re: barefoot

[Teresa Van Hove <vanhove@ucar.edu>]

> Lisa LeChatton
> Garland, Tx wrote


>Some Arabs do fine barefoot on any terrain because the rider knows how to 
>ride over rough terrain and/or the horse is conditioned. 

Cant agree: Sure some horses could do fine on any terrain IF allowed to walk. But
generally endurance rides will be faster paced than a walk. There are rides that
should not be done barefoot by almost any horse. Part of being a good horseperson
as an endurance rider is finding a good hoof protection solution for your horse;
whether that means finding and using a good farrier; using easyboots, or sticking
to rides that barefoot horses can handle.  

>Also, a crappy shoeing job is worse than no shoes. 

 A crappy fitting saddle is more likely to sore a horse's back than going bareback
too; but there's not many folks advocating that everyone ride bareback because of
this - we understand that for most folks a good, well fitting saddle is the best
solution; and if someone has a saddle fit problem they are generally told to go to
a good saddle fitter and get a saddle that fits; not to switch to riding
bareback.   

>Shoeing is an owner/rider decision specific to the horse. It would really 
>suck if someone made it a rule to shoe in a certain manner because of an 
>inflated opinion.
>Get over it.

YES, DO get over it!
If RM thinks their ride requires hoof protection then USE some. There are options
to shoes in this day and age; no one ever has to nail shoes on a horse if they
dont care to, and there are rides that can be comfortably completed by horses who
are entirely barefoot; if you cant stand to put ANYTHING on your horses feet stick
to those rides. Dont insist on being allowed rules exceptions when RM has a rule
requiring hoof protection- trust me RM does not go to the extra trouble of having
ride specific rules just to be nit picky or to try to prove a point.  
 

Teresa Van Hove,
AERC # M17417 and Long X RM (99-01) (no hoof protection rule) 

P.S.  The funny thing about this debate is that I think most endurance riders do
not believe in shoeing "just to shoe"  Many, many of us have our horses barefoot
in our off seasons (winter here in Colo) and don't shoe young horses until they're
doing enough miles that extra hoof protection is a good idea if not an absolute
neccessity. 

My post for the month, back to lurking