Barefoot Eventing?

I've happily evented and hunted on a tall but very well balanced and athletic warmblood that was barefoot. He was very surefooted and never really slipped - or at least never slipped where I didn't think he would have done had he been shod. However, he was very balanced, found everything easy and didn't fight. You have to treat each horse as an individual. I personally think you have to have good reason to shoe a horse and would prefer to see them have regular breaks out of shoes, but there are times when they're necessary and there's no point riding a sore horse or risking loss of confidence - or a fall - because you aren't prepared to shoe.
 
Yeah I know what you've done ;). I meant those posting on facebook eventing groups :).

I love pouring rain and mud :p, IME the slippiest conditions were the wet on hard ones, that and when at the right dampness compacted chalk wiltshire tracks. For most conditions I'd rather be unshod than shod or booted.

I guess I just read stuff sometimes even as a massive barefoot advocate and think that I'm not sure they are telling the whole story, it is of course doable but there are likely different considerations in place to those that are shoeing and studding.
 
I know a professional eventer who had a barefoot horse who competed successfully at BE Intermediate and 2* without shoes. They were careful about the ground he ran on, but I remember he coped very well, but it didnt make my friend want to convert the rest of his yard to barefoot.
 
SEL said:
A few weeks ago i had the horrible experience of watching my barefoot draft lose his footing in the field at a canter when it was dew on grass. He slammed onto his side at speed.

My mare has gone over twice on damp grass too so I've stopped riding her on it. Watching another livery and her barefoot dressage warmblood take a tumble didn't help my confidence either.

I'm a huge fan of barefoot but not to the extent you'd risk the rider or horse's safety. I used to wear studded boots when I was a kid playing hockey on grass to not slip so in my mind fast work on horses needs extra support. Some seem to have inbuilt 4WD - mine don't!
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In fairness I think damp grass and unstudded shoes are just as dangerous. My morning hacking route (avoid morning traffic) has some lovely canters on short grass. But lethal when there is heavy dew which sun hasn't burnt off.
 
I have to say that I am a massive barefoot advocate - it all makes total sense to me and I actually hate the 6 week farrier torture of seeing metal nailed to their hooves and will not trot on roads with shoes. However with my daughter now competing at BE 100 I would not send them out without studs even in the dressage stage. Yes he is in shoes but I can not see how the barefoot hoof is designed to not to slip on grass in a 20 by 40 arena or tight turns showjumping on slippery grass. Yes shoes and studs are unnatural but what we are asking them to do is unnatural and i for one don't look like the look of fear on my daughters pony when he is slippy and sliding all over the place. Put studs in and he does what we ask him to do happily and with a happy disposition
 
Not much help myself, as I only compete dressage barefoot these days. But when I was eventing, there was a lady going around the 2* tracks with us who's horse was barefoot. She posted the fastest time one day around a track that was seriously, seriously wet. Another lady had an enormous horse (17.2+) who was bare and evented to CCI 1*. She would time her trims so there was a little more hoof left for a big comp, and then trim notches into the wall. She went around one of our biggest CCI's, in the dead of winter like this. After the event she simply smoothed the notches off. My little WB is bare and has been his whole life, and I can honestly say, after years of eventing/schooling horses in the wet with studs, my barefoot horse so simply so much more sure footed. I love competing on wet/hard/slippery grass because he is so much more balanced than his shod counterparts.
 
There was a horse called Millenium Mischief or Magic, I can't recall which, that used to event to advanced, about ten years ago. They couldn't keep him sound in shoes so they ran him without.
 
Studs are far far safer for eventing - you are going at speed ,turning corners, asking horses to rely on their footing and on short dry grass or short wet grass particulalry it can be really slippy. You don't need big ones but they definitely give an advantage!
 
ycbm said:
There was a horse called Millenium Mischief or Magic, I can't recall which, that used to event to advanced, about ten years ago. They couldn't keep him sound in shoes so they ran him without.
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Thats the horse I was referring to, we called him Siddy No Shoes at home! The farrier who did him is also my farrier, he has kept my barefoot dressage horses very happy too.
 
