barefoot and endurance

["Tina Hicks" <tina@autoairbagcovers.com>]

Like some of you here I have recently "discovered" the world of 
barefootedness (is that even a word??) on a working horse. Up until 
a few months ago I would have stood by the "hey gotta be shod to 
work hard". Never dreamed of having a horse barefoot unless they 
weren't being ridden at all. It's not that I didn't believe in it - it just had 
never crossed my mind. If You Ride Then You Shoe - right? 
Well...maybe.

After doing some research on the same sites Darolyn has 
mentioned and having a farrier that's an advocate of barefoot 
if/when you can, I'm trying it.

He has several clients riding regularly and hard (though not 
endurance riding) on barefoot horses on rocky, mountain terrain. 
The hooves on these horses have gotten so tough he has to pull out 
the grinder to trim them. These people trot and canter over very 
rocky terrain but not, granted, for 50 or 100 miles and certainly not 
the equivalent of 50 miles 2 weekends a month like some on the list 
are able to manage.

Could these horses or mine or yours do 100s and multi-days 
barefoot? Dunno - probably not - but it's not an all or none 
proposition. Just because you try it doesn't mean you have to leave 
your horse barefoot for life :). 

And just because you choose for your horse to go without shoes 
doesn't mean you have banish all manner of foot protection - all of 
the barefoot sites I have found recommend some foot protection for 
extreme riding.

I would certainly call this crazy sport extreme riding :)

I intend to try keeping my horse barefoot (to include putting eboots 
over bare feet) and see what happens as I condition and go to rides. 
I'll keep you posted. If I have problems or don't like it for some 
reason I'll put shoes back on, at least when I need to, but until then 
I'm liking those cheap-o non-shoeing bills :))

Tina and the barefoot for now clan