This message is from: "Lola Lahr" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Good for you!! I am a firm believer in barefoot. I will not go into all of my stories but I do want to share that my 2 Ford mares have both really changed since going barefoot. I had the same experiences you did after I bought my first one, wouldn't canter unless absolutely no other choice was available -even with the other horses in the pasture- she has a very fast trot and she relied on it! Her soles were flat, long toes, the whole story. Now she loves to canter and plays like the other horses. She doesn't stumble on the trails, I rode her on a gravel trail for 3+ hours last weekend and not one "gimpy" step. My other one came with shoes on -she had to be sedated to get them on the last few times according to her owner. I had her shoes pulled, and she has been barefoot for about 6 months now and moves like a horse who is much younger than her 24 years, cantering for fun and playing with the other horses. If I need to, I use hoof boots, but the longer they are barefoot, the thicker and more concave the soles get, the less I have to use boots. Don't get me started on my Arab mare with a "club" foot, 6 years of chronic foot problems, who is now sound for 1 1/2 yrs and under saddle for the first time in 3 years. The Strasser trim did not work well for her, but 18 months of the "Ramey" method sure did! And her foot doesn't look clubbed any more - hmm. Hang in there. The hardest thing is waiting for everything to grow in the way it is supposed to, but it is sure worth it! My 8 barefoot horses can go about 12 weeks now without a major trim, and I have no cracks, chips, thrush, etc. We're lovin' it!
On 2/22/07, Gail Russell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > This message is from: "Gail Russell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Well, I have just taken the plunge to do barefoot trimming with Gunthar > and > Rom. I decided to do it with Gunthar because his soles are so flat, and I > had seen barefoot trimming turn my friend's bad-footed off the track TB > into > a concave-soled shoeless trail horse. So.I took Gunthar over yesterday to > be done. Linda Cowles (www.healthyhoof.com <http://www.healthyhoof.com/> > ) > pointed out that Gunthar had long toes, and a flare that made the front > slope of his hoof look like a ski slope (not terrible..more like the > DoubleDiamond run than the Bunny Hill). She trimmed him and I put him out > in the arena and moved him around a bit. It was amazing. My clumsy > Gunthar > was doing flying lead changes, which is NOT like him. He normally canters > only as a last resort, and when he does, he travels with his nose down, in > a > sort of bucking position, that looks like he is trying to find his > balance. > (His head moves as though he is trying to stir water in a bucket on the > ground..not graceful at the canter.) His trot even looked better. It > used > to be a more rounded baroque type look, but now is a much smoother, > flowing > trot. Who knows, maybe he will feel so much better that he will not > spook. > ??? > > > > After that, I decided I should really have Rom done. I brought him up, > and > Linda immediately pointed out that his toes were long, and that he was > slapping his feet down because his toes were long. This confirmed what I > had noticed. He had been stumbling badly at a WALK on trails, even > shortly > after a trim, and I had thought his toes were long. I had asked my > farrier > about it, and he saw nothing wrong. This is a farrier who is very, very > good, so I took his word for it. When I had Linda trim him, Rom had JUST > had his farrier trim him a week and a half before. I had not noticed him > stumbling as yet, but I do believe it would have happened very soon. > > > > So..we will see how this works out. > > > > One thing Linda used was a rolling mechanics stool (with a tool tray > below). > She buys it at Harbor Freight for $10 on sale, or $25 regularly. I could > not find it in their catalog. What she has looks somewhat like this > > http://www.amazon.com/Larin-LRS-4-Roller-Seat-Tool/dp/B000FAMO4A/sr=1-48/qid > =1172174511/ref=sr_1_48/002-6671444-8211216?ie=UTF8 > < > http://www.amazon.com/Larin-LRS-4-Roller-Seat-Tool/dp/B000FAMO4A/sr=1-48/qi > d=1172174511/ref=sr_1_48/002-6671444-8211216?ie=UTF8&s=automotive> > &s=automotive only, maybe with slightly bigger wheels. She sits on it > and > holds the horse's hoof, cannon bone and knee in her lap. The horses seems > to love it. It looks dangerous to me, but the horses settled really well, > to the point where we did not even have to hold the leads. > > > > Linda's website is AWESOME. Read her case studies, and the articles she > suggests to read along with them. She used to be a salesperson for a dot > com company. > > > > What Linda is doing is NOT the Strasser method. She is not carving away > sole. > > > > Here is a mini-testimonial from a friend of mine re barefoot trimming: I > too am doing bare foot trimming. We (Sara, Barb, and I) had a horse > measuring party last Monday at our place. We measured the bare foot in > every direction as recommended by easy care and will buy easy boots at the > convention. Barbara's horse was stumbling terrible and cranky, short > strided, etc. and when she went to bare foot trimming he stopped > stumbling, > less cranky, and his stride improved dramatically..unbelievable! (This > friend is an endurance rider.) > > > > One point Linda makes is that barefoot trimming is a commitment to going > without shoes because it is not easy to put shoes on a foot with rolled > edges. She points out, and this is logical, that farriers are taught to > trim a foot in such a way that a shoe could be put on it. (While my > farrier > does nip a bit off the front of the toes on my barefoot horses, he > generally > just makes the bottom of the foot a smooth plane). The good news is that > the Easy Boot Epics appear much easier to put on and off. It appears that > the "gator" acts as an additional mechanism for holding the boot on, so > they > do not have to be fitted quite as tight as the normal Easy Boots did. > > > > > > Soon, we hope Gunthar's feet get to go on the website. I will let you > know > how this works out. I bought a green fiberglass HoofJack because I think > the metal (cheaper ones) are not as safe. Will keep you posted. > > > > Gail > > The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: > http://tinyurl.com/rcepw The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
