Re: Barefoot horses and naked riders

[Deanna German <finishis2win@columbus.rr.com>]

on 11/29/01 1:46 PM, Tracey Ritter at tracey_ritter@yahoo.com wrote:
 
> No one - and I do mean no one - is advocating the complete lack of
> hoof protection

Tracey, I must say that your posts to RC on this subject are a refreshing
blast of fresh analytical and critcal thought, something that is sorely
missing from most of the barefoot advocate contributions which typically go
something like "my horse has never been shod and did that 25 mile LD early
in the summer just fine."

My only exposure to endurance barefoot advocates is on RC and there does
seem to be a presence of those whose first choice is never to provide hoof
protection no matter. When there is admission of providing hoof protection,
it's almost apologetic, as if the barefoot advocate is not waving the flag
high enough. 


> 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.

Can you condense it here and enlighten me?

 
> 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.

Quantitaive information. Perhaps a before and after exam showing a
comparison of factors like heat, pain and inflammation. I'm not a clinician,
so I don't know what tools or tests are available, but I want something more
than observation. Blood work to measure levels of substances that are
produced when the animal is in pain or has an injury. I read recently that
there is an effort underway to create a fecal exam to measure the amount of
an enzyme or some such that is created when a horse is in pain.

 
> 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.  

And it makes sense to have trained the horse to accept such hoof protection
and for the handler to be able to apply the hoof protection correctly and
quickly since ride conditions can change with the weather.


> 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.

There's a bank of knowledge out there about gait abberations (as well as
pain and inflamation) caused by hoof and leg pain attributed to poor footing
and hoof wear. So yeah, by choosing not to provide appropriate hoof
protection, the rider is most certainly knowingly putting their horse 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.

Oh yes, but isn't it better to learn without putting the animal at risk?
There is so much less about metabolics that is understood as compared to the
equine foot. There is so little useful information to be able to tell what's
going on internally with a horse and the "fixes" sometimes aren't well
understood either. With the hoof it's pretty easy: get (or be) a good
farrier, provide the appropriate protection.
 

> We all know when we push our horse too hard...

I don't think some people do.


> Coming out and making associations with nudist riders is a bit of a
> stretch 

Then you completely missed my point. The nudist choice of going without is
not unlike the barefoot advocate's choice of going without. The difference
is that the nudist's horse does not have the potential to suffer because of
her decision.


> (although it was a funny one), but let's maintain our
> credibility here and stick with facts we can work with.... Please let me know
> if I may be of further assistance when you have real questions that
> need answered.

Oh Tracey, you were doing so well in maintaining your helpful, dettached
tone until this last paragraph. I think I've presented some real questions
that need to be answered, and not necessarily by you.

Deanna (Ohio)