I'm another one who shod to stud during the season and then gave a break from shoes over winter. It's not just when the ground is greasy or covered with dew that studs really help.

This is a pic of me riding rather badly as an individual at the RC national champs in the late 80s. The ground, at the 3 Counties showground, was dry, rock hard and slippery as heck. It was like riding on ice, and horses were skidding everywhere. I put hard ground studs (the sharp pointy ones) in behind, and my utterly genuine lad went well enough to get placed on going he hated. Without studs, it would have been horrendous and unsafe.

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This is all really interesting. My preference would be no shoes but only if it is safe and does not knock her confidence. I am taking shoes off next week for the winter and I'll see how we get on. I'll do a couple of cliniics and a pre season camp which should give me a good idea of how she is managing but I'm not averse to putting shoes back on next Spring for the eventing season if necessary.
 
I'm just starting out in eventing/ODE land and mine has been barefoot for about 4 years now. She has slipped once in dressage on dewy grass... however she was attempting her own movement which vaguely resembled a banana crossed with a llama... I find as she takes on the SJ and XC fences she is more confident covering the ground and we've not really had an issue. She is absolutely more sure footed than when she was shod however have never tried studs... and yes if I thought she would struggle in the ground conditions I would withdraw - not worth either of us losing our confidence when we are only doing it for fun and not competitively.
 
Ambers Echo said:
BP would you take shoes off at the end of the season for winter SJ and dressage (all on surface) and replace them in Spring for eventing? From what I have read transitioning from shoes takes a while so once they are fine unshod you'd want to keep them that way?? But your post seems to suggest that you can take them on and off and it's ok? Unless I have misunderstood?

Sorry these are probably very basic questions! Mine have all just either been shod or unshod depending on what they wore (or didn't) when I bought them so I have never really considered the issues and options much before.
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I shod my horse so I could stud. Barefoot he slipped XC with me (we weren't even going very quick but grass was short and ground hard and wet) and fell on me. Not worth the risk imo. Never slipped studded. Sure others will tell you otherwise but this was my experience.
 
I go between barefoot (as in properly trimmed by a barefoot trimmer, not farrier) and shod with studs. Ive found it really depends on the horse. Ive evented to BE90 without studs but with all my horses Ive found Im much happier shod purely for the studs. BUT I am dreadful at dressage, my horses have always been onward bound - balance is always an issue for us (me) so if you had a nicely balanced steady horse then you could easily go higher barefoot. You just have to see how your particular horse copes. You can swop and change though, dont think you can ONLY do one thing - with all mine, if they did need studs then Id shoe purely for the outdoor season (for me thats April - now) then get my trimmer back so horse is barefoot over the winter again. All horses cope very well doing this, so please dont let people put you off that theres some kind of big transition period, my current one evented yesterday with her studs in and will have her shoes taken off next week and will be perfectly able to go out competing on a surface (now everythings indoor) days after. With my current mare, I competed to BE90 but then she did end up slipping over in a XC warm up, I knew then that I had to stud her.

Personally at the end of the day, I love my horses to be barefoot and they are usually. But studs do give me confidence in tight turns etc. so I feel I ride a lot more confidently with them than that slight doubt without.
 
Magic Melon that sounds like a really sensible approach. I am glad you and others have said that the transition to unshod is not likely to cause any issues either.
 
Re-visiting this thread as I am now at decision time.... Amber ran unshod at Aston Le Walls and that was fine but dressage and SJ were on a surface. She was fine at a XC clinic today too on slippy ground. But having just re-read this all, it seems it is the SJ and dressage that are the issue. So I think I will shoe and stud her for the rest of the season. I have NO IDEA about studs. What should I be looking for? How many in each shoe? All 4 feet or just 2? TIA x
 
I have two stud holes in each shoe but usually only use one on the outside and often just stud behind. Like to have to option though, last week I studded in every hole.
Ambers Echo said:
Re-visiting this thread as I am now at decision time.... Amber ran unshod at Aston Le Walls and that was fine but dressage and SJ were on a surface. She was fine at a XC clinic today too on slippy ground. But having just re-read this all, it seems it is the SJ and dressage that are the issue. So I think I will shoe and stud her for the rest of the season. I have NO IDEA about studs. What should I be looking for? How many in each shoe? All 4 feet or just 2? TIA x
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What surfaces are you referring to that are causing you issues?

