Re: barefoot horses

["Robyn Levash" <questarabians@inreach.com>]

Soaking the feet with water and apple cider vinegar ( 1 gal water to 1 cup
of apple cider vinegar) 15 minutes a day, does wonders for the barefoot (or
shod foot) hoof that chips
easily or has cracks. The apple cider vinegar neutrilizes the foot,and helps
to keep the foot more pliable. You'd be absolutely amazed at how much the
feet soak up (especially around the coronet band). Another alternative, at
the bare minimum, is digging out a water pool around the horse's water tub
so their feet can soak ( the pool needs to be deep up enough to cover the
coronet band) while they take a drink. You can use sand or small peddles to
prevent the pool from becoming muddy. You want to try to mimic that of  a
horse that stands in a river or pond to drink.
Most people do not realize the extreme importance pysiologically,and for the
optimum health of the feet to soak.
Think about this for a minute. Wild living horses spend some time each day
in a body of water. The horses do not go into the water because they know
their hooves need to absorb moisture: they go into the water to drink. While
there  they cool off, play, etc. The exposure of the hooves to water is a
side effect, but one which the hooves have been accustomed to (and dependant
upon) over millions of years. The absorption of water prevents the hooves
from drying out and keeps them elastic and supple.

In the hoof , the horn containing the most water (frog, bulb, white line)
dries out the easiest and the quickest. If the white line dries out, it
loses volume: that is it shrinks, contracting the whole foot with it. (For
example, a slice of hoof trimmed off by nippers will within a matter of
days, shrink to virtually half it's size.) Lack of water also causes
decreased hoof elasticity, which also hampers hoof mechanism.
 I suppose if daily exposure to water was not so important to the horse's
feet, then the horse would have been designed differently . . perhaps with
rubber feet.
Robyn

> him out for a couple of short rides and seeing the bits of hoof
> flaking off.

----- Original Message -----
From: <guest@endurance.net>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Friday, July 06, 2001 8:13 AM
Subject: RC: barefoot horses


> Lysane lysanec@yahoo.ca
> I think that going barefoot also
> depends on the horse you have to work with. While good feet
> is an important part of the overall package when looking
> at a potential endurance horse, most people do not choose a
> horse for the purpose of keeping it barefoot. Therefore,
> if the overall body, leg and hoof conformation,attitude,
> etc. of the horse
> is acceptable and to the liking of the buyer,
> then the person will usually buy it. You can try to change
> hoof problems with
> nutrition, supplements and good farrier/shoeing program, etc.
> and/or live with it.
> In the area where I ride most often, the trails are mostly dirt, grass
> and sand with a minimum of rocks. There are short portions
> where I must
> ride on pavement. My horse, himself, is on grass pasture 24/7.
> Not a very stressful environment for hooves,
> yet I must shoe my horse or face not being able to ride when my horses
> hooves get too short. He is a Paint with 3 white hooves and 1 hoof that is
> white with a black stripe (Yes, I know the saying about 4 white hooves!:)
> His hooves wear out very quickly, and chip and are very dry.
> He probably would
> benefit from hoof supplements, but it is not feasible at the moment
> to be feeding him these every day since he is out in very large pasture
> and
> horses at barn where I keep him are not brought in every day.
> When I buy my next horse, I will definitely try to find
> one like him, but with better quality hooves!
> For now, I put up
> with having to shoe him all the time, as long as I want
> to ride him.
> Just a thought: It was difficult to tell though that
> he had bad feet because
> when I went to see him before buying him, he had perfectly
> trimmed, nice looking feet with no shoes on. I did not find out
> until later that he had been inside most of the winter and
> had no opportunity to develop chips. I found out after taking
> him out for a couple of short rides and seeing the bits of hoof
> flaking off.
> Lysane
>
>
>
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