Saturday 2 April 2011

Waiting on The Day to Ride Again.....

Long day today at the barn. I went to go meet with a natural barefoot trimmer for my horse and talk a little bit about the benefits of it. Overall, it sounds great but it will be a little bit of a rough start since my horses' feet were shod, they may be very sensitive in the beginning without shoes.
Apparently,( I did not know this.... )shoes cause arthritis in horses when used for a long period of time. My mouth dropped and at the same time I'm relieved to find this out so I can stop that from happening. So horses feet naturally expand and contract as they are walking on the ground which also causes a lot of circulation in the hooves BUT* when there is a shoe nailed on, that expansion and contraction stops which obviously causes no blood to circulate in there! ( that is why when you touch a barefoot hoof it is HOT and when you touch a shod hoof it is COLD) I guess that shortage of circulation eventually causes the arthritis. 
Phew! I guess I'm off to a good start, after all horses weren't born with shoes. The only reason we started putting shoes on horses is because when they were used to pull carriages on concrete it would wear their feet down (since horses don't naturally walk on concrete). So why the hell have riders continued it???
Well anyway, after his shoes were taken off he is a little sensitive to the ground which is causing him to limp. I can't wait until the other owners at the barn start coming up to me and telling me I should put shoes back on since they are strong believers in shoes, and that my horse can never be barefoot because he doesn't have a healthy foot...................ugh horse owners.....
So again, I can't ride until he starts walking better and when he does, it will have to be light riding only. Great, let me tell you I haven't ridden for the past 3 weeks now since his injury and I may have to wait another 4 weeks before I get back into the saddle, which will probably kill my entire body especially my legs since I will be out of shape :-( . Maybe I'll contact my old coach, ride her horse maybe every other week just to keep me in shape and ready to ride my boy again. Hmmmm......

p.s. My horse isn't THIS bad honestly, the past few entries he sounds like a mess but really he's a healthy, fit and happy boy. Just all these things that had to happen one after the other all of a sudden lol.

9 comments:

  1. I have a friend who keeps horses, she hasn't put shoes on any of them and they are all really well-mannered happy animals. A lot of horse owners blindly believe in tradition without thinking how it affects their horse methinks.

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  2. I hope he gets well soon! Good post!

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  3. It sounds like you take great care for your horse. Hope he gets better soon!

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  4. I think its great to go bare! At least give it a try! Thats what I did when my mare "Sunshine" threw her shoe off! I figured why not you know? It worked out great! It should for you too :) Keep us updated!

    J.K.C.T...B. ;)

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  5. Sounds like a rough time for the horsey. It is good to hear once again that the natural way is the better way, seems like it always is.

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  6. I wish your horse a speedy recovery.

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  7. we all learn by trial and error but mostly experience....I have a friend who's horse is barefoot and is doing quite well but what is good for one horse may not be good for another....I know of horses that have had shoes all their lives and never contracted arthritis...you can only try and see if it works for your horse....Good Luck....!

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