Barefoot horses, hoof boots, and competing!

Foxymumma

Foxymumma

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 July 2010
Messages
103
Location
On a Horse!
Visit site
I was just curious as to who if anyone has barefoot horses that compete? as in SJ, XC, showing and Dressage or any other sports.

also do you compete barefoot or put boots e.g. boa boots on your horses to compete in? and what sort of grip they give?

I was just wondering if my mare was kept barefoot and had some boa boots, if we would be penalised in showing competitions or dressage? :o

also any recommendations for specific boot makes that you find good, would also be welcomed :)

thanks in advance! :D
 
I think you'll find the only discipline you're allowed to compete with hoof boots on is endurance.

I know this is the case for the eventing, tho to be fair I haven't checked for Dr or SJ as I'm not affiliated with either of those.

To be honest, tho, if your horse's hooves are properly conditioned and the barefoot thing is working for you, you should be able to do DR/SJ/XC barefoot.

I go out hacking in hoof boots if I think the ground I'm going to be going over is particularly rough/ flinty - I use the easyboots and I've never found grip to be a problem tho you have to be a little careful they don't rub if you're going to be doing a lot of galloping (er, obviously the galloping isn't over the flinty ground, just in case anyone thinks I'm totally nuts! LOL!).
 
Kelpie said:
I think you'll find the only discipline you're allowed to compete with hoof boots on is endurance.

I know this is the case for the eventing, tho to be fair I haven't checked for Dr or SJ as I'm not affiliated with either of those.

To be honest, tho, if your horse's hooves are properly conditioned and the barefoot thing is working for you, you should be able to do DR/SJ/XC barefoot.

I go out hacking in hoof boots if I think the ground I'm going to be going over is particularly rough/ flinty - I use the easyboots and I've never found grip to be a problem tho you have to be a little careful they don't rub if you're going to be doing a lot of galloping (er, obviously the galloping isn't over the flinty ground, just in case anyone thinks I'm totally nuts! LOL!).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, Ive only just started looking into barefoot as my mare is only a youngster and as yet hasnt had shoes on, she hasnt got particularly good feet though, (Ive only recently brought her though so im hoping with a good farrier reigeme, cornucrescine and decent feeding with biotin this will right itself) thanks for clearing up for me what I thought to be true but wanted to check, re what competitions etc, I think I may invest in some boots for hacking until she is more advanced in her training and see how her feet come along, all this hard ground is making her feet crack up like nobodys business! :eek:
 
my boy is barefoot. competing elem dressage, schooling well towards adv medium.

intending to do some indoor sj for fun over winter.

TBH i think most eventing horses need shoes- in order to have studs, there are very courses where the going is guaranteed good enough year after year to not need studs and thus shoes.

i do hack out barefoot, but hacking my way is a bit rubbish so im not going out for hours several times a week. i probably do an hour (mainly roadwork, bit of trot and canter on wide verges) to 2 hours (mixture of roads, fields and grit tracks) once a week to every 10 days. even though my chap is a TB he is fine with that, but i think very flinty or a lot of stoney tracks would cause him issues and need more conditioning work.
 
All of mine (inc baby pony who I ride)

I've never put boots on any of them, never needed them. Hours of roawork, shows etc and never had any of them be foot sore. They've all had better grip competing (inc XC etc) than shod horses.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
my boy is barefoot. competing elem dressage, schooling well towards adv medium.

intending to do some indoor sj for fun over winter.

TBH i think most eventing horses need shoes- in order to have studs, there are very courses where the going is guaranteed good enough year after year to not need studs and thus shoes.

i do hack out barefoot, but hacking my way is a bit rubbish so im not going out for hours several times a week. i probably do an hour (mainly roadwork, bit of trot and canter on wide verges) to 2 hours (mixture of roads, fields and grit tracks) once a week to every 10 days. even though my chap is a TB he is fine with that, but i think very flinty or a lot of stoney tracks would cause him issues and need more conditioning work.
Click to expand...

Not meaning to say this in an inpolite way as clearly you are also into the barefoot and also I know a lot of people think that about the eventing - and possibly it's true at a very high level - but just to mention, I have friends that do event at Novice level barefoot no probs and I'd dare say there are people that do it at a higher level than that barefoot (this is my first year eventing a new boy I have so only intro at the mo but going to do a few PN's come the end of the season I hope and will remain barefoot unless there's a reason not to).

