I have been finding the discussion of barefoot riding rather
interesting. Our horse that had a rattlesnake bite on his front pastern 5
years ago has been problematical for soundness until we discovered by pure fluke
that he is more comfortable when he is not wearing shoes on his front
feet. Neither the farrier nor I can exactly figure out why being barefoot
allows him to travel sound, while wearing shoes causes him to
be rather inconsistent for soundness. Anyway, I did observe
this and we stopped shoeing the front feet. Enter the scene...EZ Boot
Epics. These are a Godsend, as this horse is also a chronic front
shoe-puller. Short strong back + long legs + long overreach =
pulled front shoes, with astounding regularity. We now ride him with EZ
Boot Epics, which protect and cushion his bare feet and which he cannot pull
off, because there is no extension or ridge he can grab with his hind
feet. We think it just may be possible that he can be re-conditioned and
brought back to endurance riding.
