Re: Barefoot horses and naked riders

[Tracey Ritter <tracey_ritter@yahoo.com>]

First of all, I haven't laughed like that in a while!  I wonder how 
many guys piped in and said, "Hey, Baby... you could ride on my 
trails *anytime*...!"?  

But, lets get to your main concern here, which I believe is about 
hoof protection, or lack thereof.  

No one - and I do mean no one - is advocating the complete lack of 
hoof protection, and I feel I can say this, as I am a member of both 
lists (RC & barefoot endurance), as well HorseScience and some 
others.  The Barefoot Endurance list has a link for Swiss Boots, and 
we often and good naturedly debate the pros and cons of the different 
hoof boots that are out there (Swiss Boots, Old Macs, EasyBoots, 
etc.) - NOT whether or nor they should be used.   

If you would please, let me know where you getting this 
misinformation about barefoot endurance members not advocating the 
use of hoof boots - it is important so that I better understand your 
point of view and the credibility of the information you are basing 
these opinions on.  Additionally, if you had spent any time even 
checking out the barefoot endurance site on Yahoogroups, you would 
have seen the links for the hoof boots, and perhaps felt compelled to 
do an archive search on our many discussions on this topic.  If you 
haven't, you might consider doing so, as it might help you get a 
better understanding of what our goals and objectives are.

And clinical proof about what, exactly?  Please be a little more 
specific about this so that I can better provide the answers to the 
questions you have.  

Again, no one - not one person - on our list is saying that hoof 
protection is verbotten, and quite the opposite, as we discuss it 
quite often.  One of our objectives is to share realistic 
conditioning techniques on varying terrain so that our horses can be 
as prepared as they can be when approaching different terrain than 
they might be used to conditioning on.  Part of that objective is to 
do so SAFELY.  It makes sense that if you go to a ride and find that 
the terrain is not quite what you had expected, then low and behold - 
there are your trusty hoof boots you can put on - just for situations 
like that.  Remember, we put as much time and training and 
conditioning into our horses as other endurance riders, and we're not 
so unrealistic as to knowingly put our horses into needless danger.  

Also remember that there are people all over the endurance community 
who have pushed their horses too hard unknowingly - whether they were 
shod, unshod, Arab, mule, etc.  That is how people learn, and trust 
me, they do learn when they make mistakes like that.  We all do.  We 
all know when we push our horse too hard, but that's also part of 
establishing what their boundaries are - one of the ways you can 
establish what your training parameters are at that time, based on 
his overall health and condition.  Do we do that to needlessly harm 
our horse?  No, I think not.  We all make mistakes, and hopefully, we 
all learn from them.

Coming out and making associations with nudist riders is a bit of a 
stretch (although it was a funny one), but let's maintain our 
credibility here and stick with facts we can work with.  If I didn't 
answer any specific questions well enough for you, it was because no 
specifics were presented - just generalizations.  Please let me know 
if I may be of further assistance when you have real questions that 
need answered.

Tracey Ritter
Portland, OR


On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 14:23:38 -0500, Deanna German wrote:
>
>A point that needs to be made is that the clothing optional choice
>of hers
>in no way had potential to harm the horse. The horse was not
>impacted by her
>decision to go au naturel. The nudist was a harmless eccentric.
>
>Can the same be said about the barefoot endurance enthusiasts?
>People, shoes
>aren't the only form of hoof protection out there. How can those of
>you who
>advocate barefoot endurance riding be so darned sure you're not
>harming your
>horse by not providing hoof protection? Your observations? I've seen
>a few
>riders who are oblivious to their horse's condition and it's just
>sad. How
>about some clinical proof?
>
>Deanna (Ohio)


-- 
Tracey Ritter, tracey_ritter@yahoo.com on 11/29/2001