 |
Re: [RC] Forced to go without shoes - Barbara McCraryWe are having a problem with a gelding that is a shoe-snatcher....over-reaches and grabs the heel of the front shoe and yanks it right off. Our farrier is going to try one more trick, shoeing tight with no extra shoe sticking out anywhere. In the meanwhile, we are using Easyboots and the horse is going fine. We tried Boa Boots and he was sensitive. The Boa Boots have a flat insole and a flat outside surface. There is no "dead space" between his foot and the rocks on the ground, so he was rock sensitive. Now he has been barefoot for many weeks, so maybe he wouldn't be so sensitive. Haven't tried the Boa Boots recently. The Easyboots do work. Maybe it would be possible for your horse to use them instead of shoes? Barbara ----- Original Message ----- From: "Catfish Daniels" <catfishdaniels@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 2:29 PM Subject: [RC] Forced to go without shoes Recently there was a lot of discussion about going bare (without shoes). With me always having had shoes on my horses, I admit that I pretty much pressed the "delete" button when it came to reading those posts. Well, my young mare is having some pretty bad foot problems. Basically, she's not growing any hoof. It's been 9 weeks since her last shoing, and today my farrier, who I really consider very knowledgable, said that he absolutely had no hoof to work with. He could only pull the shoes and recommend that I leave her in a soft pen for at least the next 6-8 months. His theory, no shoes=more stimulation and blood flow=better growth of the hoof wall. I bought this mare last November and realized that she had a low heel, but otherwise nice, wide and large strong appearing hoofs. So I supplemented with Biotin. Her hoof growth did not improve, which made the next two shoing jobs very difficult. Today there was absolutely nothing to work with and my farrier said that she will never have the feet to support what I'm asking her to do. He recommended for me to sell her to somebody that is not going to do endurance. She is an ex-race horse and an incredible athlete. She even did a slow 50 already with great vet scores, and she's only 5 years old. We've put on a lot of training miles already, LOTS of training miles. Her body is extremely athletic with awsome confirmation and bloodlines. What I'm getting at is that I have a hard time giving up my endurance dreams with her. Now, I truly believe that sometimes it is best for the horse not to push the issue when it isn't suitable for the sport. But before I even think about going that route, I would really appreciate ANY input anybody has in regards to that. Terry Banister, if you read this, I know you are an advocate for going bare (your horse, of course). I've seen you at 20 Mule and your horse's feet looked awsome. Right now my mare is down to absolutely NO heel. This also leads me to the question of all the discussions recently, about boots people use in that 6-8 month transition period. What are the best boots out there for the purpose of training rides - pros and cons, etc. I know I'm asking a whole lot in this one e-mail, but...ANY amount of input is greatly appreciated. Thanks. Catfish _________________________________________________________________ Tax headache? MSN Money provides relief with tax tips, tools, IRS forms and more! http://moneycentral.msn.com/tax/workshop/welcome.asp ============================================================ There is no better way to see the world than from the back of a horse. ~ Teddy Roosevelt ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================ ============================================================ Just because someone tells you that your horse isn't "fit" for endurance...doesn't mean it isn't, it just means your horse isn't fit to be "their" endurance horse! Go for it, you never know what you'll accomplish with that "saddle horse" or "trail horse" of YOURS! ~ Darlene Anderson - DPD Endurance ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
|