Re: [RC] Barefoot, then shoeing for E-rides only - Trailrite
I agree, I couldn't come home and pull the shoes after a ride. First
of all I don't pull the shoes myself, second, if you did just pull the shoes and
did a touch-up trimming, then the hoof walls will break away at the nail
holes...at least my horses do when I have shoes pulled.
I have a mare that never had shoes on for the first 5 years of her
life. She has hoofs like steel. I used boots to protect
while conditioning. I found after increasing work that the
horse couldn't get footing very well on our hard slick (from
motorcycles) steep hills. She was slipping out in the rears & if
you add rain, then it was totally unsafe! At once I choose to
start using shoes. I was afraid that my mare would pull a stifle, or hock
out from slipping out in the rear.
I don't have a solid way of thinking about hoof protection one way or the
other. If you live in an area that your horses don't have a problem then
that is wonderful for the horse and the most ideal. But here in Southern
West Coast area, the ground is hard, GD or clay base, the motorcycles & Mt.
Bikes make it harder, the hills are steep and sometimes rocky. I use shoes
with pads, and I wear the shoes out in 4 weeks. No hoof can wear less that
metal around here, the demand is higher than the hoof growth for this to be
an option around this & the Malibu costal areas. Boots are great but
the traction in the rear can be a major problem, and I would never use EZ
boot studs for more traction because a horse needs to sort of slide into step
while in a trot in the rear. Adding studs can cause problems too
in the fetlock areas after miles of use.
I would rather go barefooted, but I've tried and failed here in this
area. On top of this, I really can't see how my horses are being harmed in
anyway with using metal shoes along with pads. I have 7 horses
that all have 3,000 - 6,000 miles to date and other than some that are older
than dirt, they are all still being ridden either in endurance or for
just plain fun trail riding.
Tammy Robinson Trail-Rite Products 18171 Lost Creek
Road Saugus, CA 91390 661/513-9269 office 661/713-3912
cell 661/513-9206 fax www.trail-rite.com
In a message dated 8/7/2008 10:21:42 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
carrie.kitley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
We have
fine dirt and sand pretty much everywhere we ride around here (La Purisma
Mission) so I believe it would be perfect for transitioning to barefoot,
however I have a question about attending rides: If I decided to go
barefoot with my mare for the majority of time except shoe her for e-rides
only, would this be too much alternating if I were doing say, 1 LD (so far)
every two months or so?
Also, for those of you who only shoe for
e-rides, I've heard it said "when I get home, I just pull the shoes."
Who pulls the shoes? You pull them yourself and then rasp the hooves
afterwards or do you call out your farrier to shoe and unshoe for each
ride? I'm curious. I can't afford to do that and don't know if I
could attempt the unshoeing on my own without hurting my horse. Or am I
making a bigger deal out of it than it is? My horse means everything to
me, I just don't want to screw up, and since she IS after all, a Princess of
the highest order, Her Highness deserves ONLY the best. ;)
Carrie
Kitley 30th Medical Group, Vandenberg AFB DMLSS Database
Sustainment Specialist (DSS) CACI International Inc
www.caci.com dsn 276-1077, Comm (805) 606-1077 fax
dsn 276-1179 <\_~ //
\\
carrie.kitley@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----Original
Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Lynne Glazer Sent:
Thursday, August 07, 2008 9:45 AM To: sherman Cc:
ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] SHOES IN THE FRONT -
Normanjudyv
Kathy, believe me, it wears down the entire foot.
Walls and all, not just sole. I have two horses barefoot at the moment,
mother and daughter, and neither is being ridden. The retired distance
horse's front feet are cosmetically, not functionally trimmed every 15-18
weeks, beveled a bit, the 4 yr old daughter's slight high low watched and
trimmed as necessary. No length trimmed almost EVER on their hinds and
they live in 24x48 pens! They do get turnout, but that's different than
work. They can chip out the quarters on rocks a little when it's late in
their cycle. I expect the daughter to be able to go barefoot until she
starts doing serious miles, she has seriously thick walls and seemingly iron
soles.
I'm glad for people who have perfect, non-abrasive
footing!
The damage that is usually done to
a shod horse when they lose a shoe is due to the hoof wall being too long(to
ride barefoot) and breaking off, often too high. A horse that is kept
barefoot and ridden that way, generally keeps the hoof wall worn (or owner
keeps it rasped) to sole level and beveled a bit, so there is rarely any
chipping or breaking or leverage forces on the wall. The sole is what gets
sore on some horses, likely due to genetics, feed, lack of freedom of movement
as a youngster, or other issues. I haven't yet seen a horse with hooves worn
to nubs, only read of it happening, mostly with DG or sand footing. I guess it
wears down the protective sole callous.
Kathy
A lot of riders In my area shoe their
horses only in the front. What are the pros & cons with doing that? I
think it,s done to save money, surely not because it,s what,s best for the
horse if in fact the horse gets ridden anywhere other than a few times around
the ring or a mile down the trail.
Can,t imagine doing 100 mile rides without shoes. The 100s I rode back in the
day, the horse the was lucky to get thru a ride with his shoes still on and no
damage to his hooves.
Judy
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