RE: Re: Barefoot

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

Gene,

Have you checked into the many different types of other hoof protection,
such as Old Macs, Swiss Boots, etc.?  

Since I'm not sure how much of this thread you have caught thus far, I'll
just say that I have a Peruvian Paso gelding that I am conditioning for
endurance riding barefoot.  There are a couple of things to consider; first,
hoof growth *does* eventually catch up with the rate of hoof wear, but it
takes awhile for that type of growth stimulation to happen, and not everyone
has the time to wait for that to occur.

The "barefoot movement" that is only being advocated by just a few
Ridecampers does require a lot of time, money, patience, etc., so don't
believe those idiots who have the audacity to say that we're promoting this
to save a buck or two here and there.  Between the money spent of clinics,
books, rasps, hoof knifes, sharpeners, truckloads of river rock, gravel and
concrete pavers, embracing the barefoot lifestyle doesn't usually come
cheap. Not to mention the at times agonizing hours spent hunched over your
poor, patient horse's hooves, trimming away!  There is an amazing amount of
things that go into it, and not everyone has the time, opportunity or
inclination to pursue this correctly for those very reasons, and therefore
hoof protection alternatives become a necessity. 

Second, while there are certainly instances where hoof protection is
desireable and needed, I  happily advocate for the use of boots over shoes -
any day.  Their traction is superior, they still allow for the expansion and
contraction that occurs in normal, healthy unshod hooves, they still allow
for proper frog stimulation and hoof mechanism, there are no nails in the
hoof wall to impair circulation (it's amazing how vascular the hoof wall
is...) and best of all, you're not at the mercy of a farrier (notoriously
unreliable, unfortunately!  unless you yourself are a farrier, and in that
case, I hope my apologies for such generalizations are accepted!) to put
them on and off.  

So, there you go... we're not all trying to convert folks, but we do hope
that others at least seriously try the alternatives before abandoning all
hope and reverting back to shoeing their horse. And I didn't mention
eazyboots because, well, they're not particularly easy to apply, and they
don't always stay on!  I'm trying to decide between Old Macs and Swiss boots
for next season's backups, and it's a toughie... if I had the money, I'd try
both, but I'll just be happy that I have the time to make an informed
decision before I absolutely need them.  

Best of luck with your riding and your future 50's,

Tracey Ritter
Portland, OR



-----Original Message-----
From: Gene Recor [mailto:gene@dreamsoft.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2001 4:08 PM
To: guest@endurance.net
Subject: RC: Re: Barefoot


In your observation of horses that slide their feet and horses that don't
slide their feet I am not clear in your meaning of "slide". My mare is
barefoot and we condition on mostly hills, she slides down hills on her back
feet and has never been sore, lame or any other problems. I am only doing
NATRC at this point and have had her shod when I thought she was wearing to
low even though she wasn't sore. IF I was to do alot of 50 milers or more I
probably would have her shod. I don't avoid shoes other than she doesn't
need them.I have her feet trimmed every 6 weeks so I am not trying to save
money either. I think if the type of riding allows your horse to be barefoot
it is better for the horse, but if you are riding balls to the wall all the
time then you should think about shoeing you horse.































----- Original Message -----
From: <guest@endurance.net>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2001 11:09 AM
Subject: RC: Barefoot


> K S SWIGART   katswig@earthlink.net
>
> Abby said:
>
> > The other point is that a lot of people are citing shoe wear as a reason
> a
> > horse couldn't possibly go barefoot over such-and-such terrain-
>
> I cited the fact that my horses couldn't go barefoot not because of shoe
> wear but because of HOOF wear.  My barefoot horses, after many miles of
> training and endurance competition, just plain old get too short in the
> foot.  No chipping, no cracking, no sole bruising...just short.
>
> And when they get short in the foot, they get "ouchy" which has nothing to
> do with carefully picking their way through the rocks, when they have
> enough foot, they don't care about the rocks :).  When they are short in
> the foot, every little pebble would cause them to flinch, shorten their
> strides, not freely swing their shoulders or hips in their movement, etc.
>
> > -someone
> > already mentioned this in passing, but horses slide their feet when
> > they're wearing shoes in an effort to dissipate some of the shock.  A
> > barefoot horse does NOT slide his feet.
>
> Some horses slide their back feet, and some don't.  Some horses slide
> their feet on some terrain and not other terrain, and others don't.  In my
> observation (which, as I have mentioned spanns 10 years of watching and
> working with barefoot horses of all varieties over all kinds of terrain),
> if a horse slides its foot when shod, but doesn't when barefoot, it is
> because the horse would prefer to slides its feet, but doesn't when
> barefoot, because it is trying to protect its bare feet from the excess
> abrasion caused by slding it (i.e. the horses is afraid to slide its feet
> because it knows its gonna hurt)--which is what causes it to become short
> strided and to "stab" the ground instead of swinging its leg freely
> forward.
>
> And this is not a function of whether the horse has shoes or not, but a
> function of whether the horse has sufficient hoof protection or not, and
> my barefoot horses consider "plenty of bare foot" to be sufficient hoof
> protection.  But when a barefoot horse gets too short in the foot it DOES
> alter its gait to accommodate its discomfort (and shod horses can be
> "ouchy" too, like if a farrier cuts them too short, at which time they
> will exhibit the same alterations in gait).  It isn't a function of the
> shoes, it's function of the confidence with which the horse swings its
> legs and moves its feet.
>
> And over the years I have become very in tune to the way that my horses
> swing their legs and move their feet, since there will start to be some
> very subtle changes before they become obviously "ouchy," and the outset
> of these subtle changes is the time to be putting hoof protection on.
> Don't wait until the horse has altered its gait too much and is obviously
> sore, because altering the gait can have consequences that transmit to the
> rest of the body.
>
> kat
> Orange County, Calif.
>
> p.s.  Historically speaking, man did not start shoing horses because they
> thought shoes would look nice.  Man started shoing horses because their
> unshod horses started getting tenderfooted...just like me.
>
> Yes, there are new materials that weren't available to the early shoers
> that I am interested in experimenting with, but I am starting to come to
> the conclusion that the reason that man has been shoing horses with steel
> for centuries is because they have tried everything else and everything
> else has proved inadequate :) if you intend to use your horse a lot.
>
>
>
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