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Thread III: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1311311/posts |
Posted on 09/18/2004 6:56:23 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
Free Republic has a lot of horse people that have found each other on other threads…. And since we all like to talk horses, how about a thread where it is not off-topic, but is THE topic?
A few of us thought it would be interesting and informative to have a chat thread where we can 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 last thread we had a great time and were a great help to each other working through lessons and training, horse lamenesses and illnesses, questions and challenges and always just our stories we like to tell.
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 Becky pings everyone most mornings. Let Becky (Paynoattentionmanbehindthecurtain) 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 last thread, 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.
I have to say I don't understand a lot of it.
Goodness.... what a cold miserable day there.... we are unseasonably mild up here. 44 degrees.
Bay used to eat beat pulp with a former owner. I hear it's good stuff!
Yeah, but FReepin' is ALWAYS 'just one more post'....'sides, I was waiting on the girls to get here. They both seem to have it together now. STILL incredibly sad, but at least not 'basket cases'.
No offense taken over your POV of barefootedness. Our ex-farrier was a 'keep 'em shod' most of his practice. Then he started the barefoot trims. He told me he was seeing how barefoot WAS better in the long run. (bummer, he retired last year. Now hubby has to do it)
Cassidy, Rei and now Keely all had serious lameness probs. Cass was a shod horse. The farrier pulled her shoes trimmed her up every 3-4 weeks and in @ 3 mos Markie was able to ride her everywhere. They'd be gone till the sun was setting. LOL.
We BOUGHT Rei with 3 hooves flared/cracked up to the coronary, sometimes bleeding. Vet reccommended shoes. farrier trimmed her, we kept up with weekly rasping and she did great.
Poor Keely was shod when we got her. Whoever did it, quicked her. We pulled her shoes, and her soles were nearly on the ground. We gave her @ month to adjust, then started trimming/paring her every couple days. She's STILL not 'right' in shortness, heel height, etc. But she's definitely a whole new horse. (lol...yesterday she was acting like she believed she was SUPER-alpha, at grain time.The turd-bird)
I'm NOT trying to convince/shove barefoot down yer throat. I'm just relaying our good results with it. I hope you don't mind that I talk of it. And I guess I feel pretty darned impressed with ourselves cuz we've had to do it *ourselves*, since there's no farrier for counties around, now. Hehehe...our friend Pete(the horse trader, who we got her from, hints around at dealing her with him) NO WAY. She's a dream with the kids.
I've got a couple other pix of our horses to post. Have to dig for Jake's pic. But, I have two that I think everyone would get a kick out of. Do you mind if I post them???
We don't mind discussion of anything horse..... if we all do things differently, it makes the conversation more interesting. ;~D
Go ahead and post pics.... some of these gals (not me) are on dialup, so we try to not do too many at once, but we all love pictures, I think even those having to wait for them. It helps us get to know ya and the kind of riding you do.
Don't worry about not understanding it all. I didn't EITHER. I'm STILL not sure of a lot. But it's a learn as ya go thing.
FWIW...that Gene Ovnicek is supposed to be 'the' farrier that most farriers 'look up to'. He's got some impressive info on navicular, ringbone, etc. I'd LOVE to get his 'trimming' video. He DOES do the shoeing way too.
That's sortof the attitude we are taking with Cyn. She does have HUGH hard feet. If they can hold up and stay even barefoot, then fabulous. But I don't want to be out there trimming and rasping them myself, I don't know jack about it. I understand the angles are important, and so I call people in who have studied such things. ;~D
My pony has always been barefoot, but she's not workin'. If she were, I don't know that she'd hold up either on actual hard surfaces. And ponies do better, either by structure or type of work asked of them.
My farrier is a good one I think... He thinks it's fifty/fifty Cyn can make it on trail without shoes... Of course, we'll actually have to get out and work her regularly before we can know we've had a good test. ;~D
We'll see...
I'm on dial-up also. My connection speed is SLOWER than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter. (grrrr)
A couple of other thoughts on this feet thing... first, that since Bay has been shod his whole life, his feet are changed, and now that he's padded in front, are probably softer now then they ever were before. He can barely walk on the gravel drive when the farrier is here and his shoes are off. Yes, they'll harden perhaps in time. Maybe a year of his feet being an even stricter limit on what he can do than they are now.... And he doesn't have that kind of time. Every year now, may be his last year of riding. I don't want to waste that on an experiment.
Morning all.
Starting to cloud up here after a blue sky start. Supposed to rain later today and overnight.
Rode that three year old yesterday. Got the vet coming out to float teeth today.
A guy that lives up the road from me came down to the house yesterday riding a really nice looking chestnut Quarter horse that's a half brother to that gray I've got. The chestnut was a six year old that had not been rode a lot and the people that owned him have my neighbor riding him so they can sell him.
So my neighbor comes riding up the road with about 8 feed sacks tied all over the saddle, a couple of milk jugs with rocks in them, a couple of cans with rocks in them, two cow bells and riding him with just a halter! It sounded so funny to hear them jogging down the road rattling and ringing and clanging.
Heh.... Not only will the horse be bomb-proof when he's done, but he won't be mistaken for a deer by even the drunkest weekend hunter. :~D
Oh - the other thought on the feet thing. I can see the the economy of the horse being barefoot if possible, but I don't buy into the premise that the wild natural foot is the perfect foot, any more than the wild horse conformation is the perfect conformation or the wild horse diet is the perfect diet.
I think wild horses live rough lives, hoping to get enough food and water to survive, and always one step away from the crack, sprain or strain that will do them in. Wild horses don't have long healthy lives, but horses removed from the wild and given the care and feed and comforts of life do.
Just another thought.... ;~D
Ya got the thumbnail ;~D
I hear ya about your Bay. I don't blame you, I'd be the same. He sure is a looker!
Beet pulp is gooood stuff...we used it on our rescues. Sometimes I'd 'treat' them and mix in some applesauce. Made the OTHER horses grumpy cuz they couldn't have some. LOL.
Good morning.
OOHHH, back to shoe/no shoe discussion:)
Mommadooo, I tried the barefoot way. Damn near crippled my horses:). I'm not at present because I'm working, but up till a few weeks ago I rode alot. And the terrain here is very very rocky. It kept their feet wore of to almost nothing. When I finally broke down and called the farrier to come shoe, there was very little to nail too, and they could hardly take a step with out gimping.
I only tried it because I was having trouble finding a farrier.
All that being said, I've wondered if putting shoes on a horse is what makes them need them. I rode a horse last year that had never been shoed. He did just fine, even on the rocks I have and the amount of riding I did. His feet did stay wore off, but it didn't seem to be a problem.
I sold this horse to a poster here Cindydawg. She lives in South Texas, and has few rocks. But her climate is different. After he had been there a while, her farrier recommended shoeing him because of cracks caused from the dryness there (is that right Cindy).
So, from my experience there are alot of factors that go into if shoeing one is necessary. A blanket statement can't be made.
Becky
I SEE that. Man o man...and to think I used to post pix ALL the time on FR!!!! (must be oldtimers' disease. (hehehe)
Should I do the 'regular size' pic?
Oh forgot to mention, it's snowing here:( Not much, but still....
Becky
Please do post the big version.... ~squinting~ It looks like a very cute shot!
I wasn't trying to make a blanket statement nor insinuating that everybody better go barefoot. Sorry if that's what it came across as.
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