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[RC] [RC] [RC] Experiences with Plastic Shoes - DreamWeaverAre most people who have good luck with GC's keeping their horses in smaller areas with more consistent footing (ie. paddocks, corrals)? I have three horses: two alternating in and out of a very large pasture with a herd. Rocks, dirt, sand, mud, grass (lots of that!), swampy areas, it gets irrigated regularly. Not sure how many acres it is, but large enough to lose sight of the horses. Turnout at home area is in large (over acre) field with rocks and dirt when they are not in pasture, plus another 1/2 acre or so for coming and going and barn/paddock area. The one horse that hasn't been in pasture has been at home because he's been doing rides fairly regularly, definitely not on consistent or flat footing. This winter was a really wet one as far as their turnout area goes at home, they had a lot of mud, snow, ice and muck to trudge around in for weeks and weeks. In past years with less mud their feet would get really gross with the metal shoes, but none of them had a problem with the plastic shoes. Not sure why that is. My horses are all very active and run around a lot on their own, and get very regular exercise. I do spray their soles in the winter with iodone spray. I think a lot of problems people have are from the application of the shoes. I really do recommend that people not do an actual event on their horses first shoeing in these shoes, or any other new shoeing change for that matter. That way you can change back if you run into something that could turn into a problem. Plus, it will give the farrier time to learn how to apply the shoes so there is less chance of something going wrong. I probably shouldn't say how well these have worked for Chief, less Murphy's Law turns around and kicks me in the butt. Oh well, that is the nature of horses and endurance riding I guess. What works today may not work tomorrow, and if it didn't work in the past doesn't mean it won't work tomorrow. The great thing with horses is that they keep teaching us new things, we never stop learning. They are all so different, they sure do keep life exciting and challenging! .....and rewarding! Here are some photos that I put up: http://community.webshots.com/user/groundcontrolshoes If I am around when Chief gets shod next time, I'll put more photos up of his feet to show how they've held up so far this year. Karen in NV =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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