Any barefoot eventers out there?

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elliebate

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I am a bit of a lurker but have come out of hiding to post!!

My 5yo ISH who I have competed this season (when weather has allowed) at BE90 is having a few issues with his feet.

Not sure if it is to do with the weather not helping but his feet are really breaking up. He has only been shod for 3 weeks and already lost 2 nails from his right hind and on his right fore the hood wall below the clenches has almost broken through leaving nothing to support the nail in the foot.

Farrier is coming Monday and I am really hoping he can sort him out even just for a few weeks as I have the PC eventing champs next weekend! But have decided after that I am happy to let him go barefoot to improve his feet.

So question... Thinking about next season if the transition to BF goes well, does anyone compete BE with an unshod horse? How do they go? Any trouble regarding not using studs?

Many thanks, sorry for babbling!!
 
I have't actually competed mine yet but we have dressaged, jumped and xc'd on various surfaces in various condions (inc wet grass) without a problem. I've not as yet had an issue with feeling like I needed studs or struggled with grip but I am only jumping small stuff (80-90cm) at the moment.

Taking his shoes off has drastically improved his feet though, they are super and he is very, very sound! :)
 
I think that it really depends on the horse. Last year my daughter ran her 15hh connie mare with only front shoes on & didn't have any problems at all with regard slipping, even when others were having problems! However, this pony hadn't worn shoes at all before us putting fronts on her & she's very sure footed.
We've now got a 15.3 ISH & i can't imagine her going round with out studs, i'd be worried sick!

Good luck.
 
Mine hasn't done BE yet but he has done unaff equivelant with no shoes on. He has never felt any different to a shod or studded horse. If you do take them off I'd spend some time this winter with both of you getting used to not having shoes on as if he stops using his backend when on grass he may start to slip.
 
As others have said, depends on the size of the horse and level of comeptition.
I wouldnt dream of BEing a 16h+ above intro without studs personally and although Im sure there is an arguement for barefoot in youngsters, IMO it is a tender age that they begin thier education and a slip into the bottom of a fence could end it for you.
Although it obviously isnt an issue for you for the next couple of years but I once saw a girl doing INT getting told off because her horse was slipping and they said she should have had better studs in, so with that in mind I would imagine if they cope without slipping you're on to a winner, if they dont and it is deemed dangerous you could get into trouble.
have you looked into glue on shoes? (for the record - I dont have much experience with them so Im not sure how they affect the hoof quality where they have been stuck)
I would stick with the shoes for now, buy some farriers formula, cornucrescine (no idea if that is spelt right) and those sorts of things, then maybe in winter if you feel the same way take the shoes off to give the hoof the opportunity to improve without nails, but I get the feeling this is an issue that needs solving from the inside out. :)
 
I think cptrayes has evented barefoot. If not, she has certainly hunted. It might be worth a pm to ask her about it. Good luck!
 
Done five different horses up to BE novice with no problems whatsoever, except perhaps the loss of a mark or two in a slick dry grass dressage arena from not being able to power around a corner without studs in. Cross country in all possible ground conditions, no issues.

I gave it up when it got so expensive and I stopped bouncing because of my age. I hunt how, still shoeless over 6ft hedges in all ground conditions with no problems at all.
 
My friend went round Richmond novice today, barefoot (horse, not rider :p). No problems with slipping - and he's a 16.2/3hh TB.
B wasn't too keen on hard ground apparently when shod, so they took his shoes off and now he is much happier.
 
Hey,
I think its hard to know if a particular horse will cope until the shoes are off and you give it a go. I'm lucky to have owned my horse since she was two so was able to make the decision to go shoeless before any damage was done to her feet, she's a 16.3hh middleweight. We're just starting to event this year - first one this week! :s So far no issues on any type of ground, jumped yesterday on long grass with cuttings on top, soggy from rain on a slope and the only slip we had was due to an unbalanced corner, can't really blame her feet for that one... I'm one of the last to go in my section and its meant to rain on the day, but I'm confident we'll be ok. There's lots of people who event without shoes, have a look on the BE forums.

EC
 
I used shoes when I was eventing some years ago but that was before BF .i never used studs until the higher levels even then.
If I was to event again I would not hesitate to to it BF at the lower levels if the horse was coping easily with life BF I would just make sure I that I did most of my jumping training on grass .
 
My 16 year old is in full work and unshod, we compete BE100, dressage unaffil prelim/novice.
She copes really well her feet are fantastic, and she has better grip round the XC than when she has shoes on even with studs.

She was shod previous to this on the fronts for years, my farrier kept on at me to try with the fronts off, then for no apparent reason she kept loosing shoes (perhaps due to a new yard, different ground?) and I decided to try...I have not looked back! She still sees the farrier every six weeks but only needs a trim about every twelve although more in the spring when the new grass comes in.
 
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