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[RC] Barefoot at Gator Run - Darolyn Butler-Dial1 21 04 Hi Folks, All the barefoot talk & questions has been really interesting. Glad to see this interchange again. My horses have a pretty nice success story from last weekend at the Gator Run in Florida. First off, hats off to Mike & Connie Caudill for putting on a class act ride. Trails were marked very well, Nancy did her normal great timing job and vets were wonderful. Things backed up a time or so, but for close to 100 riders on day II & III we thought it went well. Awards were ample and generous. The warm weather (relatively speaking) was delightful and the trail conditions were perfect. Day I is mainly road which accounted for the 3:31 55 miler won by Debbie Foty, then the subsequent days slowed the time a bit as more of the trails were in the swampy, but pleasant forest, and no, no one spotted an Alligator this year. Our "Bare Foot" horses had a hay day. I swear they have a metabolic advantage with those four little hearts in their feet working much easier being "bare" than shod. Two of our group were Top Ten on Day I, (there may have been other "barefooters" than I was not aware of), Four of us on Day II, (the winning 30 miler was barefoot too), and Five of us on day III. That included a Va. Horse. My neat little mare, DJB Tiffany, (rescued from a country horse sale two years ago) won the Pioneer Award by over 30 minutes & most impressively, the BC award on Her 3rd Day while running against fresh horses. Daniel Grande, our guest from Brazil, put in a brilliant performance on DJB Abednigo, and ended up 4th in the Pioneer Standings. Both of these horses were literally pulling our arms out that last day, simply defying us to go the medium pace we had predicted we would do on the 3rd day. Vicki Hudson's barefoot mares put in awesome performances too. DJB Ninety Proof, a.k.a. Belle, finished 5th & 4th, and Kolahni won (tied with Daniel) on Day III. I must confess, our BC scores were all within 2 points of each other. Our top times ranged from 3:55 to 4:21 for the three days. I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with Martha Olivo, whom I consider to be one of the best natural trimmers and teachers in the United States, over the holidays. She did a two-day clinic at my place and two other mini-clinics at the Houston Mounted Police Dept. That's right, the mounted police!!!! There are two barefoot horses down there now. I watched Martha do three different dissections of cadaver hooves and increased my knowledge of how the foot works ten-fold. I'm not sure Martha has an equal when it comes to dissecting a hoof and explaining how all the parts work. It was sure an eye opener for me. And of course, convinced me more than ever that the health of a barefoot horse is much superior to his shod counterpart. She has developed a new teaching tool that "graphs" the horse's foot so even a "hoof newbie" can figure out what needs to be done to the hoof. & this is where I once again, caution everyone against just going out & yanking those shoes and expecting it to work. These are the three things that one has to have to expect success: #1 the correct physiological trim, #2 movement (turnout 24/7), and hooves immersed in water with some degree of regularity. I cannot encourage you guys enough to make time in your life to attend one of her clinics. If she is not having one near you, heck fire, contact her manager & schedule one yourself. I guarantee, it will change your life and your horse's life. I ended up doing a pretty serious touch up (trim) on 7 of the 8 horses that we took to Fl. on Wednesday before the ride. I just didn't have time b4 we left. I used the new method that Martha has introduced. (I've been trimming for 3 years now but this is a bit of a new twist). Yes, I know, the sandy roads are pretty forgiving in Fl., but even then, 155 miles in just over 12 hours? Their feet all looked beautiful afterward. Smooth and supple. No chips, breakage, or over wear. I swear they were growing as fast as they were wearing. The true "barefooters" don't wrap or poultice, and there was no stocking up on these horses... even the 3 day ones. They looked good Sunday and even after an almost straight through haul back to Texas (850 miles) they hit the ground at a big trot to get back to their pastures on Monday morning. All I can say is check out Martha's web site, www.marthaolivo.com <http://www.Marthaolivo.com > or go to mine and check all the barefoot links that I have listed. Its such an incredible education that you, as a horse owner, should not pass up. Ladies, it is so liberating to be able to spot a problem with a foot or the way a horse is traveling, just go back to the barn, pull out your rasp and fix that sucker. Read my whole "barefoot" adventure on my web page. I'm anxious to take a look at the Boa boots, but Martha is also supposing to have a new "hoof protection" boot out soon too. Yes, I'm afraid on the really bad rocks, I have to have some protection. Someday perhaps, if I am able to train on rocks, that will change too. Hope everyone is having a great year and getting rid of those iron shoes. Dare Darolyn Butler-Dial & Mark Dial CYPRESS TRAILS EQUESTRIAN CENTER & HORSEMAN VIDEO SHOWCASE Proven Endurance Horses for Sale or Lease. Adventure Trail Rides * Boarding * Training*Lessons *Parties Represents: Sharon Saare Saddles, Professional Choice, Advanced Biological Concepts, & KM (Human Electrolytes) ADVOCATE :THE WHOLE HORSE TRIM (Barefootin") 21415 Cypresswood Dr. Humble, Texas 77338 Ph: 281 446 7232 Fax 281 446 0113 Toll Free (800) 228 8768 e mail: darolyn@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:darolyn@xxxxxxxxxx> www.horseridingfun.com <<attachment: winmail.dat>>
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