[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I got Rusty rode good yesterday, about 3 1/2 hours. With Heather. Today Celia here will ride Harley, maybe looks like rain tho:(

So, I have a question and topic. If Bay didn't have navicular, do you think he could go with out shoes?

I am having such a hard time finding a farrier, that I am going to pull the shoes (LOL...if the d@mn farrier will come) and try barefoot for awhile. I've been doing some research, and it looks to me that it is possible to keep them barefoot, if they have no special problem.

I would not even consider it if I hadn't ridden Okie and Harley barfoot. Okie was fine, Harley did get a bit ouchy at first, but his feet were long at the time. I'm thinking if he had been trimmed right, he may have been OK too. They seem alot more sure footed and less stumbly without shoes also. The thing is we have ALOT of sandstone rock, and I mean ALOT.

[CindyDawg]

Morning yall. After Becky gets her shoe problem worked out maybe yall can give me suggestions on mine. Okie got shoes 6 wks ago.( Bear with me here. I'm learning and don't always know what I'm talking about, ok ?lol) Something to do with his sole not level on one of his front feet and he was compensating and got a chip. The vet said from the hard ground we have around here (like concrete) and it was temp and he could probably have them off in a month or so. Then he shoed the back because I want to do trail riding. What kind of pavement , texture does he need them for? He will be (and is) on asphalt at times but mostly caliche. Lots of loose rocks from marble to egg size (we try to walk around the eggs :')

[HairOfTheDog]

It is certainly cheaper to keep them barefoot. My pony is barefoot, but she isn't working. I know people who don't keep shoes on their working horses, and they do OK.

I think you could try and see if his feet will hold up under the many miles you go. Your horses work hard and go lots of miles. A lot more than most, and trail is harder on feet than arena work. My friend that doesn't shoe rides in soft arenas only, only occasional trail.

Do you think you can trim and file them correctly? They'll need it, they'll never wear evenly and will be chipping and cracking. I would fear trimming them unevenly or at the wrong angle and making them lame to work that way. If you can do it yourself, great, but if not, you'd still need the farrier to come out... Which would bring you back to the same problem!

On this topic, I did find in my Navicular research a guy who relieves Navicular horses with trimming and leaves them barefoot... He thinks shoes are unnatural and a big part of the problem.

[HairOfTheDog]

Saddle Club Ping!

Becky asks the question: "to shoe or not to shoe"? at 191.

[stainlessbanner]

I keep mine "barefeeted" for the most part. Last one foundered and we corrected it with shoes by putting pressure on the other side of his hoof. He recovered just fine and threw those shoes in no time! Back to barefoot, now. I'm in mostly soft sand and grass - not many rocks and gravel.

I trim mine every 5-6 weeks. A good farrier is so hard to find, though.