Barefoot Process Question (To Kimberly)

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Karen Standefer hrschk@yahoo.com
Referenced Post:

>>There is a guy at my ranch who read Strasser's book on barefoot horses
and is now fanatical about it.  He says Strasser's book states everyone
will be against him and so don't listen to anyone's opinions.  He is like
a religious fanatic to me...

I have no problem with anyone taking their horse barefoot but in the
process what he does is par down the soles and heels every 2 weeks.  The
horse is so sore he can barely stand up.  Then he soaks the feet, then
turns him out in the arena and chases him with a crop to force him to trot
and gallop.  It is so painful to watch.  As he leads the horse from the
water soaking to the arena the horse can barely take steps he is so sore.
All of us and pointed out to him how sore the horse is and he knows.  I've
told him to his face there is no justification for causing a horse this
pain, regardless of the end result.  He says I 'abuse my horse' by having
shoes on him.

So my question is, what is the justifcation?  Has he deviated from the
process?  Would other barefoot advocates agree with his methods?<<


Hi, Kimberly.  No, this guy is probably not following proper trimming
procedures and definitely not practicing smart horsemanship for his horse.
Running the horse around in soft arena footing is actually more
detrimental to the healing process, plus it is very hard on a sore horse
to be trying to turn circles, much less trotting or cantering!  I would
guess that he has trimmed off way too much hoof, if the horse is that
sore.  Decontracting a horse in anything other than a clinic environment
takes a very long time and a lot of work on the owner's part.  The better
thing to have done with this horse would have been to trim him properly,
then find firm ground with NO rocks and walk the horse 20 minutes a day in
hand..........no circles, just flat walking (if the horse is really sore,
then use boots for this).  In any form of barefoot conditioning that I'm
familiar with, you take things at the horse's speed.  And, you let the
horse pick he trail he wants to use while riding (soft shoulder, usually).

It is unfortunate that so many people misunderstand and mis apply the
trim.  It should not sore a horse.  There will be times, however, that a
horse has so much damage inside the hoof (navicular, laminitis, etc) that
it would be sore regardless of hoof protection.  Don't know if that is the
case with this man's horse.  But, running around the arena with a horse
that is that sore on soft terrain is a definite NO-NO.  That's only common
sense.

Karen