This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > On to my question... how many of you keep your Fjords barefoot? Were they > shod when you bought them? Did you have to go through a transitional period > with no riding, or using boots? Who trims: you, a traditional farrier, or a > natural hoof care provider (someone who trims/advocates natural hoof care and > does not apply shoes)? If you trim yourself, how do you do it and what > guidelines do you follow? Any helpful hints, or problems you've encountered?
Each of my 3 Fjords came in barefoot, but in the autumn and with nail holes showing that they had worn shoes that summer. I tried keeping each barefoot---it worked fine the first winter, but as soon as the ground hardened up, each got ouchy, and wore off hoof faster than it grew. A major factor in this was the soils where I lived in California---heavy clay that was foot-deep snot in the winter and lumpy concrete in the summer, with a transition period of about 3 days, usually in late April. In order to avoid mud-caused hoof problems in the winter, I gravelled all of my corrals. Plus, much of our riding was on our gravelled road (had to ride at least a mile on gravel to get to trails---it was a narrow, steep road, which had no shoulders). Anyway, I ended up keeping all of them shod, year-round. Shoes worked, but 2 of my 3 developed thin hoof walls that chipped too easily. When I moved to Oregon, my new farrier was relieved to hear that I wanted to try keeping them barefoot---he said he would have had trouble attaching shoes, particularly to my old mare. Some combination of the soils (sandy loam, so the corrals weren't gravelled), hay (cut at a better stage, and with a little clover), and supplements (the area is selenium deficient, so the standard supplements contain extra) here agree with them. All of their hooves improved, although the old mare still grew hoof slowly. The geldings continue to go barefoot, although they walk carefully across any gravelled roads on their way to pasture---we don't ride much any more. I have never trimmed my Fjords, although I have always done all of the trimming on my donkey (who has never been shod). For her, I just use a hoof rasp, once every week or two---basically "augmenting" her natural wear a little. My standard has been photos that I took of donkey hooves, just after her breeders had trimmed their herd. Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 15 mi SW of Roseburg, Oregon
