Are the barefoot advocates aware that there
is a similar movement for humans? Check out http://www.runningbarefoot.org/
How many of you are committed to barefoot for yourselves or is it only for your
horses? No judgment- just curious. Right now my horses have 34 shod
feet, 118 bare feet. My husband is wearing boots and I have socks on. No
commitments. Libby
-----Original Message----- From:
ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Barbara
McCrary Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2005 3:14 PM To:
AERCMembersForum-moderator@xxxxxxxxxxxx; RIDECAMP Subject: [RC]
Barefoot riding
When I bought my horse 2-1/2 years ago, he came from eastern Montana
where the footing was relatively sandy, and he had not been shod in all his
six years of life. He had, and still has, beautiful feet, but a short
time of riding in our shale hills and mountains and he became sore. He's been
in shoes ever since. It would have been nice if I didn't have to have
him shod, but he (and other horses we've had or have) cannot ride sound in
this country without shoes. It's not like granite, which is hard and
abrasive, it's flat plates of shale, which exfoliate from the base rock. These
pieces of shale are somewhat sharp. We don't need pads, but we do need
shoes. I remember back about 40 years ago on one of our packtrips into
the Sierras, when a ranger came down the trail from behind us, and
her horse was bare-footed on all that harsh, abrasive granite. I was
impressed.
