This message is from: "Gail Russell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >>I pulled his shoes, let his feet toughen up, during the dry >>months here. I took him out on the rocks and hard ground. I could tell he >>was not really comfortable on rough ground as he seemed unsure of where he >>wanted to place his feet
On rocky ground, horses may well need boots. Especially if they have not had time to adapt to their barefoot condition. And, there just are times when horses do need some foot protection. But that does not mean it is good for a horse to have shoes on 24/7, and to have his foot trimmed to accommodate a flat iron horseshoe when his feet were meant to wear off at the edges. As my regular farrier has said, "all horses should go barefoot" because shoeing casts in iron a farrier's mistakes. There is also a concern with shoes that it does not allow the hoof to move normally, which, in turn, causes lack of blood flow to the hoof structures, and potential distortion of the hoof capsule. Using boots to protect the feet is not impossible. There are many endurance champions who use Easy Boots successfully on 100 mile rides. Apparently Clinton Anderson is trying to get a hoof boot made that duplicates the function of reining horse "sliders" on the back feet. I just recently saw a version of the new EasyBoot Epics that are obviously much easier to put on and off, and require no vetwrapping, etc. And, Easyboots allow you to pad a horse's feet when needed, or add studs or high traction soles for rocky or paved conditions Whether they fit well on all hoof shapes, I do not yet know. The fact that barefoot horses may need boots at times is not a "failure" of barefoot trimming. It is just a different way of allowing the horse to have a more normal hoof, and still protect the horse's feet when necessary. >I see several posts to the list on barefoot trimming. I would be careful >with this.Good farriers are very hard to find, it is hard work,and takes time. > Trimming a horses hoof is very easy. 5 minutes of work, and 15 minutes of BS talk. There is a difference between paring off the hooves flat, with a hoof knife, and using a rasp or nippers to roll the foot edges to discourage flares and promote a healthy concave sole. The latter takes more time. Rolling the edge, carefully adjusting heel height, and knowing when to remove shedding sole (and no more) takes observation, thought and skill. If you look at www.healthyhoof.com you will see evidence of someone who is taking a careful scientific approach to her work. She could still be wrong in her conclusions, but you cannot accuse her of making easy money by going into barefoot shoeing. Jerrell Friz is correct that a barefoot trimmer can still do damage. Some versions of barefoot trimming apparently do a lot of aggressive sole trimming, which I can see could be dangerous in the long run. It still takes a knowledgeable person to do the trimming. For what it is worth, I hope to convince my regular farrier to learn more about barefoot trimming procedures, in hopes of keeping him on as my farrier. The barefoot trimmer I am working with is not opposed to this plan. For now, she and I are working with two of our eight horses to get a start, and to train me to do most of my own trimming on these two. If that works out well, we will move on to the others. Gail The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
