Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

msar-riders - [MSAR] barefoot vs shod horses in rough terrain

msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Mounted search and rescue

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: schipstar@aol.com
  • To: msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [MSAR] barefoot vs shod horses in rough terrain
  • Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:25:22 -0500

Hi Lana,
I don't think you can make a blanket rule like that, as all horses are different and each person knows (hopefully) what is best for their horse.  Some have soft feet and have been shod their entires lives, some are born with nice feet and kept that way by no shoeing and correct trimming.  It would be a disaster to try to leave a previously shod animal barefoot and then expect him to be able to handle rocks and hard roads.  At the very least, if you do have one with good feet, he would need to be turned out and trimmed correctly for some time in order to get his feet back to their natural good state.

We have Morgans and they (the true Morgan, the western working type) are known for their great feet that don't required being shod.  Sometimes, shoeing isn't as good as the horse being barefoot.  A barefoot horse with good feet can often get a better "grip" when going over rough, especially rock/steep terrain.

This is a link to a friends website.   She does work for USFS, restoring back country trails and camps, among other things.  It isn't SAR but probably more consistently rough stuff for a horse's hooves.  She works with a group called Back Country Horsemen, who promote "leave no trace behind" for people using back country trails and camp sites.   This is the link only for her articles, not her main page although I think you can get to the rest of her website as well from there. http://www.jafmorganstockhorses.com/articles.htm  . 

These are articles she's written about her back country work in very rough terrain with barefoot horses, also some cattle drive things as well.  None of her horses (all Morgans) have ever been shod and they slip and slide a lot less than the shod horses who are along for these trips.

I love this group, even though I don't contribute much, I read all of the digests and learn so much.  Thanks for sharing.

Lynn

Lynn Brown
Ebonystar Schipperkes
www.angelsgaterescue.com
Special Dogs for Special People for over 35 years

 
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 15:47:13 -0800
From: LANA BLAND <ldbland@q.com>
Subject: [MSAR] MSAR horse - barefoot vs. being shod
To: <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <BLU130-W27DEC79A7E10708197C312A9B50@phx.gbl">BLU130-W27DEC79A7E10708197C312A9B50@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"


Hello everyone,
 
I'm looking for some feedback from anyone who is or has successfully used a 
barefoot horse (using the natural hoofcare), for SAR or any other disciplines 
vs. being shod. 

With farrier costs being so high now, keeping a horse shod 365 days -year after 
year just for MSAR requirements has become a financial stress for some of our 
current members and has even been an issue when trying to recruit new MSAR 
members that successfully use the natural hoofcare practice.

Thank you for any information you can share.

Lana

 
"Horses Are Like Potato Chips - you can't have just one."  




  • [MSAR] barefoot vs shod horses in rough terrain, schipstar, 02/19/2009

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page