NZJenny
Well-Known Member
I have a bit of a mixed story. I started barefooting 11 or 12 years ago as we went through a major farrier drought in my area. I was endurance riding at the time, and the gelding in my avatar went on to complete over 2,500 km barefoot, including CEI 3* 160 km and we finished fourth on the NZ horse and rider rankings in 2009 (I think). He was retired from endurance due to a stifle issue, but went on to compete in dressage for a few years before the stifle forced his retirement from all riding a couple of years ago. He's 18 now and has a comfortable middle aged spread and remains happily paddock sound.
I then competed another part-bred Arabian mare in endurance and competitive trail riding bare foot, for several years (she did around 1,000 km I think) before the same stifle problem as my gelding (they are by the same stallion) also forced her retirement.
Then came along Maggie. She is a 3/4 TB x 1/4 Clydesdale and I purchased her at 18 months old. She is in the same paddock, gets the same feed and was trimmed by the same trimmer. The only difference is she is not (and never will be) an endurance horse, so she doesn't do anywhere near the same mileage the other two did. I battled for nearly 18 months when she was started under saddle to keep her barefoot, but it just wasn't working. She was either sore or her walls were cracking - and in the end, in the interests of the horse, I gave it up and she is now shod and we have no more problems.
The lesson from all of this for me was no one size fits all and in the end you have to do what is going to work for the horse.
Good luck with your journey.
I then competed another part-bred Arabian mare in endurance and competitive trail riding bare foot, for several years (she did around 1,000 km I think) before the same stifle problem as my gelding (they are by the same stallion) also forced her retirement.
Then came along Maggie. She is a 3/4 TB x 1/4 Clydesdale and I purchased her at 18 months old. She is in the same paddock, gets the same feed and was trimmed by the same trimmer. The only difference is she is not (and never will be) an endurance horse, so she doesn't do anywhere near the same mileage the other two did. I battled for nearly 18 months when she was started under saddle to keep her barefoot, but it just wasn't working. She was either sore or her walls were cracking - and in the end, in the interests of the horse, I gave it up and she is now shod and we have no more problems.
The lesson from all of this for me was no one size fits all and in the end you have to do what is going to work for the horse.
Good luck with your journey.