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Re: [RC] [RC] [RC] Archive Use (boots, etc.) - terry banister

Ahhh, semantics - like two people who get married, and later realize they each had different definitions of the the word.

"Barefoot" to those of us actually doing it, does not just refer to what the horse has on its feet when being ridden in an endurance ride, or any other time. It's a 24/7 lifestyle - it's what they DON'T HAVE on their feet when not being ridden. It's a "hoof management system" that just doesn't involve nailing things to the hoof. That's what barefooting means to me and everyone I know who is actually doing it. And most every barefooter that has posted lately, has definitely said they don't hesitate to use boots or Hoof Armor when the situation warrants it. If you have horror stories about people who don't know how to manage their horse's feet with the barefoot system, there are just as many shod-hoof horror stories.

And, when I originally said that nailing things to "living tissue" (yes, bad choice of words - living animal would probably have been better) was archaic and Mediaeval, I didn't say shoeing didn't work. Everyone knows that the high-mileage endurance horses have all been shod. But there were no other options then. The purpose of horseshoes (steel, aluminum or plastic) is to preserve hoof wear and prevent bruising. If that CAN be accomplished without nailing anything to the hoof, why would there be any controversy?

Terry

"May the Horse be with you"

>From: >To: >CC: , , >Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] Archive Use (boots, etc.) >Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2004 18:18:41 -0700 (MST) > > > "Come ride with me and I will prove it. IMHO, saying you can run your > > horse over ANY terrain in 50 mile or greater Endurance rides barefoot is > > stupid. Ain't gonna happen..." > > > > It already is happening. > > Because riding barefoot does not mean "bare foot" anymore. It means hoof > > protection other than stuff nailed to the hoof. And new boots are > > coming onto the market that make it easier and more reliable than ever. > >No, Terry, "bare" means "bare." A booted foot is not bare. If you mean >to tell me that you ride in Old Macs or EasyBoots, or whatever, then >that's what you need to say. > >It is your perogative to not use steel shoes. But Jim is correct that >there IS terrain that requires ho of protection, and I gather that you >don't disagree with that. But there ARE people out there who are riding >with NO hoof protection, and Jonni is right--we sure don't hear much about >them when they fail. I sure wish a couple of the ride vets who have to >deal with a lot of these horses at rides were on here--some of the failure >stories they have to tell are chilling. > >Meanwhile, Jonni is right--maybe everybody with a sound, healthy-footed >steel-shod horse ought to pipe up and crow about it. Except then I don't >think I'd have room on my server to handle the mail volume. Again, it is >your perogative to choose another form of hoof protection. But it gets >pretty tiresome to hear over and over from a few folks about the evils of >shoeing, when the thing that is evil is BAD shoeing. There is as much >difference between bad shoeing and good shoeing as there is between >surgery as practiced on the Civil War battlefield by minimally educated >general practitioners vs in a modern up-to- date surgical center by >board-certified specialists. Shoeing is still the easiest, safest, and >most effective way to protect the feet of the majority of horses, when >they are subjected to more wear than what their hoof growth can keep up >with. > >And on REAL extremes of terrain, give me EasyBoots OVER shoes any >day--beats heck out of pads... > >Heidi > >

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