Ridecamp: Re: [RC] ] bare feet

  I'm a farrier and the only time I put shoes on my horses is a week or
so before they do an endurance ride. After the ride I pull the shoes. In
fact I've got 3 horses that it's had to have been at least 2 years since
I've trimmed them. People ask How do I get away with treating my horses
like that. Simple, I've got 6 horses on a two acre sand box. They spend
the days chasing each other around. Then when I ride them I'm not riding
to the extent that the rate of hoof wear exceeds the rate of hoof
growth. Hence no need to trim or shoe the hoof. In the dry months, (11
3/4 out of 12 months out here in the Mojave Desert) the hoofwall will
chip along the outer edges, even lose pieces through the quarters. This
is not detrimental to the hoof, the chipping just makes the hoof look
"rough" and the quarters are not designed to bear weight. I've actually
completed LD's on barefoot horses without any trouble.

Rob


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