We did it!

[barefoot]

I have been getting ready for an organized trail ride. I have been riding my pony Meara and leading Charlotte the mini. In our conditioning Charlotte pooped out on us at 3 miles. So she has been getting used to staying at home alone. Poor baby

On Saturday myself and 4 of my clients went on a 14 mile ride with a total of 125 horses. It was nuts. I found I didn't like riding with that many people , but we completed it.

It was 45 minutes on the road to a park with trails and then 45 minutes back on the road. Everyone was pounding the pavement. They did great.

Here is Meara cleaned up before, she is very embarrassed. Then pics of her rock crushing hooves after.

I am very proud of Meara. She tends to be on the laminetic side and can be tender when on lots of grass. She is rock crushing when her diet is right. Please excuss my hot pink crocs and plaid nightgown.

I wanted to add Charlotte's little hoof. I LOVE her frogs. She has contoured them herself. She is still a little long in her toe as she is growing out some seperation. She is coming along nicely. But I think she has the cutest feet.

Emma

 

[Marty]

I went on a couple of those rides with way too many people and horses. I have to agree with

you its just too nuts and too much chaos for me. I couldn't really enjoy it. I've had more fun

with just a few friends than a whole herd.

I'm glad you brought the baby back home. That was just way too much.

You might want to try soaking their feet to help soothe them for a few days.

Or you can try some hoof freeze. Also try clipping or cutting that back fetlock

hair off so she doesn't go stepping on it.

I didn't know Meara was laminitic so do watch out for road founder.

As for the crocs, crocks are good. Love the hot pink. I don't have that

color but now that I see them on you, its a must have now!

Can't see the plaid nightgown but plaid is totally a good thing.

Here's a link you can enjoy

http://www.barefoothorse.com/

 

[Fred]

Good thing you don't live in New England. The rocks here would grind your horses hooves to powder. Granite can tear a foot to shreds within a half mile. Linda

 

[barefoot]

Oh the granite is soo beautiful! I haven't been to New England, but I got to see the granite in Georgia. During my mentorship there all the drives sparkled. I loved it. Granite there really is awesome on the feet there. The barefoot horses in Georgia had the nicest feet. It was so interesting how the horses that lived in the mountains feet were differant from the ones that didn't. They grew to their terrain.

I have been able to see how differant feet are around the country. I think I liked the ones in Arkansas the best.

I think Kentucky has a hard time, cause of there rich grass and the weather. It would be so cool if someone did a study.

Here in Ohio I think we are inbetween. We get alot of stretched white line. But putting your horse on harder terrain really really helps. Limestone sand is awesome for it.

I wish people could have more trust in the hoof. I think the more people who do it , the more we will see it. Think of all the war horses in ages past. The Mongolian horses who are never shod and rarely need trimmed. They move through the mountains and we have never seen hooves like theirs.

Emma

 

[barefoot]

Also try clipping or cutting that back fetlock hair off so she doesn't go stepping on it

Thank you , I will do that. I didn't think about her stepping on it.

But yeah that would be ouch. These mini's with all their hair

Meara is not seperated in her hooves. She is sound. She is laminatic in the sense she has very little tolerance for grass. I put her on grass and she isn't lame , but she is much more sensitive on the rocks.

Neither is sore from our road riding. Riding on the road is easier barefoot. They have more shock absorbancy. We have been riding on the road since winter. We ride on all different terrains. That different terrain is what is encouraging her to grow tougher horn at her coronary band. Her water line on the ground reads that.

I really am sorry when I go on a speil about barefoot. I don't want to be preachy about it. I hate that. I everyone needs to make a choice for themselves. I just wanted to share our accomplishment. I don't get to ride enough. So that 14 mile was a big deal for me/us.

I really like this forum. I homeschool in the mornings and am often sat next to my son as he does his work, trying to patiently wait. He is in first grade and still needs me in the room. So this forum has been great to visit and learn from. I am loving my mini. I think if anything happened to my big horse I would get another mini. She is sooo much fun and I hope that we can learn to pull a cart in a few years.

Please anyone is welcome to tell me to shut up. Believe it or not, I strap my typing fingers down quite often.

Emma

 

[Reijel's Mom]

Barefoot, I think your input is valuable, and you have a nice way of saying it!

 

[Fred]

I do a lot of barefoot horses. However, understand NOT ALL horses can go barefoot. The Mongols and the Huns used leather boots on some horses and if the horse got too tender to go on it got eaten. The same goes for the mustangs if they can't run they get eaten. I have personally witnessed people try the barefoot thing on horses that can't tolerate it and it crippled them. I'm glad you have success with yours but not all can do this. Linda

 

[JourneysEnd]

Emma, I understand why you're so excited about bare footing.

