <abby1@itsa.ucsf.edu>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2001 2:41 PM
Subject: RC: Re: barefoot


>
> About trimming sole and frog: I wouldn't recommend that ANYONE trim AT ALL
> without at least doing a lot of reading first, and preferably getting
> hands-on help.  There are certain areas that should not be touched, and
> certain areas that might need trimming under certain circumstances and
> hoof types but not others, and other areas that are very important to keep
> at a proper length (for the INDIVIDUAL horse--and learning to use
> markers within the individual hoof takes practice!  Even the same horse
> may need 4 different trims, one on each foot). There is no such thing as
> a "formula trim" that will work for all horses, which is IMO where things
> like the Natural Balance system and 4-point shoeing fall short.  You can't
> force a foot to fit certain parameters, except in the case of maintaining
> a 30 degree hairline, which is predetermined by nature in the horse
> species in order to have a ground-parallel coffin bone.  Other things,
> such as amount of concavity, toe length, heel height, etc. are all
> determined by the individual horse's foot type.  If you really do the
> research, you'll see that the Strasser trim does not specify hard numbers
> for anything except the hairline angle, and estimates for heel height.
> The toe angles they state are simply reporting the results of measuring
> lots of coffin bones, they don't try to force feet into certain angles.  I
> think that the Strasser trim often gets oversimplified when people explain
> it, and I just want to clarify that it IS tailored to each individual.
> There are a lot of folks out there jumping on the bandwagon and selling
> the "natural" trim (how hard can it be?  Just pull the shoes and trim the
> feet, right?), which isn't nearly as scientific or flexible as a true
> Strasser trim.
>
> I'm certainly not going to claim that every horse can do rocky endurance
> rides barefoot...but it's not because of the horse, it's because of a host
> of other factors over which the owner has more or less control.  If there
> is no access to rocky areas to train, or the horse can't be kept in
> pasture, or, or, or...it's not going to work.  People are right in saying
> that we're asking unnatural things of our horses, but I still think that
> the horse's innate adaptability makes them more able to be conditioned to
> different situations than we might think they are.  It takes a lot longer
> to condition a horse's feet and skeleton than it does his muscles and
> lungs.  With that in mind, I'm not going to do anything with my horse that
> is beyond his abilities because I think it would be unfair to him.  I'm
> not saying that I'm not going to do anything "unnatural", because that
> would mean I'd be trailering him out to Colorado and letting him loose,
> just that I'm not going to do anything that requires me to artificially
> enhance him so that he is capable of doing what I ask.  If that means I
> don't compete, so be it.  I'd rather have a happy and sound pleasure horse
> than put shoes on him and win at endurance.  That's just my personal
> feeling about it, I'm not saying that anyone should not shoe, just that
> this is why I choose not to.  Others may decide that shoeing will keep
> their horses more comfortable and happy, and that's fine.  It sure is a
> heck of a lot of work to do a good job with a barefoot horse.  But I do
> hope that in the future I won't have to worry about being prevented from
> competing because of my barefoot horse (or at least, that I'll be able to
> determine before traveling to a ride that barefoot horses are not
> allowed!).
>
> Abby (help, I can't stop typing!)
> & Cola (mom, would you get off the internet and take me for a ride?)
>
>
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