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[RC] Forced to go without shoes - Catfish DanielsRecently there was a lot of discussion about going bare (without shoes). With me always having had shoes on my horses, I admit that I pretty much pressed the "delete" button when it came to reading those posts. Well, my young mare is having some pretty bad foot problems. Basically, she's not growing any hoof. It's been 9 weeks since her last shoing, and today my farrier, who I really consider very knowledgable, said that he absolutely had no hoof to work with. He could only pull the shoes and recommend that I leave her in a soft pen for at least the next 6-8 months. His theory, no shoes=more stimulation and blood flow=better growth of the hoof wall.I bought this mare last November and realized that she had a low heel, but otherwise nice, wide and large strong appearing hoofs. So I supplemented with Biotin. Her hoof growth did not improve, which made the next two shoing jobs very difficult. Today there was absolutely nothing to work with and my farrier said that she will never have the feet to support what I'm asking her to do. He recommended for me to sell her to somebody that is not going to do endurance. She is an ex-race horse and an incredible athlete. She even did a slow 50 already with great vet scores, and she's only 5 years old. We've put on a lot of training miles already, LOTS of training miles. Her body is extremely athletic with awsome confirmation and bloodlines. What I'm getting at is that I have a hard time giving up my endurance dreams with her. Now, I truly believe that sometimes it is best for the horse not to push the issue when it isn't suitable for the sport. But before I even think about going that route, I would really appreciate ANY input anybody has in regards to that. Terry Banister, if you read this, I know you are an advocate for going bare (your horse, of course). I've seen you at 20 Mule and your horse's feet looked awsome. Right now my mare is down to absolutely NO heel. This also leads me to the question of all the discussions recently, about boots people use in that 6-8 month transition period. What are the best boots out there for the purpose of training rides - pros and cons, etc. I know I'm asking a whole lot in this one e-mail, but...ANY amount of input is greatly appreciated. Thanks. Catfish _________________________________________________________________ Tax headache? MSN Money provides relief with tax tips, tools, IRS forms and more! http://moneycentral.msn.com/tax/workshop/welcome.asp ============================================================ There is no better way to see the world than from the back of a horse. ~ Teddy Roosevelt ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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