Bare foot horses

[tcreeley]

Our two horses are barefoot. If we rode on pavement, or in breed shows- we'd shoe.
They do fine. I do the trims. I've done them for the last 10 years since our longtime farrier didn't show up one day.

[MotorSeven]

farrier didn't show up one day.

Man, it's like pulling teeth to get a Farrier out here to trim my horses. I have resorted to attempting to do it myself, but I have to be honest....I'd rather stick a fork in my eye then trim horse hooves. I guess being 6'4 has a distinct disadvantage when hunched over the hoof..........

[Ken45101]

Man, it's like pulling teeth to get a Farrier out here to trim my horses. I have resorted to attempting to do it myself, but I have to be honest....I'd rather stick a fork in my eye then trim horse hooves. I guess being 6'4 has a distinct disadvantage when hunched over the hoof..........

A hoof stand helps a lot and will pay for itself. It also helps if you have a horse that you feel you can safely kneel next to

Another technique that makes it easier is if you use an angle grinder with a 40 grit flap disk, you can hold the hoof with one hand and grind with the other. Some horses like that, others don't.

[whistlepig]

My wife does have a hoof stand. It makes this chore a whole lot easier. She has tried the grinder method and our horse doesn't mind the grinder. She prefers to trim with hoof knives. Says its more controllable and precise. The wife has rheumatoid in her hands and trims every four weeks. I do have to keep her hoof knives razor sharp though.

[Soundguy]

Man, it's like pulling teeth to get a Farrier out here to trim my horses. I have resorted to attempting to do it myself, but I have to be honest....I'd rather stick a fork in my eye then trim horse hooves. I guess being 6'4 has a distinct disadvantage when hunched over the hoof..........

my guy comes out every 4-6 weeks depending upon growth.. i don't even call him.. he calls me to remind me..

[Bird]

This thread sure shows how out of touch I am. If you watch Western movies, the only unshod horses were the Indians' ponies. When I was a kid, I had 3 different horses; one at a time, and none were ever shod, but I thought that was just because it was too expensive. Of course my horses weren't ridden on pavement.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Man, it's like pulling teeth to get a Farrier out here to trim my horses. I have resorted to attempting to do it myself, but I have to be honest....I'd rather stick a fork in my eye then trim horse hooves. I guess being 6'4 has a distinct disadvantage when hunched over the hoof..........

I've had the same problem I'm 6'3" trying to get a farrier is next to impossible and just another lost art when the kids of today all want a/c and a keyboard as a job ! working with your hands nowadays is considered unthinkable !

[Heywood Jannockitov]

It's funny when you are watching a movie and see supposedly "wild" horses running free, and they are sporting shoes!

[dmccarty]

Another advantage of barefoot: you don't have to worry about losing a shoe on the trail We tend to have "shoe sucking mud" on many of the trails around here. I don't worry about my horse losing a shoe!

A couple of weeks ago, the kids were running around in the woods and found a horse shoe. Our place has never had humans living on the land except maybe someone passing through hundreds of years ago. The ground is mostly rock, and when it is not rock, it is a clay goo. The horse shoe was found in a wet area that might have been a decent creek before a road was built and cut off some surface water flow.

The shoe was right in the middle of a channel and the horse was walking south. A hundred yards or so north of the shoe is an abandoned still site from the 20's or 30's. I think that horse was being used to make moonshine.

Since the horse was moving away from the still site, I assume it was carrying some clay jugs and heading to the south would be the safest direction to travel.

I suppose the horse could have been a mule.

Later,
Dan

[Grumpy Old Man]

A couple of weeks ago, the kids were running around in the woods and found a horse shoe. Our place has never had humans living on the land except maybe someone passing through hundreds of years ago. The ground is mostly rock, and when it is not rock, it is a clay goo. The horse shoe was found in a wet area that might have been a decent creek before a road was built and cut off some surface water flow.

The shoe was right in the middle of a channel and the horse was walking south. A hundred yards or so north of the shoe is an abandoned still site from the 20's or 30's. I think that horse was being used to make moonshine.

Since the horse was moving away from the still site, I assume it was carrying some clay jugs and heading to the south would be the safest direction to travel.

I suppose the horse could have been a mule.

Later,
Dan

Your assuming a lot probably just fell off a unicorn !