In fact in theory, given that with a barefoot horse the frog is properly on the ground, actually the horse's foot is doing it's job as it should and provides it's own non-slip/ grip option by virtue of the frog. As with anything, tho, horses for courses and I can see that it wouldn't suit every horse to do that.
 
I compete endurance on my barefoot horses - sometimes use boots sometimes don't. I do gallop on stony/flinty going - hoof boots give as much protection as shoes plus pads plus you have much stronger and thicker soles so any sort of terrain is a breeze. In fact I cantered past a fair few folks on their shod horses on Sunday at an endurance ride - on the roads! We cantered up the hills and trotted down the other sides where the shod horses had to go very slowly as they were slipping all over the place - meant we had the fastest time of the day in our class!
 
kelpie-no doubt there are a few that event bf, but by a long way a lot less than dressage or SJ and the majority of eventers i know say exactly what i said-going varies enormously year to year, course to course, and combine speed, fixed fences and a possible slip, and you've got potential for a bad accident, hence not many people consider it a viable option.

in any disiplince the competitors want to maximise their chances of winning, in eventing, grip is SO important, i doubt many people would be willing to risk a mistake due to slipping by doing away with the option for studs.

im very pro bf, and get annoyed that so many dressage horses esp, who compete and work soley on a surface, are shod with fancy smancy £££ shoes for no reason other than *its the norm*, but for eventing, i think few people and few horses can cope without ever needing studs.im a realist.

horses in the wild move at a steady pace mainly, they are not galloping round turns, to offset fences, then landing, turning and jumping up and down and banks to another offset fence etc.

kudos to you if you can do it, but i think its a foolhardy option for most people and horses.
 
trimmer.
farrier was convinced my old TB mare couldnt go bf, and i think, if he was SO determined she couldnt, he wouldnt have really tried to prove she could.....so i found someone who was convinced she could.....and she did! and i use the same lady for my new horse.

to be fair not all farriers think like that...bloke tat shoes my livery pony took one look at stars feet and declared it would be criminal to shoe him and he couldnt see any reason he would need shoes as his training progressed either.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle, yeah, I know what you mean, it's not for everyone/ every horse ........ and I know exactly what you mean about being annoyed about so many dressage horses still being in shoes when they spend their lives more or less in a stable/ on a surface/ in a field!

Funnily enough, it was my farrier that convinced me to give barefoot a go, which I realise is pretty unusual! My farrier does trimming and regular shoeing, so it's nice to have the comfort that he can do both. I've had a few little forrays into trying trimmers and have to say it didn't work out so well.
 
The Spooky Pony is barefoot. He has had a go at pretty much everything barefoot including endurance and hunting, though jumps have been tiny. In my experience, he slips far less than any shod horse I've ridden. I ride him over all sorts of going at varying speeds, and he seems very foot-sure. On the hunt, he was one of two barefoot horses, and neither had any trouble at all.

I do use boots (Easyboot Gloves) for rides when I'm expecting very stony going, but I prefer not to, because there have been (rare) occasions when one has fallen off. I think fit is essential with them, and maybe we don't have it quite right...

We've had some trouble with the grass up here this summer (vets and farriers all say they've never seen this much lamititis!), and had a very close brush with lamititis, so the boots were essential for a while. Any issues like that will be apparent sooner in a barefoot horse, which is both good (you can nip it in the bud), and inconvenient (a footy horse, since the problem isn't being masked by shoeing). He's been much better (though a bit cranky) since being hauled off the grass completely.

I use a trimmer, who came recommended by someone who moved to the yard at the same time I did. Her advice as to feeding and management has been invaluable. She has shown a great deal of professionalism in terms of responding very quickly to any sort of emergency call-out. The quality of her trimming speaks for itself: a significant portion of the yard has by now signed up with her.
 
I think you can use hoof boots for Riding Club dressage, but you would have to check the rules for eventing, Pony Club and Affiliated Dressage as the rules all slightly vary.

There are people who hunt and event barefoot successfully.
 
My boy, hacks, SJ, x- country, dressage all without boots over any kind of terrain at whatever speed we both choose rain, hail, wind or snow without shoes.

