Bare foot VS shod

[Powder River Walker]

Found this thought this was interesting, you can find the whole story at this web site http://www.equipodiatry.com/article_barefoot_v_shod.htm

The majority of horse's feet remain healthy until the time they are broke and enter training usually as 2 year olds. As training begins, the hoof capsule and its related structures are still immature, the animal is confined to a stall or small paddock, a rider is placed on its back which leads to additional weight bearing on the feet and the horse now begins to work. Training may lead to abnormal stresses being placed on an underdeveloped foot along with excessive wear to the feet. The animal begins to show discomfort and shoes are then placed on the feet for protection. It has been discovered that the horse has receptors in the bottom of its foot and it is speculated that these receptors function in a stimulatory capacity1. So the first thing that happens when shoes are applied is that these receptors lose contact with the ground. Next we need to take into account how the foot is being trimmed and the application of shoes by the farrier. So we see right off that the combination of the above factors can / will / often do change the structures of the foot forever, often leading to a "weak" foot that is hard to maintain without shoes

[pegleg]

look at it like this the human foot or a hounds when we're born they are tender as we walk they toughen up. people wear shoes and if they don't fit properly during the growth period serious lifelong deformities can result. then you have those peoples that don't wear shoes in the same way or as often as we do the ones that go barefoot for life end up with very healthy and tough feet with a pad on the bottoms of their feet made of thickened dried skin like a hounds. if you spend much time with range horses the benifiets quickly become apparent. I learned this early on my dad and uncles would buy horses from the auction that had all sorts of hoof problems we'd take them home and trim or do some sort of preventive maintenance turn them out for 9-12 months and when they were brought in the problems were usually completely gone using a big paddock instead of stalls helps alot. mud, urine, bacteria, feces and nail holes can cause serious problems. look at the broodmare bands they seldom have any hoof issues. they wear them well enough breakage and over growth aren't a problem and infection is never a issue. maybe sprains but nothing serious. anyone riding for a place with a large band of range horses lets hear what you've seen.

[Benny G]

I used to help an outfit in central Az that kept around 30 head of horses. The country was so rough that they thought they needed to put fresh shoes on them to turn them out between works. During this time off, they would end up barefoot. When they gathered them to start woking off of them again, although short, their feet were in great shape.
I had a horse founder so bad once that he was down with fever in all four feet when I found him. I gave him an EXTRA healthy dose of pennicilan and just turned him out. Every so often I would catch him up and trim his feet. As time went by, his soles started pushing back up whrer they belonged. His soles never did get completely back to the same place, but after about a year he was as good to ride as ever, just had to be a little careful shoeing him. I believe that spending time barefoot is a natural way to keeping a horse's feet healthy.

[Powder River Walker]

We run about 40 head and trust me they all don't get trimmed on a schedual. I agree with everything but one point and this is just because I have gotten horses out of nebraska and seen alot of horses out of nebraska. and in order to get the feet to break off and stay the way they need to be is there has to be rock. sand or a nice green pasture wont break any thing off. we run all ours in the summer in a 600 acre pasture that has a ridge, deep draws and rocks they don't need alot of foot work. but our stuff we keep in close that is turned out in an old hay meadow their feet get long and need some attention.
PRW

[Mike Leonard]

I have always been a stickler about my horse's feet. I grew up in ranch country and we didn't have a lot of bad rock in that county but some and it badlands and rough. Most guys trimmed their saddles horses regular but unless they were really pounding the bad roughs and horse had some weak feet anyway seldom did the show them. i can't hardly every remember a horse with navicular and foot problems other than wire cuts maybe. Further south i moved everybody shod their horse even jack pot ropers that only sat on them maybe an hour a week had everything shod up and holy smokes foot problems abound. Now we know feeding also has a lot to do with foot problems but i see so much foot problems it makes you think it;s in the water. Now if I am really in the bad stuff a lot I put iron on their feet, but when I am not using them I jerk the shoes off and let them get back on the ground and trim them regular. My regulur farrier suffered a bad fall and hasn't been able to get under a horse for a year and I hate shoeing anymore my back suffers for a week from a couple of horse. so I have been trimming regular bringing the soes down and riding a lot of them barefoot even in the winter. Amazing they sure seem to be doing good.

I hunt a lot where the wild horses are and I get to look at their feet and they run some terrible country. The have the best feet on a horse you have ever seen.

[Brady Davis]

While I like it when a horse can go barefoot, I think there is a line that people cross trying to be to "natural". Comparing wild horses to our horses is a comparison that lacks base and sense. Our horses are completely different from them. They don't breed because their daddy was a money winner....they breed tough horse to tough horse and the gamers survive. That said, they also might not get lame too much but keep in mind, any one of those buggars goes lame and he's dead....people observing wild horses don't see lame ones and they think they all have great feet....no, not so, the lame ones just die before we see them!

I've only seen a handful of horses that can really hack domestic horse work on a ranch and stay barefoot. Seen lots o mules that can but i bet I could make most "barefoot" horses sore doing what we do. I'm a fan of shoes and if they are gonna be turned out then pull 'em. I think bad shoeing has a lot more to do with all the problems than just "being shod". This country isn't known around the world for having a big quantity of quality farriers.....in fact, not even close

[Cowboyvon]

While I like it when a horse can go barefoot, I think there is a line that people cross trying to be to "natural". Comparing wild horses to our horses is a comparison that lacks base and sense. Our horses are completely different from them. They don't breed because their daddy was a money winner....they breed tough horse to tough horse and the gamers survive. That said, they also might not get lame too much but keep in mind, any one of those buggars goes lame and he's dead....people observing wild horses don't see lame ones and they think they all have great feet....no, not so, the lame ones just die before we see them!

