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Re: [RC] [RC] Archive Use (boots, etc.) - heidiMyself and others have already stated that taking shoes off a performance horse would be a year-long transition process that I would not expect anyone to embrace. Actually, ours make the "transition" annually with no problems whatsoever. They are not shod until wear exceeds growth in the spring, and their shoes come off in the winter. They are not sore or ouchy when the shoes come off, and they run in our hard and rocky pastures barefoot just fine when not being ridden. They are not shod to begin with until they reach a point in their training that growth does not keep up with wear. Of course, we also select for healthy feet... We completed our first year completely bare foot, and did no more than 1 race every 4-6 weeks, which almost preserved enough hoof between trims. However, hoofwear on hind was uneven, so started using boots on every other conditioning ride to preserve/grow more hoof between trims. Again, it is having the feet be the limiting factor in this manner that is not an option for many of us. And again, I thank you for being honest about the limitations of your system. You certainly have the option to make the choice of having barefoot being more important, or having optimal performance be your goal. We have had two pulls so far: 1. After first vet check, horse was arguing about going back out, and jumped off trail and whacked his foot on something in the tall grass. Dead lame- pulled. Three days later, stress crack behind toe abcessed and drained. Grew out by next trim. Lesson learned: If I had his perfectly good boots on, I am sure his hoof would have absorbed the shock enough to avoid hoof crack, and we could have completed. Likewise, had he been shod... 2. Broke my routine and rode two 50s within three weeks. Probably not enough heel by the second race, because at the 47-mile point, horse quit. Planted his feet and would not budge. one and a half hours later, when vet finally arrived on trail, he proclaimed nothing wrong with the horse. Smacked him on the butt, and horse walked the rest of the way up the hill. They said he was grade one, but it was not his feet, and I could walk him in for completion. I chose to RO Lame. I figured horse wasn't having fun and made his point. Lesson learned: Wear boots for more of conditioning rides to preserve hoof. Sounds like the suspensories were likely sore on the bottoms of the feet. That commonly causes the very sort of behavior you describe, and is one reason why ride vets are beginning to pull their hair out over barefoot horses. They are uniformly sore, so are not "lame"--but I can't imagine considering this scenario as being a kindness to the horse. Shoeing DOES tend to prevent having the suspensory attachement come smacking onto the ground at every step. Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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