Barefoot on the Beach

Red-1

Red-1

I used to be decisive, now I'm not so sure...
Joined
7 February 2013
Messages
19,689
Location
Outstanding in my field!
Visit site
For anyone who is in the throes of hand walking... It does end!

Jay has been barefoot for 5 1/2 months, and on Friday we went for a play on the beach. It felt SO GOOD to be free of arenas and boots! It is only a couple of weeks ago that he felt ready to start jumping again in an arena, and on Friday he felt ready to explore.

I have loads of people to thank, MissyClare being the most recent, helping me to realise that we are on the edge of a breakthrough. That the road may be long, but it is worth it. The bars have been trimmed, the sea water has cleansed, the sun and spray lifted our spirits...

HHO is FAB.

Some photos of Jay's first PROPER outing barefoot.

3r_zpswaxfxpg8.jpg
4r_zps9gftr5rr.jpg

5r_zpszpq3wu3o.jpg

7r_zpspxfqrixj.jpg

9r_zpsnovalovb.jpg

10_zps75nucntt.jpg
 
Well done you! It looks lovely there, would love to ride in the sea and very happy you could transition your horse to barefoot...wish i could have! onwards and upwards :)
 
Thank you Micky, I would not say he is "Transitioned" yet, and sometimes I have a wobble and nearly put shoes back on. That is the point of the post I suppose, that although we had to start with just 100 yds a day walking on the road, and at times I have nearly given up, it is slowly happening.

The crunch time will be when I miss my eventing, as I am not sure he will ever be "Hard" enough for that barefoot, and almost certainly not this year, so I am taking it one month at a time.

I would hope that even if he did have shoes back on for four months, it would then be easier next time around to harden him off again?
 
Lovely Red!!!! you both look so happy :)
you know how pleased i am that things are coming together regarding Jay's hooves, you should be proud of yourselves, it's not an easy thing to go through sometimes , especially when your horse gets ' ouch ' days. xxxx
ps.. thanks so much for the pm, going off now to google french hoof stuff :)
 
Great pics! I've never taken mine to the beach,another aim for this year :)

Mines been barefoot over a year now, and is footy on gravel and rough tracks, but is sound in a school, smooth Tarmac and grass, so I'm happy. I may consider shoeing him in front if I try to Xc and he doesn't cope, but we will see. I don't have time to put lots of work in, and he's turned out on grass with no pea gravel areas etc so he's doing as well as can be expected I think.
 
Red-1 said:
We certainly were Smurf's Gran. It was quite busy, but I work in a school now so I guess that is inevitable.

We also go to Redcar sometimes, the access is easier, and less kids. :-)
Click to expand...

Was the parking ok ? the last time we went (Easter or Feb 2014 I think ?) the farmer was turning boxes and trailers away due to fear of crumbling cliffs !!
 
Last edited:
Smurf's Gran said:
Was the parking ok ? the last time we went (Easter or Feb 2014 I think ?) the farmer was turning boxes and trailers away due to fear of crumbling cliffs !!
Click to expand...

The cliff top was interesting, new bits have crumbled away. I only have a small 3.5 tonne box, so maybe he was happy with that? I know Redcar is easier access, a big tarmac lorry park and level access onto the beach.

Thank you to everyone else. Stencilface I think we are where you are at. He is happy hacking in boots, great on an arena surface, OK on tarmac too, but I don't think he will be tough enough for XC this year. I am considering giving XC a miss for a year, so he will be 18 months in, or else shoe for just 4 months and them pull them off again.
 
I'm happy with his back feet, but won't consider it a failure if I have to shoe his fronts, realistically it will only probably be for 3.5 months over the summer, so two sets of shoes. We've put in for planning for an arena, so I'm hoping he might be able to do more work over the winter on a good surface, and maybe even turnout every so often so he doesn't spend the entire winter (except for 3 months when stabled at night) on a soggy field.

I think he had some bruising a couple of weeks ago, so wore boots for a few weeks again and he's fine again. Physio said on Friday that he'd looked the best hed ever seen him. I think he's exaggerating a bit but he certainly seems better put together, even if not really properky fit
 
Red-1 said:
The cliff top was interesting, new bits have crumbled away. I only have a small 3.5 tonne box, so maybe he was happy with that? I know Redcar is easier access, a big tarmac lorry park and level access onto the beach.

Thank you to everyone else. Stencilface I think we are where you are at. He is happy hacking in boots, great on an arena surface, OK on tarmac too, but I don't think he will be tough enough for XC this year. I am considering giving XC a miss for a year, so he will be 18 months in, or else shoe for just 4 months and them pull them off again.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top