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Re: Fwd: [RC] Shoe or not..long post - John Teeter

please take care in forwarding long (and in this case already posted in its 
entirety) posts through ridecamp. 

when you respond to a post, please only include that part of the original post 
which might be relivant to your
response. don't just forward the whole thing back in again for use to deal with.

thanks,

johnt (p.s. I'll forward this back in just to show you all how distracting it 
can be:)

At 04:08 PM 4/18/2005, you wrote:

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Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 14:47:11 -0400
From: Brian & Sara Minsk <ninemaplefarm@xxxxxxx>
Subject: [RC]   Shoe or not..long post
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I guess I will put my two cents in. LOL  I have been quiet about this topic 
and keeping low key.  All of our horses are barefoot. We have found that the 
horses we foaled out and raised barefoot are better than the horses that 
needed to be converted over. However, they can still be converted over.  
However, I still feel they will never be quite as good barefoot as those that 
grow up running over gravel since birth.

We started with 1/4 of the paddock covered in pea stone but kept mixing in 
until we got up to 1/2" stone. The horses are turned out in groups of 2 or 3 
on 1/2 acre dry lots with rocky soil. Most people pick the rocks out of their 
paddocks but we throw them in!!!  We put the gravel near their stalls/overhang 
so they have to constantly walk threw it. Start walking on roads from weaning 
on a couple of times a week. Now, all of our horses gallop across the gravel 
and do sliding stops without blinking an eye! Will happily trot up roads too.

I'm starting conditioning with my 5 year old to do CTR and endurance rides. 
She has always been barefoot. Got worried from reading the posts here how it's 
hard to go barefoot and do endurance. Thus, I bought some easy boots (epics). 
Figured, what do I know as a newbie.

I live in rocky new england where it is just rocks, hills, and rocks! Rode her 
saturday 2 1/2 hours marking trails and did a ride on sunday. 5 minutes into 
ride and at second huge mud hole, easy boot got sucked right off! Boy, was 
that interesting! I had the thing super tight too! Only had them on her 
fronts. Forgot leatherman so couldn't take off other boot. Thus, remember to 
carry a leather man if you use easyboots! *grin* Walked back to trailer and 
took other boot off and finished our ride barefoot. She happily trotted and 
cantered across rocks much to the amazement of the riders I was with! It was 
to my amazement too as I had lost my confidence from reading posts. 100% 
sound. Today 100% sound. No heat or filling anywhere either. Not ouchy.

You will find that barefoot horses seem to "take a funny step" or "feel off 
for a split second" a little more often. However, I figured out that it was 
just her sensing pressure under her foot and letting off. You can feel her 
shift her weight but it might shock you at first because you''ll think, "oh my 
Gosh, my horse is lame!!" LOL Shod horses can't sense the pressure so they 
tend to get more abscesses. Thus, if you are use to riding horses with shoes 
this feeling might be weird at first.

Also, now that I am riding her a lot more we discovered that her toes need to 
be a little longer than ideal. All horses are trimmed with the jaime jackson 
barefoot trim.  However, once you start riding heavily you might find, like we 
did, that you need to leave more hoof wall than you would before. My mare does 
much better with a little more hoof wall being barefoot and in training. Not, 
overly long but long enough to make you think, "hmm, her toes seem a tad 
long."  When she is trimmed normal she seems ouchy. However, every horse is 
different. I am going to leave her barefoot and see how it goes!!! :-)

If you want to go the shoe route I have a suggestion. We tried to do the 
barefoot thing with our TB racehorse. He didn't have a prayer because we got 
him at 2 (easier to influence at a younger age) and had flat feet with thin 
soles (revealed on x-rays). He has been in Sigafoos shoes and they are 
AMAZING!!!! They are glue on but with a concussion pad. They attach to the 
hoof wall  via a cloth and not the sole so the hoof can expand. They are 
pricey but worth it. Hope any of this helps!

Take care,

Sara




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Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

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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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Replies
Fwd: [RC] Shoe or not..long post, Dave Smith