Re: [RC] conditioning on old roads - Karen Sullivan
Title: conditioning on old roads
this is true....but a couple of
thoughts....
The steel shoes hitting the ground really amplify
the shock (want me to look up the research paper on this?)......plus the
steel shoe is only supporting the rim of the hoof and keeping the heels
and frog and sole off the ground.
The horse has extremely strong structures inside
the hoof that is designed to absorb shock (the digital cushion and especially
lateral cartlidges). These will be very well developed in a lot of barefoot
horses doe to them correctly landing heel first. a strong, developed hoof
barefoot hoof is well designed to absorb shock.
If the horse is not raised correctly, with
a LOT of running around on rough terrain, the digital cushion will be weak
and this will also be a factor in how they move and land....foals that are stall
or paddock raised, etc. YOu can feel the digital cushion by placing fingers on
frog, and thumb on the area above the heel bulbs and pressing....is it firm and
substancial, or fatty?
I am not going to join the ranks of barefoot
whacko's that claim every horse should be ridden barefoot in all
conditions....however, there is now quite a bit of science and research behind
hoof structures and how nail-on shoes impair their function. Many horses
can still go many years successfully with steel shoes, howevrer, we all have
seen the other side of this (extremely bad shoeing jobs, early lamenesses,
suspected navicular, etc). What I am discovering for myself, is that for
the kind of riding I do, barefoot is working much better for my horses than
steel shoes; hoof boots are a great alternative for certain types of
terrain....and when you aren't riding, the horse has it's feet back on the
ground...
I continue to be amazed at what I see....rode with
gal who has almost 4 year old Quarter Horse (many of these have notoriously bad
and small feet, right?) who has never been shod...Not only do her feet look
correct, but she outwalked my horse on a very narrow, rocky single track trail,
carefully and quickly stepping between the rocks in a smooth manner.....after a
2 hour ride she looked great and was totally comfortable on a very rocky parking
lot.
A year ago I was totally closed minded to any
discussion of barefoot and too stubborn to take any advice. I had to SEE
some barefoot horses after long, rocky rides, how their feet looked (great, no
chips; how they moved), to even open up my mind to this....I also had to really
start looking at shoe jobs and quesitoning them more than usual....
I don't have the endurance credentials to back this
up......but other do! Check out Karen Chaton's record last year using easy
boots over bare feet; Terry Bannister; Sue Walz, etc. There are different
types of barefoot trim styles also....some don't work well for active,
performance horses!
I encourage anyone with an open mind to check out
Linda Cowles site, www.healthyhoof.com
She has very interesting and compelling case
studies...plus the best links page to other good barefoot
sites AND veterinary research I have ever
seen. Linda got me started and it's thebest thing that ever happened to my
horses....
Even barefoot horses feet still hit the ground
so there is still concussion.
Frankly...now all my horses are out of
steel shoes. Doing riding on good footing barefoot; and for hard or
rocky roads I boot (easy boot epics with comfort pads)....and then don't
worry AT ALL about shock or concussion....
