Ridecamp: [RC] Missing Shoe

K S SWIGART katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
You should not ride your horse with one shoe on and one shoe 
off unless you have absolutely no other choice (i.e. to get 
back to the barn, but even then, I would probably get off the
horse and walk if it were going to be a long ways).

I certainly wouldn't start a ride that way.

Try it yourself and see why.

The weight of the shoe (unless you are wearing heavy boots) is
not particularly relevant (although not totally irrelevant
either and would probably become more relevant if you did it
for 20 miles).

The thickness of the sole that makes one leg longer than the 
other IS relevant, unless you are moving in deep footing where
both feet sink in the same amount whether you have a shoe on 
or not, and you will find it relevant from the first step.  It
will make you "crooked."

The fact that one foot is protected and the other is not is 
HUGELY relevant; it won't take you very long before you start
significantly favoring (i.e. using it more) the foot that is 
protected, unless you are going in such soft footing that you
can't tell the difference.

So...if you are going to be riding in deep sand, it may not
matter all that much (except for the weight of the shoe), other-
wise, riding with one shoe on and one shoe off for any extended
period of time (20 miles counts as that in my book), is going
to make your horse crooked.

If you don't know how to take a shoe off (or have the right tools
for it), then _I_ would put an EasyBoot on the bare foot.  If 
I didn't have an EasyBoot, I just wouldn't take the horse out 
for a 20 mile ride.

Is the horse going to stay crooked for its whole life by being
ridden one day without a shoe?  Probably not, but the horse is
probably going to be pretty uncomfortable during the ride.

Why would I do that to my horse unless I absolutely had to (i.e.
there was no other way to get him home)?

kat
Orange County, Calif.


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