What have been your experiences with allowing horses to go barefoot for a
period of time? My mare is due for shoes and I'm considering having them
pulled and letting her go barefoot. She will not be ridden at all except
maybe light arena work by a friend until July -- possibly late June (I'm in
the process of growing a future endurance rider -- so Starrzza's on a bit
of a vacation) She lives in a pasture now with a few other horses, some
rock and the ever-present mud. We live in Western Washington, so snow and
ice are not usually an issue, but it still happens sometimes. She has good
feet and when I bought her 2 years ago she was barefoot and apparently had
been for several years. I've never had problems with her feet, so I don't
want to fix what isn't broken, but would it be good for her to go without
until I'm ready to ride again?
Thanks in advance for the feedback -- I'm really going through
endurance withdrawal already and this list is keeping me sane :)
Raina and Starrzza (I am LOVING this)
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Gosh, it seems like an easy question for me (struggling also with
the shoeing dilemma). I believe, in general terms, that it is
far healthier for a horse to go barefoot, unless there is a
problem, or the amount of RIDING warrants it.
I had a horse in the S.F. Bay Area for 7 years, and rode her
barefoot, except for putting shoes on for one competition. I
did mainly 2 to 3 hours rides, and the trails were very soft
dirt (compared to all the rocks where I live now!)
I plan to ride all winter, and it would make me sense and far
less hassle for me to just continue putting shoes on. But, I
think it will be far better for the feet to have a break from
shoes; hopefully on the one mare they will spread some (bad
shoeing over the years before I got her has constricted the
heels). Then, I will have to hassle with the problem of easy
boots on a lot of our rides.
If your horse has normal feet, and will only be arena rode, why
have shoes? Just be aware that she may be tender footed until
her feet toughten up some.
Karen
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