RE: [RC] [RC] Forced to go without shoes - terry banister
Why, thank you, Catfish. I didn't know you had noticed his feet since you
passed us so quickly at 20 Mule Team :-)
Actually, I am having trouble keeping enough hoof on my horse too - the
coyotes keep chewing on them. They must like the taste of all that Biotin
I've been feeding, or they are just doing it for the fun of it.
They can't actually be hungry, because they can eat all the hundreds of
bunny rabbits that have left a carpet of turds in the yard and corrals. But
maybe the hawks, owls and bats are wanting to eat those bunnies so and they
are attacking the coyotes. Anyway, I have had to resort to putting Boa
Boots with steel cleats on my horse just for sleeping, so the coyotes can't
get to his feet. Even the big Labrador Retreiver that lives out in the
pasture across the street knows he is vulnerable to these coyote packs, so
he must constantly bark to scare them off. He never stops barking, barking.
If I am ever able to hear the crickets and frogs at night again, I will know
the coyotes have finally gotten that poor dog.
And your farrier was on the right track when he said your horse's feet need
movement and stimulation to increase blood flow. (Biotin might help a horse
with brittle walls or a deficiency of some kind.)
I don't know what your horse lives in, but standing alone in a pipe corral
won't do it. Pasture is ideal, but if not available, it would be good if
the horse can live in something large enough to hold at least one other
horse, so they might move each other around.
Your farrier was not right about the "soft" footing, however. The soles and
heels need to toughen and callous on firm footing. The hooves will adapt to
whateve kind of footing they live on. Do get a copy of Jamie Jackson and
Pete Ramey's books (Tribe Equus website). They also show how to do the kind
and frequency (more often than 9 weeks!) of trim your horse will need, which
is not the same "pasture" trim that is done for shoeing.
Anyway, remember E-Bey's feet have never had shoes. So your farrier was
being realistic about transitioning your horse from shoes to barefoot while
also trying to maintain an endurance agenda. It can take almost a year for
new hooves to grow out, and riding with hoof boots is a good way to keep on
trucking. But I have tried nearly every kind of boot on the market, and
none of them is perfect all the time, although the Boa Boots might change
all that.
But applying boots when tacking up, and checking on them at the vet stops,
is just one more thing to add to the whole routine. It has been worth it to
me, but you may find you do not want to bother.
<html><P><IMG height=12 src="http://graphics.hotmail.com/emsmiled.gif";
width=12> Happy Trails!</P>
<P>Terry</P>
<DIV></DIV></html>
>From: "Catfish Daniels" <catfishdaniels@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [RC] Forced to go without shoes
>Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 14:29:41 -0700
>
>Recently 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
>
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