Well, I will jump in the fray here...None of my horses seem to move any different when in boots, vs without (except if they are "ouchy" without, of course). They all use them in training enough to get used to them. I have seen enough horse transition just before, or even AT a ride with no issues, that I really see no issues with using boots at all. Course now, we have boots like the Gloves and Glueons that are SO form fitting, it is almost like going bare. Go to this link: http://easycareinc.typepad.com/from_the_horses_mouth/2009/08/easycare-hoof-boot-radiographs.html to see x-ray images of a horse Bare, in Gloves, in Glues, and in i think Old Macs (which "look" and feel clunky to me, but actually don't look nearly as bad on the Xray as I thought they would...still don't like their weight though...). It is really neat to see how little difference there is to the bare foot shot... Oh and as to navicular, I have both good and bad luck with horses. Depends on a number of issues. A) is it actual navicular (ie is the BONE affected, or is it just the tendons, heel pain from badly developed frogs, or so on...lots of stuff is "called" navicular and really is not...) b) how far along is it?...some horses have so much damage to the bone, etc there is no helping them with shoes, barefoot, or anything.... some do return to at least pasture soundness bare though...but not always. Some horses have very little bone remodeling and by going bare and strengthening the surrounding hoof structures, the horse becomes sound again. Either permanantly, or just temporarily (sometimes it is a progressive problem that ends up at b) where nothing will help). Interestingly enough, I have two client horses that were very lamed up from "corrective shoeing" which just masked the symptoms and made it worse (I feel wedge pads are a BAD thing in all but a VERY VERY few circumstances). Of these two, one is now pasture sound, but will never be riding sound do to the damage that was done. The other is barely pasture sound, owner is considering "nerving" the horse. She is an old broodmare though and will prob eventually have to be put down. That horse had too much damage in the bone...she had shoes, plastic shoes, etc etc...all sorts of things were tried. Barefoot works fairly well, Eponashoes work well too, but she develops thrush issues (lives in a fairly wet environment most the year) from those and frog atrophy, so we are now back to bare again. Oh well. Nat
“Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down
like a game of solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person
whole and, once it has done so, he will have to accept that his life
will be radically changed.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson.
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