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Re: [RC] hoof protection - rjkoppKathy- I'm sure you will get lots of opinions.....here's mine: I shoe all four hoofs, I also pad but have only been padding the front, however after the last two hard and rocky rides I will pad all four feet for my last two rides of this season. My thinking is this - you want to your horse to use himself evenly and balanced, I want all four feet to have protection so he will use all four feet evenly. If you only pad the front ( and I know this is a very common practice for trail riders) and the rear feet get sore or bruised what have you accomplished? Now you are going to lose training time or potentially get pulled during a ride. I try to minimize any potential bad things and shoeing four feet protects four feet. Why protect only two? Roxanne Kopp -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: Kathy Klenk <kramspott@xxxxxxxxxxx> I really have looked through the archives and other websites but can't seem to find the answer. Ever since I've owned horses the farriers over the years and miles have said, only need to shoe the front, all the weight is in the front. Now, with the little bit of lessons I've taken I know that the 'goal' is to have the horse use his hind quarters for going up hills and even for flat work because according to instructors that is where the power muscles are. I never used to even shoe my horses, then I had them put on all 4 feet because of rocky conditioning trails but I have had some bad experiences with that. Last week the farrier came out and trimmed and put shoes on front. I did do a rocky, hilly conditioning ride but at a VERY slow pace and had to walk him out. It looked like the rear 'bulb?' was worn down pretty good. Whether it be shoes or boots (since I am researching getting Old Macs or Easy boots) do you all put protection on all 4 feet? I'm referring to arabs that have good/solid healthy feet. Also, the farrier said he trims differently depending on whether shoes are put on or not, is it the same for wearing boots? Kathy - SE =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 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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