Re: Fwd: RC: Barefoot/verses steel

["Maggie Mieske" <mmieske@netonecom.net>]

I have a solution for EVERYONE....since it's unnatural for us to SHOE a
horse, then it's unnatural for us to RIDE them!  :)  Right?  Let's call it
endurance LEADING or something and well, I'm just being silly, of course.
But if you want to start bashing shoes on horses because it's not natural
then maybe we better take a long hard look at all the other things we do for
our horses that is unnatural... let's not blanket or stall them or feed them
grain or alfalfa or anything they couldn't get fairly in the wild (let's
face it, God did not plant huge fields of alfalfa for them to graze
on...they are supposed to eat grass).  Let's not bathe them or spray them
with flyspray or worm them or give them vaccinations.  Yeah, that's silly
and extreme.  Of course, it is.  But it isn't any different from shoeing
them.  I wonder how much a saddle that pinches screws up a horse...far more
inexperienced people out there who try to tack up a horse with ill fitting
equipment than bad farriers who never show up when they are supposed to.
Anyway, just playing a little devil's advocate here to lighten up a dreary
grey day.  If you are going to get self righteous about how you care for
your horse, whether it's nutrition, shoeing (or not), riding, saddling,
whatever you do in an effort to be a responsible horse owner because you
want his life to be as natural as possible, then you must examine all
aspects of your care.  For the record, before anyone flames me or asks...our
horses are out 24/7, run in sheds and trees for protection, they get wormed,
they get sprayed when flies are bad, they get a nice grass hay (sometimes
with alfalfa mixed in it), some get grain, some don't, some get shoes, some
don't.  Sometimes they get blanketed in severe weather.  And I am forever
obsessing about saddle fit and appropriate tack.  <Sigh>  Enough for me
today!  Whew!  That was exhausting.  Did I leave anything out?  I'm sure
I'll hear about it if I did.
Maggie