Dressage should be on a flat surface and your paces are probably working trot and canter and fairly balanced. I don't see a problem here? If you are unshod surely you already school and jump on a surface at home?

I have been unshod now for gosh I dunno how many years, but I have done everything from sj, dressage, hunting. It makes no difference either way. But an unbalanced horse will slip on any surface.
 
The-Bookworm said:
What surfaces are you referring to that are causing you issues?

Dressage should be on a flat surface and your paces are probably working trot and canter and fairly balanced. I don't see a problem here? If you are unshod surely you already school and jump on a surface at home?

I have been unshod now for gosh I dunno how many years, but I have done everything from sj, dressage, hunting. It makes no difference either way. But an unbalanced horse will slip on any surface.
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I'm sorry but as someone with experience of five barefoot horses eventing up to Novice, I can't agree with this.

One of the worst surfaces for unshod horses is a dry flat dressage arena. Without studs, my experience is that you can't maintain the same power on the corners and you will drop marks.

I found no issues either SJ or XC, but definitely dressage suffers slightly.

I last evented quite a few years back now, and since then the courses have become much more technical. With twists and turns inside combinations, I think it's possible that I would now want to stud for XC if I was still competing at Novice level.
 
As a rider I know studs make a huge difference to a horse .
At one point I sort of planned to try some low level stuff without shoes a few days schooling was enough to put me off the difference in the horse shod and studdded was enormous.
I think you could try some schooling and see how you feel.
If you want shoes on put them on for the season and then take them off again once you have a horse bf it’s preety easy to swop back and forth ime .
 
Btw I completely disagree with Ycbm my horse did dressage very well without shoes I never had a issue in corners on a surface .
 
In addition to the hard ground pic that I posted earlier in the thread, how would this bottomless going ride without shoes and studs cf with them? I don't know btw, just putting it out there.

This was the dressage arena at a BE90 regional final that I scribed for in 2017 o_O.

image.jpeg
 
Tbh all horses will struggle to decent test on that ground a bf might well manage better it really depends on the horse it’s mind and it’s shape .
 
Goldenstar said:
Btw I completely disagree with Ycbm my horse did dressage very well without shoes I never had a issue in corners on a surface .
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I think ycbm meant dry flat grass? why would it ever be an issue on a surface?

TP I think F would have been absolutely fine on that, I'd prefer that over dry ground really. Obviously he has rather an up/down way of going though in general always preferred hard ground rather than being a mud lark Love the gulls!
 
Haha Ester, the gulls had rich pickings that day with all the worms etc. that were brought to the surface. I tried at first to scare them off in between competitors, but they just settled back down before I'd got back to the judge's car :D. They didn't bother much when there was a horse in the arena either, they just about fluttered out of the horse's way and settled right back down again after it went past.

None of the competitors whinged or complained, they were just happy that the RF went ahead. Gotta love the eventers cf the dressage divas.

Agree that a round actioned ned would cope better with that going than a daisy cutter.
 
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The-Bookworm said:
What surfaces are you referring to that are causing you issues?

Dressage should be on a flat surface and your paces are probably working trot and canter and fairly balanced. I don't see a problem here? If you are unshod surely you already school and jump on a surface at home?

I have been unshod now for gosh I dunno how many years, but I have done everything from sj, dressage, hunting. It makes no difference either way. But an unbalanced horse will slip on any surface.
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When I said 'on a surface' in my post I was referring to the dressage and/or SJ being in an arena on an arena surface which would not cause anyone any problems unshod. However most ODEs have the dressage and show-jumping on grass which when wet/dewy can cause slipping according to the many replies to my original question about barefoot eventing. Hacking/hunting/XC riding are all fine unshod by all accounts. But tight SJ turns and dressage corners on wet grass are far more tricky without studding up according to many who replied.
 
Well that answers THAT question.... Amber slipped twice cantering 20m circles on dewy grass this morning at Eland Lodge ODE. So shoes and studs it is from now on till the end of the season.
 
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