Re: Darolyn & Barefootin'

[Tara Wheeler <harpy@io.com>]

Title: Re: Darolyn & Barefootin'

> Question, not a flame. 
>
> Easy boots will put the horse's break over point as defined by the easy boot, pretty much independent of what the hoof or shoe looks like. Hence they will change the break over of the foot. Isn't that counter to what you are looking for as part of the "barefoot" trim? If you have to switch back and forth to easy boots doesn't that defeat the purpose of what you are trying to do? 
>
> Truman 

My purpose is to have non-hurting horses.  I don't claim to adhere to any 'hoof religion'.

If I had a farrier in my area who I could trust on any sort of a regular basis, I'd probably shoe.  As it is, I trim and use easyboots when necessary (which is pretty rare, as there are a lot of great places to ride where you don't need any kind of shoes).  My property is blackland prairie, with very few rocks.  When it gets wet (say half an inch of rain, or at the bottom of the ponds) the gumbo mud sucks the shoes right off my horse's feet.  So, I'd rather have barefoot horses, than horses that might suck a shoe partially off and hurt themselves with it.

And as for the mustang analogy; the mustangs I saw in Nevada were booking across hard scrabble and rock.  They didn't look lame (I didn't get to see them for very long. . .), they weren't carrying riders, and they weren't on any sort of feeding program either.  They've also got an awful lot of draft horse in their backgrounds, which I'm told is a softer foot than your average Arabian.  Nature v/s nurture, which is why you should ease into things with your horse and see what works on a horse by horse basis.

Everything's a trade-off.  I'd like to go as natural as I can.  

However, I use electrolytes, feed a lot of fat, and put a blanket on my horse when it's tied to the trailer all night.  I also vaccinate,  use Parelli methods to train, and worm my horses regularly.

Whatever works.  What works for you?  Share with the class, I might change my mind.