Competing barefoot pony club not happy

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Has anyone else had a problem? Daughter low level eventing and sj.Nothing untoward has happened but the DC tried to stop her. 😶
 
Never had much involvement with pony club but that seems very bizarre. Unshod ponies have always been in fairly large number. Did they give a reason? Was it perhaps risk of slipping with no studs or something?
 
Ours on teams alll seem to be shod all round.

We are only shod in front and I have had comments from other parents about how it would be better to shoe and stud.

I am planning to take one barefoot over winter so we'll see.

I can't see how the DC can stop your daughter?
 
PC does not expressly forbid barefoot - but hoof bots are not permitted in competition. It isn't unusual to have a DC with their own opinion though!

The first thing is to do what is right for the pony and if that means your daughter can't compete then so be it. I must say with over 20 years PC experience now barefoot ponies at Areas or above is very rare. Lower than that though - you do see a few. You don't see many barefoot at BS or BE either - but you will seem them from time to time unaffiliated. Don't know if there is a practical reason for that or just fashion / perception. I've not ever had a pony who would have benefited barefoot but most of those I have known (and in fairness most through PC) have always seemed surefooted.
 
Shows how times have changed I suppose - when I was a kid nobody would've dreamt of wasting money putting shoes on a pony.....though of course I never hung around with 'proper' competition pony sorts
 
Shay said:
PC does not expressly forbid barefoot - but hoof bots are not permitted in competition. It isn't unusual to have a DC with their own opinion though!

The first thing is to do what is right for the pony and if that means your daughter can't compete then so be it. I must say with over 20 years PC experience now barefoot ponies at Areas or above is very rare. Lower than that though - you do see a few. You don't see many barefoot at BS or BE either - but you will seem them from time to time unaffiliated. Don't know if there is a practical reason for that or just fashion / perception. I've not ever had a pony who would have benefited barefoot but most of those I have known (and in fairness most through PC) have always seemed surefooted.
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Most of this, I do have most of mine barefoot but the risk of slipping jumping on grass is something that has to be considered we took a pony to a ODE recently and he fell in the SJ so is not jumping on grass again this season, if he is going to do some events and WHP next year he will be shod so he can have studs as it is not worth risking him or the rider being injured, this time only his confidence was knocked. I suspect your DC has seen similar incidents and feels she can insist on shoes/ studs at competitions she is involved with for insurance reasons.
 
be positive said:
Most of this, I do have most of mine barefoot but the risk of slipping jumping on grass is something that has to be considered we took a pony to a ODE recently and he fell in the SJ so is not jumping on grass again this season, if he is going to do some events and WHP next year he will be shod so he can have studs as it is not worth risking him or the rider being injured, this time only his confidence was knocked. I suspect your DC has seen similar incidents and feels she can insist on shoes/ studs at competitions she is involved with for insurance reasons.
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We've had a pony jumping on grass all summer and he hasn't slipped once. In fact at one show the weather was pretty appalling and he was the only one who didn't slip! He is extremely sure footed though.
I think it is very much down to the pony and as long as the owner/rider is sensible and realises that they may have to rethink shoeing or the level of competition if the pony starts to have problems I don't see why it should be an issue.
 
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be positive said:
Most of this, I do have most of mine barefoot but the risk of slipping jumping on grass is something that has to be considered we took a pony to a ODE recently and he fell in the SJ so is not jumping on grass again this season, if he is going to do some events and WHP next year he will be shod so he can have studs as it is not worth risking him or the rider being injured, this time only his confidence was knocked. I suspect your DC has seen similar incidents and feels she can insist on shoes/ studs at competitions she is involved with for insurance reasons.
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Totally agree re safety issues. I watched a M&M HOYS qualifier, and a barefoot pony slid straight through the jump on hard ground with short grass. Luckily, they weren't injured.
 
The only specific discipline that has guidance on shoes/studs/hooves are the mounted games rules.

In these it says something like the ponies must be properly shod or trimmed, and also something about, if studs are used, they should be kept to the minimum necessary.

This is checked at Area level games comps. at the tack check, they do look at each pony's feet.

I have seen a few unshod ponies (mainly) at various other Pony Club events, and it is pretty common to see games ponies unshod.

I'd hope that the DC in this case was advising rather than anything else, because it is not up to them to invent the rules :)
 
We have a number of barefoot ponies at our Pony club competing at interbranch competitions (showjumping/crosscountry/mounted games/grassroots dressage) and no one has asked them to be shod...
 
In Pony Club the DC does - to an extent - have the final say as any entries over inter branch (and indeed some larger inter branch) need a DC's signature to enter. It isn't about making the rules up (well - not entirely) but their signature says that they are satisfied that you are competent and safe to compete at that event. If they sign you as suitable and there is an accident they may get blamed - by other DC's if not in law. Plus team selection is entirely up to the DC and they can use whatever criteria they like!

As I said before you need to do what is best for the pony first. If pony is best barefoot then that is what it will be and taper your competition aims accordingly. (The DC Might be more happy with you competing on a surface? what about the Dengie series over the winter?). If you goal is competition first (and that is fine if so) then you will need to either re think your shoeing or re-think the pony.
 
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DabDab said:
Shows how times have changed I suppose - when I was a kid nobody would've dreamt of wasting money putting shoes on a pony.....though of course I never hung around with 'proper' competition pony sorts
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The ONLY time my pony was shod when I was a kid was to attend PC camp... DC insisted upon it. Farrier came, put the shoes on, I went to camp and then the shoes were taken off to be saved for next year!
 
milliepops said:
The ONLY time my pony was shod when I was a kid was to attend PC camp... DC insisted upon it. Farrier came, put the shoes on, I went to camp and then the shoes were taken off to be saved for next year!
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That's bonkers - glad I was stuck into weekend working in rough and ready riding schools instead of pony club. The things we got up to on ponies that nobody would've ever dreamt of putting shoes on.....would have the average DC in a cold sweat by the sound of this thread
 
Thanks everyone for your comments. We have two new forest ponies and a 15-2 conne x. He has to be bf as goes lame in shoes. He's 20 now. The other two haven't ever had shoes .We have no school so they are used to jumping on grass. I've completed all of them low level unnaff eventing.no one minded when she was on a bf sec a. It's as they get bigger they get antagonistic.
 
Stick to your guns. If there has been no slipping I don't see why there's even a sniff of a problem. I have a 13.1 welsh who tears around the field like a moron. She never ever slips under saddle - she's far safer than my shod horse on any ground with any studs!
 
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