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Hmmm... saw my header, but not the message I posted! Let's try again in case no one else was able to read it, either:
"Just thought I would contribute my experience on this topic, as I
feel it is too valuable to remain silent:
I have been slowly conditioning my 5 y.o. Peruvian Paso gelding for
next year's endurance rides, and we've been doing *all* training
barefoot. This includes a recent 12-15 mile poker ride which included
riding over lots of gravelled forest logging roads and naturally rocky
areas closer to the river that we rode by. No, it's not *quite* the
same as a 25 or 50 miler (much less a 100), but that's what we are
conditioning for and we seek out the rockiest routes we can find to
train on so that by next year, he will not even think twice about
powering forward over whatever the trail throws his way.
He is a HORSE. How many centuries have horses survived without man's
intervention? Now that we have done them the favor of domesticating
them, we need to take responsibility for subjecting them to live in
conditions that Mother Nature never would have dreamed of, such as
living in climate controlled barns, cooped up for hours on end - for
Heaven's sake! When horses began displaying pathologies in their
hooves, man's answer was to put a quarter inch on metal onto their hoof's
wall. Does a horse "feel" in the hoof wall? If they do, it's not
even a fraction of what they feel in the sole and frog area, yet those
areas remain defenseless against the rocks and bumps that come their
way, even with shoes on. Shoeing never did make much sense to me in
that respect, even as a kid.
Anyway, the reason horses can handle the rockiest of roads with a
mere 1/4" of metal along the hoof wall is because the process of nailing
them on, along with the concussions their legs experience when the
steel shoes hit something hard, begins to interfere with the
circulation in their hooves and legs, and lack of circulation after a while
translates into *lack of feeling* in their lower legs. I'm not saying
that they can't feel a darn thing, but being shod has been
scientifically proven to interfere with circulation and feeling in their feet.
Thermographic images taken of a horse's legs (one hoof shod, the
other three without shoes) do a great job at illustrating this. Also, a
shod hoof can't expand out on weight-bearing ground contact like they
are supposed to without shoes on, and that can (although not always)
eventually lead to contracted heels. (I'll provide research resources
shortly.)
The best thing we can do for our horses is to provide them with more
concussive ground (without shoes!) to stimulate their overall hoof
mechanism. Not everyone can have the ideal situation; many people
board their horses, but you can still do little things like add rock
around their water troughs and feeding areas and hand-walk them over
gravel roads (a little at a time at first) so that they can slowly adapt
back to this type of terrain. Keeping them out in pasture (with
additional rock added if needed) 24/7 will improve their circulation by
allowing them to wander around as much as they would during a typical
day out in the wild. Provide them with nothing fancier than a
three-sided shelter so that they can make use of it should they decide they
need it. Our horses often know what's best for them, regardless of
how much it might pain us to hear it!
This is a lifestyle change, not a fad. I have personally seen horses
who have foundered or who have been so navicular that they were
declared unusable that are now running around their pasture and being
ridden, just from a slow, steady progression of doing the right trimming,
providing the right environment, and providing the necessary
*patience* that is needed to overcome our urges for immediate gratification
so that these horses can have years of soundness and use ahead of
them. I will be happy to provide you with one gal's name and e-mail
address who had these horses so that she can share with you her
experiences herself.
If you would like to do additional research, I highly recommend going
to the following website to access their links and extensive database
of information:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturalhorsetrim
I have been researching these methods and techniques for about six
months now, and attended a three-day Strasser clinic given by Sabine
Kells this past weekend at which we were able to trim cadaver feet and
disect a few hooves (a rough cross-section!) and it was quite amazing
to see how splendidly everything in the hoof is *supposed* to work
before we go screw everything up by trying to "help" our horses! We
learned trimming techniques, husbandry techniques, etc. that will help
our horses keep their hooves in optimum shape naturally without the
need for feed additives, lotions, cremes, sprays, etc. Quite a few
folks who attended this came in thinking they knew everything there is
to know about horses (including a cocky "know-it-all" farrier), but
everyone who left on Monday came back home with a lot more knowledge
than they walked in with. Educating yourself and being open to giving
these techniques an honest try is the best thing anyone can ever do.
Best of luck to you few "pioneers" out there who are conditioning
your horses for endurance, barefoot-style! By having more and more
barefoot horses complete these rides happy and healthy, we can slowly
convince the masses that it is indeed possible.
Kindest Regards,
Tracey Ritter, Portland OR"
"We should have a great many fewer disputes in the world if words were taken for what they are, the signs of our ideas only, and not for things themselves."
-Locke, Essay on Human Understanding
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