Barefoot/Pasture

["Kathy Mayeda" <Kathy_Mayeda@atce.com>]

Title: Barefoot/Pasture

Judy – my horse is shod and shares pasture in a boarding situation with upwards of 25 horses.  He’s been at Portola Valley in 25 acre pasture  and San Jose in 200+ acre pasture.

There is one place that I paddock boarded at that wouldn’t allow back shoes on pasture horses.  Someone there was on a quest to find plastic or rubber shoes but I guess nobody cared that much.

Of all the years that I have my horse in pasture, there has never been an injury due to kicking with shod hooves.  Lot of bites and lots of unexplained wounds, but nothing life threatening.  A horse in a padded stall could find a way to get injured!

All I could say, is good luck in figuring it out.  I obviously didn’t care to leave my horse unshod in pasture where I paddock boarded.  They were $30 a month more than the neighboring boarding pasture anyway.

K