I've only seen a handful of horses that can really hack domestic horse work on a ranch and stay barefoot. Seen lots o mules that can but i bet I could make most "barefoot" horses sore doing what we do. I'm a fan of shoes and if they are gonna be turned out then pull 'em. I think bad shoeing has a lot more to do with all the problems than just "being shod". This country isn't known around the world for having a big quantity of quality farriers.....in fact, not even close

I agree totally good post......

[pegleg]

I can't agree if we're to blame with our breeding maybe it's our ideas that need to change if a hound has a soundness fault do you breed it? I have put 9 days straight on my mare in the mountains of az. not chasing cows but full damn days bare foot and in the end she was getting a little tender but there's horses that can do it with out going lame. I am not a natural freak but if it keeps them sound better and cost less then do it. or in the case of boots they keep them sound and you safe on the rocks. poor hooves are something you don't have to live with or breed to and it should be a consideration. and with horse prices today if you aren't taking the chance to improve your string where you can well that says something.

[Brady Davis]

I can't agree if we're to blame with our breeding maybe it's our ideas that need to change if a hound has a soundness fault do you breed it? I have put 9 days straight on my mare in the mountains of az. not chasing cows but full damn days bare foot and in the end she was getting a little tender but there's horses that can do it with out going lame. I am not a natural freak but if it keeps them sound better and cost less then do it. or in the case of boots they keep them sound and you safe on the rocks. poor hooves are something you don't have to live with or breed to and it should be a consideration. and with horse prices today if you aren't taking the chance to improve your string where you can well that says something.

I'm sure there are horses out there who can hack it but there are damn few.

And, many horses have HUGE faults and they get bred everyday! Yeah, I think it is our doing in breeding, feeding and where our horses are kept.

[Mike Leonard]

I agree Brady there is no way to compare the domestic horse with the wild horse and their feet. I am not advocating the natural foot method because I don't think it is relivant for very many of today's horses.

Another thing I have pondered on the wild horses. although they travel to and from water and feeding areas daily most will remain in a fairly small area if other wild bands are present. In fact in our area we call some canyons but the stud horse that runs the area. Such as paint stud's canyon, hammer headed bay canyon and such. Funny but for generation these studs will pass down I guess and as amazing as it may seem within a mile or two you will see different characterisics and color patterns in the foal crops year after year. This leads me to conclude they don't travel as far as we usually presume. On the other hand the horses we ride travel usually further and in a less natural pattern and route as we direct them with our purposes in mind.

[Brady Davis]

Amen Mike. You bring up another stellar point on the wild horses. Of course they don't travel far. Wild horses are concerned with 2 things, eating and breeding. And, like any wise wild creature, they will do the least amount possible and use the least amount of energy possible to do so. You won't see a wild horse going on a trail ride! LOL.

[Powder River Walker]

Brady you just discribed our 5 year old stud. We worked him the other day and he did everything I asked just so I would put him up and feed him. LOL

[Dan Edwards]

While I like it when a horse can go barefoot, I think there is a line that people cross trying to be to "natural". Comparing wild horses to our horses is a comparison that lacks base and sense. Our horses are completely different from them. They don't breed because their daddy was a money winner....they breed tough horse to tough horse and the gamers survive. That said, they also might not get lame too much but keep in mind, any one of those buggars goes lame and he's dead....people observing wild horses don't see lame ones and they think they all have great feet....no, not so, the lame ones just die before we see them!

I've only seen a handful of horses that can really hack domestic horse work on a ranch and stay barefoot. Seen lots o mules that can but i bet I could make most "barefoot" horses sore doing what we do. I'm a fan of shoes and if they are gonna be turned out then pull 'em. I think bad shoeing has a lot more to do with all the problems than just "being shod". This country isn't known around the world for having a big quantity of quality farriers.....in fact, not even close

I completely agree. No horse nor mule can hack it barefoot no matter how it was brought up. Shoe the buggers right and there wont be no problems at all.

[lmorgan]

I live in part of the country where rocks are about as big as a marble and have to be dug up with machines out of river beds. The only time I shoe my horses is when I know I'm going to be riding on gravel roads a lot and it's been dry for a while. And then the shoes are just a precaution to keep pea gravel out of the hoof wall and causing an abcess. We have so much mud that in the winter months shoes get sucked right off if you're not careful and really don't serve a lot of purpose. I'm not so much a naturalist that I don't believe in shoes, but in our absense of rocky ground, I don't see much need for it. I've never put shoes on my saddle mule and he's been hauled quite a bit. What we need for our horses is the same thing we need for our cowboys... rubber boots!

[Cowboyvon]

Well I just got back from packing into the Gila Wilderness.. I had pulled the shoes on my mules a few weeks ago and probably had put about 50 miles on them in 4 days of riding but not consecutive days prior to this last trip... According to my astro we put on right at 40 miles in 4 days in a row and I'm pretty sure my sorrel mule wouldn't of made it another day, he was pretty tender coming out..I rode him the whole time and packed the other mule and she seemed like she could keep going... Maybe he will toughen up I'm not sure but if it happens again I'm putting iron on him..