> "Alison Barr" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Why not leave them barefoot? Fj does alot of work in the summer, and > even though the barn where we were boarding was all gravel, he never > went lame or had his feet wear down.
When I bought each of our Fjords, I tried letting him/her go barefoot the first year. They were OK during the winter (very rainy, hence soft ground). However, when the rains stopped, and the ground dried up, each started ouch-ing around, and wore his/her feet down to nothing. In this part of California, the soils are heavy clay. All of our rainfall comes in the winter; in the summer, we revert to "desert", and that clay soil dries into somewhat lumpy "concrete". Our roads are packed gravel, and although we have trails nearby, we have to ride at least a mile on gravel getting there and back. In the summer, the horses we ride regularly have to wear pads with their shoes, and even the retired mare must be kept shod---just ponying her to/from pasture wears her hooves off faster than she can grow them! Anyway, different climates/soils lead to different management practices. Which is why it's nice to know (in very general terms) where each person lives---that will affect the advice she/he gives or needs! Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 30 mi SSE of San Francisco, Calif. -------
