This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > "DeeAnna" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote > > .... Am I the only one besides Brigid who has found that barefoot > Fjords usually do their own hoof trimming? > [...] > My horses run on rocky pasture that has a large, steep hillside and > several steep terrace banks to play on.
My experience is that it all depends on the footing. In California, my Fjords were on gravelled corrals. When I tried to leave them barefoot, their hooves wore down faster than they grew (especially the old mare), until they were "walking on eggshells". It was marginally OK in the winter, when the ground was soft; come summer, they were really ouching around, even in the corrals, "asking" to have their shoes back. Once the ground hardened up, my somewhat flat-footed gelding needed pads under his shoes to keep him from rock-bruising on our trail rides. Something about the mineral content of the soil/gravel and/or the seasonal wet/dry cycle there caused their hooves to become very dry and chippy. Here in Oregon, my Fjords are on nice sandy-loam soil in their corrals (dry lots---they only get 2 hours per day of pasture time, which they spend eating as fast as they can). I'm able to leave them barefoot; they have grown out nice, moist, chip-free hooves. However, they DO need to be trimmed. The farrier stretched his appointment out to 9 weeks last time, and cut over 1/2" of hoof off of one gelding, 3/8" off the other. These guys spend much of their day with one gelding "round penning" the other (at the walk), but that's not enough to wear their hooves down. Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 15 mi SW of Roseburg, Oregon
