Gravel
Crunchers |
The ideal
in the barefoot world is a barefoot
horse who can handle extremes
in terrain... a horse that can
move easily across rock, sand,
mud, and water.
The assumption in recent times
has been that most domestic
horses are incapable of having
tough, durable feet, because
"good footedness"
has been bred out of domesticated
horses.
But even barefoot fanatics
are skeptical about the mythical
"gravel crunchers",
bare feet that can go anywhere,
do anything....
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Cagey, 10 year old Arab |
Cagey |
About
these dramatic "Gravel
Crunching" pictures...
The horses depicted in these
pictures are all eager and willing
trail horses with very, very
sensitive, if durable, feet.
These pictures are taken on Coast Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore during a
24 mile - barefoot - ride,
and the horses are so casual
about the rocky environment that they
had to be slowed down
for me to take the pictures...
so no, moving over rock at a
decent speed isn't a problem
- unless someone's trying to get good
pictures!
These horses and riders aren't
stupid! Ridden on a loose rein,
barefoot horses avoid rock if
there is an alternative, and
while we trot trough rough trail,
we let the horse set the pace
and don't interfere with where
they walk.
When riding on trail that starts
bothering our horses movement,
we either pull out boots
or change trails! The trails
that slow us down barefoot should
slow down a shod horse, too,
because that narrow band of
1/4 inch metal can't protect
a horses feet from severe stone.
boots like Old Macs, Epics and Renegades offer excellent protection.
They take 3 minutes a set to
put on, and they stay in place
in all conditions. Riding booted
is just as cool as riding barefoot!
My horse almost never needs
rear boots, but I do carry rear
boots when his feet are extremely
wet and soft and the terrain
is extremely rocky.
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Robby, 12 year old Arab
Tinker, an 18 year old shetland
pony |
Developing
a gravel cruncher foot
The
concept of passive conditioning involves using rock or gravel
around watering tanks, gates
and feeding areas.
Xenophon, a fourth century BC Greek cavalry commander, had a lot to say on horse management
for the development of rock-hard
feet. Some of the oldest writings about the care of hooves are found in the works of Xenophon, who wrote "naturally sound hooves get spoiled in most stalls," and included the instruction that their hooves should be toughened by putting a cobblestone area in their paddock, (a practice still in use today).
Building
A Foot For Rocky Trails
Building a tough hoof is dependent on the right LIM (Less Is More) trim, a lots of time and
travel, good low-carb diet (See http://www.hoofrehab.com/diet.htm) , and booting when necessary.
While the process takes
time and riding, it isn't difficult...
feed right, trim just enough, get rid of thrush and provide good footing in the living environment and los of exercise.
Sonoma County has lots of rocky
trail, so my guys had to either
develop great feet or be booted
in the front. I'm close to
Armstrong Woods, Austin Creek
Parks, Annadale
and Point Reyes National Seashore.
Some of this trail is easy on
bare feet, but most of the trail
has a considerable amount
of sharp shale or fist sized rocks.
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The
Shape of a Healthy Bare Foot
There may be an ideal shape
for most conditions, but many
shapes are possible.
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Cagey
& Robbie |
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cagey grew up in a tough 300 acre pasture. The mares and foals were again
turned out to pasture until
the foals were 3 to 4 months
old, when they were again brought
in and essentially round penned
as a herd, taught the essentials
of natural horsemanship. There
were handled a bit, then turned
out again to mature.
Cagey matured into
an awesome almost bomb proof
trail horse. Danielle tried
shoeing him, but the farrier
said his feet were too hard
to trim, so wait until he wears
them down and then he'd nail
shoes on. After thinking about
this - and trying to wear his
feet down unsuccessfully - Danielle
decided to skip the shoes. |
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Tinker |
Tinker is an almost 20 year old Welsh pony who is Deb Weathers favorite horse to ride. Don't let his size deceive you! This is an Equine to be reckoned with!
Tinker easily does 15 to 20 mile trail rides at top speed carrying owner Deb. He blows the socks off of Arabs and TBs, shod, unshod or booted, and he has ALWAYS been barefoot!
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