The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE

See our "who's who" page! ^

[HairOfTheDog]

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - Who's Who *pics*

This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.

I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!

I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will now be pinging everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.

So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.

Previous threads:

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT

New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

They keep talking about that this guy wrote a book, but I've never caught the name of it. Do you know?

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

I went with the Old Mac boots, based on what you said about the Boas and what Duchess said about the Old Macs. But I only got one pair for Tennessee's fronts and haven't ridden in them enough to tell anything about them. And they are a little pricey, until you compair them to the cost of shoeing over the life of the boot. Plus, if you do your own trimming, you're saving even more. But I see your problem with the CTR. There's no good way around that.

But a girl at the shoeing clinic told me about a Boot Swap website and I've checked it out and you can get them MUCH cheaper there. It's just an independent thing, kinda like a classified ad, where people buy and sell boots if they need a different size than what they have, or what ever. Here's the link...

http://www.naturalhorsetrim.com/boot_swap.htm

[tuffydoodle]

That same program will come on several times this week, I'll be sure and watch it. Talk about wild mustangs, Tuffy thinks he's turned into one. He's finally feeling more normal and he wants OUT. I've got him in a round pen and he runs around like crazy. I'll notice a painful step every now and then but other than that, he's acting like a wild man. I was in his round pen a couple of days ago and he was trying to play with me. He wheeled around and got into kicking position before I knew what was happening. He never even cocked a leg to kick but I tell ya, it scared me. I was between him and the fence with nowhere to run.

I've looked at those boa boots and thought about getting a pair. What kind do you like the best?

[HairOfTheDog]

Glad he's feeling better, that must be a huge relief after seeing him hurt so bad.

[FrogInABlender]

Nope, the guy I've seen is Gene Ovnicek, Registered Master Farrier. He's the founder of the Natural Balance Shoe. There are several different promoters of "barefoot trim" and some of them are more hard core than others, and one or two of them are crazy I think. ;o) Gene isn't one of those that thinks that EVERY horse can go barefoot. Here's his pic...

He's a very nice man and was just as willing to listen to me as he was to the professional farriers at the clinic.

[FrogInABlender]

Gene Ovnicek wrote the book. He's the one who did all the research on the wild horse feet. It's called "Hope for Soundness". I bought it at the clinic for $10, but basically every thing in it is somewhere on their website.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

The Boa Boots are the only ones I've tried. I didn't really like them, one I had trouble keeping them on the horse, (Mack thinks we got the wrong size), two, I didn't like the way my horses hoof looked when I took them off if I had been thru water. Once you get water in them some stays. The horse heel bulbs would look all whitish and soft. It just seemed that after a prolong ride, that it might make a sore.

But Clinton Anderson really sung their praises, but you always wonder if he's being paid too:). Him and the guy said they liked them because they put padding in the heel area, to promote it to grow properly in that area.

Here's Rusty modeling:

Becky

[tuffydoodle]

It's a major huge relief. I thought for sure I was going to have to euthanize him. He had that look in his eyes, you know? The "I give up" look. It was heart breaking.

[tuffydoodle]

What size are those? Were they easy to get on and off?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Well, this may sound really strange, but when I'm reading something that I'm tryiing to LEARN, I have trouble reading from a website. I do better with a hard copy:)

This guy on the show is probably one of the hard core ones. He sounds like every horse can go barefoot....that's where I'm not sure either:). But he wrote a book and studied mustangs too:)...according to him.

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

Hi Tuffy! I've been wondering about how Tuffy was doing. I'm sure glad he's feeling well enough to be frisky.

I've been meaning to tell you that I ordered that fly sheet we were talking about from Jeffers, but I'm sending it back because it's not as solid as we thought. You can still see through it. It is a VERY small mesh, almost solid, so it might work, but I didn't want to pay that much for it and it not work. But I ordered another one called an "Amigo Fly Sheet" from Horsetackco.com and it was only $59 for the sheet AND the hood. It's made out of the same stuff, but since it's cheaper, I figure I'll keep it and see how it does. I'll let you know.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I don't remember what size they are.

Yeah they were easy to get on once you got the hang of it. Coming off easy was the problem:).

