Actually, I haven't done a 25 miler in quite awhile; I was referring to 50 miles, but since I rarely complete them, I guess that doesn't count for much. Anyway, the writer of the post who posed the question was planning on doing a 25 miler, and my answer to her was in response to that distance. My daughter and I have completed a few 50 milers with my horses barefoot, mostly in Florida. That might not be good enough for Sylvia over there in California, I suppose things are much more difficult out there. I'm sure if I went to some of the rides you attend I would consider shoes. If you went to some of the rides I attend, you'd consider renting a room in a motel close to ridecamp so you could have air conditioning. Anyway, we are doing our next ride (OMG, it's a 55 miler) this coming weekend, all horses will be barefoot, and we've been training that way all summer long. Since I'm the farrier I'll either get all the credit or all the blame. We'll see. I'll be sure to let ya'll know. Make sure you let me know when it counts, Sylvia. That's when I'll know I've hit my mark. cya, Howard (thinks Sylvia should know a little more about her horses hooves besides the fact it hurts when they step on her foot; hope that didn't sound mean) ----- Original Message ----- From: Dbeverly4@xxxxxxx Sent: Sunday, September 22, 2002 10:58 PM To: howard9732@xxxxxxx; ronin5410@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] shoeing/barefoot/traction question In a message dated 9/22/2002 11:38:11 AM Pacific Standard Time, howard9732@xxxxxxx writes:
There are a few of us endurance riders who do the barefoot thing. We're a quiet group, most of us don't come out of that closet and don't want to stir things up with those who are convinced that shod is the only way to do endurance (it isn't). Is spite of that, please, take a close look at this site. I've actually gotten the courage to do my own horses from this site alone and I don't think I'll ever hire a farrier again. It's not as difficult as a lot of folks think it is; you just have to have desire.
Howard...(where to begin)....Other than Darolyn, who readily admits that on rocky rides she provides hoof protection for her horses, we have yet to hear of a barefoot horse that does ENDURANCE with no hoof protection. NO your horse doing a 25 miler barefoot in Florida sand doesn't count. I think the barefoot thing is fine if you manage it the way Darolyn does, but most people don't seem to. I, quite honestly, don't want to learn HOW to trim my horse's feet. My farrier does a whole bunch of horses every month. I will NEVER come up to his level of expertise (simply because I wouldn't have that volume of horses available to learn from) that I would demand for my horses.
To reiterate, (and I hope this doesn't sound mean, but....) if your horse does 25 milers barefoot, that isn't an endorsement for doing endurance barefoot. k?
Sylvia
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