My experience has been with my own horses,
Sonny, that I always boot for long hard rides as he makes it perfectly clear
that although he’s been barefoot all but 6 weeks of his 10 yrs, he is not
comfortable traveling at speed over rocky roads. I’m disappointed to hear
that horses that are sore on all four can’t always be spotted by owners
and/or vets. That does make it a difficult decision. I do have an Arab/mustang
pony that I was hoping to be able to do barefoot rides IF she can do it. So
far, 12 miles of trotting on gravel roads and she’s still comfortable.
Kathy
No, not all vets are good at spotting horses who are
sore on all four feet. I have direct experience observing that.
Unless a horse hits some rock or big gravel in the trot out, it can be
hard to spot, not all do that "walking on eggshells" thing. I
remember a couple at one of my rides who barely passed the final vet, most of
the ride was sandy and/or decomposed granite, few rocks. They were riding
barefoot, and proud of themselves for completing the LD barefoot, they couldn't
"see" how sore their horses were. They've learned a ton since
then and are now somewhat authorities on the barefoot plus hoof protection
thing, but that day their horses definitely paid a price.
And poor saddle fit often does not show up
symptomatically until way after the ride. Poor saddle fit can result in
lameness pulls from the horse straining something else while trying to protect
his back.
I think having a discretionary "hoof protection
required" rule is a needful tool for a ride manager. It doesn't say
shoes vs pads. I know of no rides that say padding is required, but many
recommend it.