When I rode thru tall grass, it would bet caught under the dial and there would be grass all around it, building up under it and I think that help pop it loose or just cause it to loosen up.

You know if you were always going to stay on nice neat trails, and not go thru water, etc. They'd probably be fine. My problem is I don't do that:). I TRAIL ride. I blaze trails, I go thru all kinds of stuff, mud, water, tall grass, rocks, and more rocks. I'd like to see the trails Anderson rode.

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

...I have trouble reading from a website. I do better with a hard copy:)

I know what you mean. That's why I printed everything from the website off and read it later. Plus you've got it for future reference. I've got a whole 3-ring binder full of stuff I printed off of the NB website. The only trouble you have is that the pictures are a little hard to see.

[tuffydoodle]

Hey, thanks for the update on the fly sheet. I hadn't bought it, yet, but was going to. I'm not now.

Tuffy is not only frisky, he's trying to kill me.

There is a fly spray called "FlyPel" that might work for you. I had another horse with sweet itch and it really worked for him but he didn't have a huge problem. I haven't tried it on Tuffy but I just ordered some from allivet.com. So far I've had the best luck with natural fly sprays, eqyss marigold being the one I'm using.

[tuffydoodle]

They might work for me, Tuffy hates to get his feet wet.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I meant to add, that the trails Anderson talked about that he put them to the test on sounded like he mostly tried them on gravel roads. I can see where that wouldn't be a problem. It's going thru water, mud, and tall grass where I had the problems. I was always afraid one would come off in the creek and I'd lose it.

But it was mostly in the tall grass that I they came off.

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

You might could sell yours on that boot swap site if you don't want them anymore. I've thought about selling my pair of Old Mac size 8's because I think that now that I've got Tennessee's foot down smaller, because his toe's not so long, they may be too big.

But the thing about going through water, I think they may have changed the design of the Boa and included drain holes in them now. They have in the Old Macs. The girl at the clinic who told me about the boot swap said that she rides all her horses in them all the time and goes through mud and everything. She said that the first time you get them wet, you need to get off and tighten the straps because they stretch, but other than that, she's had no problem. Interesting.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Drain holes would really help, IMO. I thought about driving a few nail holes thru them:). Don't you think haveing water trapped in them would be bad?

Just from looking at the Old Macs I think they would be better. But I've never tried them.

I'll look at the site, but IMO, I don't think we got the wrong size.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Seems easier to me to just put shoes on 'em than those boots. It seems to me that a basic metal shoe shouldn't change much about the way they move. The right hoof shape for the horse is all in the trim. Those boots DO change the way the horse can move. It makes his foot bigger, adds padding all around, they're rubber so they get different traction (that the horse's foot can slide some in motion decreases some shock to the joints) and I think they'd interfere and step on them, especially moving fast or in complicated terrain.

I'm interested in the NB shoe, for the easier breakover.

Revolutionaries always upset the apple cart... There's resistance to the barefooters just because it's ~change~, and we don't like change. And I think there's resistance because it talks too good a game... I think it's an option, not a miracle elixir for everything. Lots of horses have crap feet because they've been bred into them. In the wild, those crap footed horses would have been eaten. We've protected them for generations now because crap feet don't matter... we could fix them, and still breed the horse. If people really started to value naturally good feet in breeding stock, they could improve things for the future, but for the moment, they're still breeding for color, a pretty head, and conformation that very rarely looks at actual foot structure.

As for farriers, excluding the idea that people will do their own trims, I think farriers would make more money if everyone were barefoot. My farrier charges more than half the cost to trim Cyn as he does to trim and shoe Bay... and he saves the overhead of stocking shoes... We talked about this. He said he'd make more money trimming everyone every 4 weeks than he would stocking all the different kinds of shoes, propane, nails, pads, devices and tools he has to have now.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I truly understand what you're saying and pretty much agree. I'm just trying to be open minded, not that your not:),

I do think the trim is the very most important part of all of it. And that is basically what I'm most interested in. I'm pretty much slowly being sold on that they are on to something in the way they are trimming, and that the NB Shoe would be a better shoe if you do have to shoe. I'm not falling for the barefoot for every horse either.

Becky