Mounted search and rescue

[Joe Bigley <jsbigley@mindspring.com>]

Hi Lana - it depends alot on where you ride...I do my riding in the rocky mountains, often on pretty rocky, steep terrain...I put shoes on the front and leave the back bare...all except one of my horses who has soft, easily cracked hooves...she gets shoes on all four feet...of course, with the snow we get, I pull all the shoes in the winter else the horses get "snow balls" in their hooves...

I do have one horse, well ttrained but was from south Texas and brought up in an arena...always had four shoes on with hooves trimmed real short...it took about 2 years before his feet were tough enough to go barefoot...try riding barefoot - your horses will let you know if their feet are sore...they'll shy away from rocky roads and other areas that are bothersome...Joe.

-----Original Message-----
From: LANA BLAND
Sent: Feb 18, 2009 4:47 PM
To: msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [MSAR] MSAR horse - barefoot vs. being shod

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."