Farrier looks at him every couple of months, grunts, tells me he hates my *********g horse and hopes he doesnt have any more customers like me cos he never has to touch him! (he loves him really)
 
Andalusianlover said:
My boy, hacks, SJ, x- country, dressage all without boots over any kind of terrain at whatever speed we both choose rain, hail, wind or snow without shoes.

Farrier looks at him every couple of months, grunts, tells me he hates my *********g horse and hopes he doesnt have any more customers like me cos he never has to touch him! (he loves him really)
Click to expand...

This is the exact same as me! All of mine are barefoot, 2 retired and one eventing at pre-novice. I can honestly say that I have never felt disadvantaged without having studs in. He has only ever had one set of shoes so has never had to rely on studs. He is incredibly well balanced and I ride on all terraines. I do believe the fact he is welsh pony x with sports horse is a major factor in being able to do what I do without shoes and it's not for everyone but for me it works at the moment if I I feel he is needing shoes I will have no qualms in putting them on. You know the saying though - if it's not broken don't fix it!!
 
All of the three horses in my sig are barefoot. None of them have ever had shoes, and neither have they ever been booted (not that I'm against boots should the need ever arise). Where I am based, there are flints everywhere, yet my boys will move quite happily over this. Only occasionally do I notice any slight footiness, and that is always in the spring when they change to new grazing - for the first week or so when the grass is lush, they become slightly footy, but I know by now what to keep any eye out for at that time, and how to manage it.

I compete in endurance up to 50 miles (80km) with the two grey arabs, and do the occasional bit of dressage on the dark bay, who also gets ridden out and about across all terrain (although I don't do endurance with him). I can honestly say I've never had a problem with slipping (in fact at EGB Berkshire Downs 2009 it had been wet and we were riding over very slippery wet chalk - my barefoot horse coped brilliantly, but the shod horses were slipping left, right and centre).

Can't comment on the jumping/eventing issue though, as I'm a complete wuss when it comes to jumping and won't attempt anything over about 2 foot.
 
Haven't read previous posts but I evented my 14.1hh pony upto BE100 barefoot with no boots or things like that. It didn't bother him at all as he has really good feet and had never been shod before. But we have recently put shoes on him mainly for the grip and the studs.. yes its alot more expensive and he was happy enough barefoot but he was struggleing a bit when it was slippier especially at the larger heights.
 
wow! so many replies! thanks to all who have replied, its lovely to read everyones individual findings for keeping horses barefoot, or needing shoes, at the moment my mare has incredibly bad feet (from her previous home) which I am in the process of addressing with regular trimming and a diet with biotin etc to help generate some decent healthy growth plus applying cornucrescine.
I am very much leaning towards keeping her barefoot as she seems to have no problems walking on a variety of surfaces except those which are very flinty. Im hoping to go on and compete in a variety of things with her, and with her being a very large horse im of the thinking that keeping her barefoot would be more beneficial and less jarring for her legs etc, so fingers crossed I can get some decent growth going and she will never need shoes! :D
 
Studs arent compulsory. Everyone now seems to think they are. I event a 14.2 up to be100 and never have any problems with him. Also studs have adverse affects on horses legs and they learn to rely on them...
 
mine are all naked footed. compete dressage, do some hacking and showing....
i found last year the 6 year old was slipping on grass (dressage/showing) so i had 4 shoes and studs put on.
took them off once back on surface over winter. this year her feet seem to have developed more concave profile and she grips better and hasnt slipped. also her balance and strength is better. so she hasnt had shoes on this year.
 
Studs arent compulsory. Everyone now seems to think they are. I event a 14.2 up to be100 and never have any problems with him.
Click to expand...

Studs are the only reason I'd consider putting shoes on my horses (who are competeing barefoot and have been for years)

Kalli has fallen and rolled on her rider TWICE on slippy wet grass. With studs she wouldn't have.

Some horses are very surefooted but even the most nimble pony will slide whilst doing jump off turns on wet slidy grass.
 
Kallibear said:
Studs are the only reason I'd consider putting shoes on my horses (who are competeing barefoot and have been for years)

Kalli has fallen and rolled on her rider TWICE on slippy wet grass. With studs she wouldn't have.

Some horses are very surefooted but even the most nimble pony will slide whilst doing jump off turns on wet slidy grass.
Click to expand...

The reason to why I put shoes on my pony, its really not worth the risk of them falling or skidding into jumps etc which can cause ALOT more damage than putting studs in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top