Horse Travel Advice

[bikina]

Hi All! Planning on travelling by horse across Central Asia - has anyone here ever done this or been on a similar trip? Got any tips? This will be independant travel, not with a guide or group. Need advice on all aspects of a trip like this - from shoeing (am currently considering barefoot...), to feeding ,to visas and everything else in between! Any advice or ideas greatly received.

 

[dieseldog]

No never done it, but if you are going barefoot you aren't going to get too far unless you like walking a lot, I would have thought most villages would have a farrier. Where are you getting the horse from?

 

[MagicMelon]

Never done it but blimey you're very brave! Not quite sure why DiesalDog said you wont get very far barefoot..... plenty of horses cope very well with no shoes (which TBH is what their designed for!). Especially if the horse you'll be using it barefoot then I certainly wouldnt be slapping shoes on all of a sudden just for the hell of it. You could always consider taking some of those boot things endurance riders use - like those Boa boots (like trainers for horses!) if you were worried about its feet or they suddenly started to chip up on really dodgy ground.

How exciting - how long do you think it'd take you? would you basically hire just 1 horse there? Where would you stay overnight etc.?

 

[bikina]

Thank you magic melon! Hoof boots is a good idea - at least as a backup. I doubt v much there will be many farriers in Central Asia, and even if there are, I have heard reports of more damage than good being done to hooves. The trip is in the first stages of planning, but with regards to length of trip - well, as long as it takes! I'd like to use Arab or Akhal Teke horses - with regards to the latter, does anybody know if there are any horse sales or stud farms in Iran, Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan? Hard question I know!

 

[GTs]

OOPS