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Re: [RC] barefoot horses - Lysane CreeI'm still in the learning process but I have trimming my own horse for about a year and she has never had shoes on. She can almost everywhere barefoot except on rocks - especially if they are just scattered across a road. From everything that I have read and learned so far, if the horses are still sore on rocks, it is the back of the foot that still needs time to develop and toughen up. That can take some time. It takes longer too if you have very wet conditions and the hooves are constantly in water and mud, like we have here. I have started applying Koppertox to the bottom of my horse's hooves to see if that will help some - its a good product and can be used on dogs as well to toughen up their pads. The boots are the best thing to do, to get your horse moving out well on all sorts of terrain - when they are too sore they start moving with a toe first landing and that is not good. you want them using the back of their foot and landing heel first. Also,
I'm not sure what method of trimming you use, but you try to not touch the sole or the frog...most of it will just wear on its own and it will help to build callous. Anyway, that's just my two cents. :) Lysane __________________________________________________
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