Jumping barefoot?

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mrsk29

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So jumping barefoot, anything I need to know or do? My tb has been barefoot 5 mths behind and 6 weeks fronts, feet not bad at all..farrier said he's doing great... so thinking starting jumping again soon...and wondering does anyone have advice for barefoot jumping? Might be a daft question but first time barefoot not sure if need to do anything different...
 
My mare is unshod, she jumps fine but obviously I only jump on good ground or a surface as I can't use studs.
 
One of mine competed recently, his first outing without shoes, he was fine it was all on a surface so really did not notice any difference. He regularly jumps at home and again just gets treated as when he was shod.
 
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There are a few people on here who hunt and have competed to decent levels barefoot (e.g. CPTrayes). Many people find their horses have better traction barefoot and, as they can 'feel' the conditions better, tend to slip less than in shoes. Of course it's down to the individual horse and how sensible and sure-footed they are!
 
Yep, they certainly can "feel" better. I jump on any surface and don't seem to suffer with this slipping malarkey... I did a doubles and the shod studded horse slipped more than we did!

There are rules the further up the affiliate you go, e.g. studs are mandatory so barefoot is not allowed... I think it should be as long as you are confident you can compete properly.
 
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BH jumps without shoes. He's fine on grass 99% of the time. The only days that he'll slip is if there isn't enough grass cover and it has been really dry and then it rains briefly so the top is greasy but there still isn't any cut. Thats the only time I wish I could stud up. Other wise he is great.
 
tallyho! said:
There are rules the further up the affiliate you go, e.g. studs are mandatory so barefoot is not allowed... I think it should be as long as you are confident you can compete properly.
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I don't think this is true Tallyho, unless the rules were changed this year since I last saw a BE rulebook.

OP, I'm another who jumps on any surface at all with no shoes. I never have a problem. On a slick dry grass arena you need to get your horse balanced, but would you not want to do that anyway :rolleyes: ?
 
cptrayes said:
OP, I'm another who jumps on any surface at all with no shoes. I never have a problem. On a slick dry grass arena you need to get your horse balanced, but would you not want to do that anyway :rolleyes: ?
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I would definitely just get mine balanced if I could! I am too rubbish and he is too obstinate so we sometimes have a disagreement round corners. But then I think 'well if you had listened you wouldn't have slipped' and let him suck it up! If we can jump on grass without studs I'm pretty sure anyone can, given how useless we are!
 
My boy went jumping for the first time without shoes at the weekend - and he was pinging :D. Granted, we only do little jumps but he felt so much better than he usually does.
 
tallyho! said:
Yep, they certainly can "feel" better. I jump on any surface and don't seem to suffer with this slipping malarkey... I did a doubles and the shod studded horse slipped more than we did!

There are rules the further up the affiliate you go, e.g. studs are mandatory so barefoot is not allowed... I think it should be as long as you are confident you can compete properly.
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Some showing classes we can't compete in barefoot - I've been looking at hunter ones and some of those have rules that the horse must be shod. Bloody stupid!!
 
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