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[RC] Shoer - Ridecamp GuestPlease Reply to: ti tivers@xxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== No doubt that there are talented farriers out in the world able to bend cold steel to fit the hoof, but (for me), someone with a forge, a grinder, a drill press and the ability to properly shape a shoe to fit the properly trimmed hoof, who ALSO has the ability to watch horse movement and determine how better to shoe that horse...worth their weight in Dove Bars! All the talk about steel versus bare-foot...well, some of that anti-shoeing is merited. Rather than have a horse poorly shod, I'd let the horse go barefoot. (And, I prefer steel on my horses.) A poorly shod horse should be a misdemeanor (at least). Frank> Right. Continuing on with bad shoeing techniques simply aggravates the situation. One good thing about steel shoes is that they're not as brittle as aluminum and don't break apart in the middle of a race as often as aluminum shoes. As far as going barefoot is concerned, I have several reservations. First, if you've ever seen a bare foot that is capable of a competitive ride in a 100 mile race (I've never personally seen a barefoot horse win a 100-miler)you'll know that that type of foot is radically different from one which has just had the shoes pulled. Going from shod to barefoot competing would, in my mind, require a full year of reconditioning of the foot, and probably 2 years to accomplish because severely reduced conditioning would have to be implemented during that first year. I have seen several barefoot horses have to be shod midway through a 100 miler, just in order to finish. These were ridden by fully-committed "barefoot religion" riders who never mention this fact when promoting their particular back-to-nature religion. Again, what works is real. The reason most back-to-nature religions don't work in endurance racing, or any other kind of racing, is that the racing environment/demand, at any distance, is not natural. In fact, as soon as you put a halter on a horse and confine him in a fenced area, you're out of the realm of Nature. ti =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 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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