Go figure???

cptrayes · Go figure???

I was at Somerford on Wednesday and happened to see another horse with no shoes. As I always do, I went to talk to the owner to compare notes.

This person said she was a long distance rider, knows Sarah and Terry well, and a barefoot fan, having done 50-milers on a barefoot horse. But she also pointed to the horse she had with her and said "this one can't do it". I looked at the horse's feet and they were long, flared and split to each of the old nail holes where it had been shod for the summer.

What's going on with someone who can do a 50 mile ride barefoot and can't see such obvious issues with the feet of a horse she says "can't do" barefoot? She also wasn't even prepared to consider that the horse may have a sugar intolerance, she just has sensitive feet, full stop.

I found the combination of a closed mind with experience of very succesful barefoot extremely odd. Is it me Wink

?

Nic

I'm not really surprised...Too many people have no idea how much and how fast a horse's feet can change.

People only see what they want to see, and as we both know, are brilliant at finding excuses for things they don't want to understand.

I heard today that a horse I had here till earlier in the year, who was rock-crunching for 2 years with me (there is footage Sarah took of him last year here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOUg1riHYX0 on Youtube), is now footy on stones but his current owner thinks that his feet are actually improving - go figure that one as well.

Makes me sad for the horses Sad

N

vickyclink

oh dear

i am amazed that someone could have gone to the stage of having a bf 50mile horse, and then another one shod in the state you describe! blimey!

cptrayes

Nic what a shame. You must wish you never had to sell one. I have always been grateful that my two barefoot sales in the UK each went on to be trimmed by Paul Jackson.

C

Terry

Caroline,

yes it was a very good friend and client of mine you met at Sommerford Park. She has many sucessful performance horses that myself and her have sucessfully competed barefoot. She also has 42 horses which she with a team sucessfully produces and sells to competition yards. Her main business is competition sales and once the horses are broken the majority are lightly competed and sold, hence the horse you saw which has had a few weeks off, shoes just pulled by the farrier whilst turned away and then came to jump round before being re-shod and back into work.

My client is well aware of how to manage barefoot performance horses, such as diet, management and exersize but like myself often has concerns around a one fits all approach to barefoot, such as sugar intolerence and cutting out manufactured performance feeds. I certainly am not saying this is what you were alluding to with her but so many people do without having a full detailed history and assessment of the horse.

This horse would struggle to perform at it's level barefoot without the correct management, however, given business and time committments this would not be viable. All her horses live out in a natural heard and are managed according to their ridden requirements.

My friend may have appeared to be closed in her approach but the reality is that she is a bit fed up of people assuming what is best for her horses.

Terry

cptrayes

Oooh, slap on the wrist taken Terry. Laughing

I feel a need to defend myself Crying or Very sad

I saw a horse with no shoes on and went to say hello to a fellow barefooter. I didn't ask her to tell me that the mare couldn't cope without them, quite the reverse, I was a bit gobsmacked when she did - she had clearly been there precisely to jump the mare without shoes on!

She was keen to tell me that they can't all go barefoot and she pointed to the mare as an example of one that had sensitive feet. I have no idea why she wanted to tell me, within seconds of saying hello, that not all horses can go barefoot.

But I found it a bit odd to be pointed to a horse with obviously ragged feet and told that it couldn't do barefoot. My suggestion that the mare might be sugar intolerant didn't come out of nowhere either, it came from her volunteering the information that she got fat on almost no food. An IDx type middleweight build horse who gets fat at the sight of food is a very high candidate for sugar intolerance causing sensitivity in the feet, surely?

I am uncomfortable that you have identified her Terry. I would not have written about her if I had known that you would do that and I hope not too many other people on this board know of her and her business, as I wish it and her no harm.

C

dorisday

Can I just say, that video of Foxy & Conto is amazing! What stunning scenery, brilliant weather, very sexy pones - it looked such fun! I've never been hunting (I'm afraid I'm one of those wafty ones who always felt sorry for the fox) but blimey that looked like a day out and a half. Nic, you live in such a beautiful area, and to see your pones going over those slate-y rocky paths gives me real hope that I'll get my crew over our sharp flinty trails too here in Wiltshire. Brilliant stuff.

dorisday

PS - loved the music to the vid too - it's not often I'm found grooving at my desk at 9.40am, but today was one of those days!

lazeearabians

This person is a friend of mine too and I know she does the best she can for her horses. She has a lot on her plate though and as Terry said most of the horses live out in a massive field in a big herd. No way you could restrict their grazing or make a track system on a field you need a quad bike to even find the horses some days. Most of the horses she breeds and sells are for the traditional sports horse market and will inevitably end up being shod full time once they go to their new homes. Yes in an ideal world she'd be able to have all her horses barefoot and send them onto their new homes also barefoot but this is the real world.

I'm a relative newcomer to barefooting and yes I'm a convert now but it's taken about three years to convince me it's the way to go. And one of the main things that put me off was how judgmental the barefoot movement appears to be towards non-converts. I'm not having a go at the original poster here and actually I can understand the attitude much more now I'm on this side of the fence. I can now see it's more about passionately knowing what's best for the horse than looking down on anyone else - but it can come across as hostile and as I said judgmental and considering anyone can look at this forum, including people who might be having the first tiny thoughts of trying barefoot, it's an attitude that could potentially frighthen people away.

Nic

Terry

Caroline,

I certainly wasn't intending to make anyone feel uncomfortable, just to present some context to your observations of what you commented upon. In terms of identifying the person I am not quite sure " I" have done this, there aren't too many barefoot endurance riders competing at 50 miles that know Sarah and I.

This is a fab forum which gives people the opportunity to share personal experiences and gain advice from each other, however, it is a public forum which we should always be mindful of when we post.

Terry

pat

cptrayes

Terry I'm sure most horse people didn't know a woman who competed 50 mile rides barefoot from Adam. But everyone in the local area, horsey or not, will know "that dealer/breeder woman who keeps hundreds of horses in a herd in one huge field". I did not know who she was until you wrote that, but I do now.

If you are trying to tell me that I shouldn't have written what I wrote, please stop the cryptic messages and say so. And if you are saying that, then I am sorry you were offended on behalf of your friend, but I would write it again. It was such an odd exchange and seemed and still seems to me to be indicative of some of the problems that we face with having barefoot accepted mainstream.

Pat can I suggest that you start another thread asking Terry for his views on sugar intolerance and sugared commercial feeds, because I think this one should be allowed to die a quiet death now?

C

horsesfirst

pat

thanks for the welcome, Horsesfirst. At Caroline's suggestion I have started a new thread. Like yours one of mine is ultra sensitive so I am hoping for ideas. It would also be nice to see what people feed "normal" working horses.