I like the Pete Ramey trim. I use it on most of my big horse clients. I have a couple of endurance horses as clients that do 25 mile, 3 day back to back runs barefoot.

The problem a lot of farriers have with the "barefoot" fad is:

People taking a one weekend clinic and being told they are now farriers who can sell their services.

It's okay to take a clinic and do your own horses, but you'd better know a little more before doing other people's horses.

(Emma sounds like she's done a lot more training than most and I'm sure she's qualified to trim other's horses.)

The "every horse can go barefoot mantra". Not true. Maybe most of them can go barefoot as long as 200 lb people don't jump on their backs and do things horses weren't bred to do.

As Linda says, horses in the wild either have genetically good feet or they get eaten. Good hoofs are more important than looks, temperament, gait, etc to a feral horse.

For Pete's trim to be successful it must be done more frequently than a regular trim. You can correct angles, improve concavity, relive contracted heels, IF you do the trim every two weeks. The clients I have that need to correct problems, I teach to do follow up trimming between my visits.

I just followed up behind a barefoot trimmer than took shoes off a TB that had worn shoes all her career ( charged the woman $20 to pull the shoes ) and left the horse in pain. Total cost to the client for this service - $70.

So forgive me for getting up on the soap box.

Nothing wrong with the barefoot trim, just make sure the person you hire to do it is qualified.

and Emma you can rave about it all you want on this forum.

Glad to have you here.

Vickie

 

[barefoot]

Thank you. I appreciate being made to feel welcome. thats what is awesome is the different thoughts and ideas. It's how we learn. I would love to know how to keep those jerkey horses still. How to sucessfully sharpen my knife. I go through so many. Alot of draft horses get the better of me. I think they know I am a girl.

I'll share of my some thoughts. I so believe I have alot to learn. Some great farriers have helped me. Alot of the AANHCP mentors are ex-farriers. In the AANHCP we are not aloud to put shoes on, so that is why I call them ex-farriers. But they come with great experience from their many years of hoof work. I would love to go through school again with what I know now. My schooling took me a year, which was actually fast. I couldn't afford to do it again.

I think I stay quiet too much sometimes. I am not good with words and I fear of making statements that I worded wrong.

Alot more horses could be barefoot than are. Shoes do cause damage to the internal structures and laminae. Alot of these horses could heal better barefoot with the right support. Support is so important. That is why in some cases barefoot isn't easy. Diet, Teeth, Body, exercise are equal parts to the soundness. It can take time and money. That is sad.

Yes if something else is going on with the horse where he can't be sound then shoes could mask that lameness so the horse could be used. But that lameness doesn't go away. Each persons decision.

The diet can be soo hard to get right for the horse. Out of all my clients and many other practitioners clients that I met I would say that my Saddlebred was one of the worst, hypersensitive to anything. I have said before, vaccinations, wormers, flyspray, blade of grass, would set her off. She was hard to manage. She died in her 20's of cancer related illness. But for the first time in 10 years her feet were great. Because my hard work paid off. She gave me headaches though.

She was tough keep sound. But barefoot her hooves could finally heal. I actually think with boots

she could have done that 14 mile ride.

I agree that there are many many barefoot trimmers out there who are giving this trim a bad name. Yeah make sure that someone is qualified. I really do encourage people to trim their own horse with guidance, and some of my fellow practitioners disagree. But it is liberating to be able to trim your own horse. And no one loves them more than you do. But your heart has to be in it.

And each hoof is treated as an individual. Thats why sometimes barefoot hooves don't match. I find that if you trim something off and it keeps popping back up then it wants to be there. You read the horse's hoof.

Emma

 

[babygoose]

I am also completely sold on barefoot! I am lucky that all my horses CAN go barefoot. But that is what I really like about Gene Ovniceck (I can never spell that right!). He promotes barefoot, but also shoes where appropriate, but with a trim and shoe that also helps with breakover, proper landing, etc. I agree that more horses can probably go barefoot than people think. But there are a lot of un skilled, weekend clinic, barefoot trimmers out there and they aren't helping the cause. My old TB gelding had terrible feet, tender, high/low syndrome, long toe and underrun heel. It took awhile but after using a very talented student of Gene's his feet were wonderful! And he is barefoot. Unfortunately, my farrier left to go work for Gene and now my horses feet are all going downhill again.