Why do people deny the Barefoot trim for horses?

Question

Why do people flip out when you tell them that going barefoot is very healty and good for your horse? Its natural, we made the dang shoes! They don't want them!

Why Yes LunaMoon, they do chip up, and flare, but thats just leave them alone to do anything to them trim LOL The barefoot trim, is when you keep the heel low to the ground and keep the flaring down etc. I live In PA Amish Country, flat barley any rocks. Oh here is an amazing story Its true! Cause its my horse lol here is a movie
http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w182/ShannyPants2/?action=view¤t=0532d903.flv
Scout the paint has nivicular, barefoot trim after 4 months this in the movie is what hes doing. And to all of you who agree on barefoot trim Thank-you!

Not all horses need it, its like a callas on your feet, last summer I could run barefooton gravel, but now since you can't go outside barefoot in the winter to cold, I am building my callas again. Just like with horses that are shod, people don't take time to wait, they think that as soon as there horse goes on the gravel and they are "ouchy" its because that they don't have shoes but shoes cause the horse constriction in the hooves. Here is my theory, take a man and put high heel shoes on, alright I can take that, but here is the thing, he can not take them off, and he can only lay down for about 3 hours a day. Take those shoes off and he will be crippled. Now take a man with work boots, loose fit can take them off whenever, aka horse boots =) Now take the barefoot man, no rescrtictions. See think about this would you put the man in heels over jumps? So when he lands his feet cannot flex? ,would you put him though that pain? PS take your socks off and watch your feet. They flex too.

Answer 1

Its gaining a lot of popularity, which is great. The trick is finding a decent farrier that knows what a real barefoot trim is. Its not just going shoe-less. A couple of mine do very well, but finding the farrier was the hard part.So, maybe they havent had a decent experiance with a proper trim.

Answer 2

Zair has a good point. You cannot pull a shoe and the next day say you have a barefoot trim.

Your farrier needs to leave the sole in tact and leave 1/4" or so of extra hoof, not trim the horses down and "pair" out the sole as they do when placing a shoe.

I'm a barefooter (oh there's barefoot and natural, not the same) don't shoe unless I have too but that is typically when a new horse comes here. I have had terribly flaired, flat footed, contracted healed, weak hooves etc, etc. come onto the property that needed a shoe if I wanted to do anything with it but over the course of a year, no more shoes. It takes time to get a horse barefoot after its been shod...

So for those of you that have shoes and are going to ride this summer, leave the shoes on until your riding season is over and talk to your farrier... or find a new farrier to help you reach the "barefoot" goals.

Horse people don't like change, what they use and what they know is it. Many have not even taken the time to understand the "barefoot" trim and just start yelling about the situation. Its narrow minded and uneducated, if they understood and have educated themselves they would not use founder or laminitis as a reason to put a shoe on a horse.

I truly wonder how technology ever made it this far, maybe its just horse people that can not learn anymore than they have already been taught! IDK?????

Answer 3

Tradition is hard to break. People who have been brought up with the belief that any horse that is ridden needs shoes are skeptical to admit that they may have been wrong for so long.

Also, some horses have such awful feet it's a physical impossibility for them to go without shoes. Sometimes those bad feed are caused by poor shoeing, sometimes it's genetic. Horses with poor feet have been bred for generations since the problem could be masked with shoeing. But take those shoes off, and the horse is useless.

Many shoers are also reluctant to trim horses in the correct way to go barefoot. After all, if you can charge $200 to shoe the horse, but only $40 to trim, which makes you a better living? Others are simply resistant to change. A good farrier will do what is best for the horse, but not all farriers are good ones.

Some farriers are also jumping on the 'barefoot' or 'natural balance' bandwagon with no idea what they are doing. These people cause more harm to the horse than they prevent. If the farrier isn't knowledgeable about, or comfortable doing, such trims, they shouldn't do them. Unfortunately, some people have had horses permanently lamed or morbidly crippled by 'natural' trimming techniques done incorrectly.

I have one mare that needs shoes in front if I ride her a lot on rocky ground, but she is still shod with a 'natural balance' method that mimics as closely as possible the unshod hoof. My gelding hasn't worn shoes in ten years, and is sound as a dollar on any footing.

Answer 4

Because many barefoot advocates think barefoot is the ONLY WAY and that if you shoe your horses it is wrong and abusive.

I do keep both my mares shod because we compete in endurance and competitive trail and while we live in soft sandy terrain many of the rides we compete at are in rocky areas so it's just what is needed for the job my horses are asked to do.

I am not "anti-barefoot"...it just does not work for me due to what I ask my horses to do. My TB mare probably could not go barefoot even if she only worked in soft sand as TB's have typically bad feet left unshod but my arab mare has great feet and if she did not do a lot of tough terrain riding she could easily go barefoot.

I am a firm believer in do what is right for your horse and don't knock someone else for doing the same. That means I am gonna keep mine shod but if you can successfully keep yours sound barefoot I have all the respect in the world for you for doing so.

Answer 5

It really depends on your circumstances. I prefer bare feet, but sometimes shoes are beneficial. For instance, horses that work on pavement do better with shoes. Also, shoes can really help some kinds of problems with conformation and hoof formation.

And quite frankly, a lot of horse people are awfully stuck on the tradition of the thing! After all, how many people still refuse to feed their horse such-and-such because it's traditionally taboo?

So there are several reasons, and some of them are even good ones. ;) But you're right, some horses get shoes that don't need them.

Answer 6

I would love to leave both of my horses barefoot and I totally agree with you but unfortunately I think we have bred some of thier natural defenses out of them like having thick hoof walls . My TB has really flat feet and thin walls and cannot go barefoot. He was barefoot before we got him and had bruising all over his 2 front hooves and was really sore. My little Arab is perfect for going barefoot though and I will never put shoes on him.

Answer 7

I think we have two problems, one the world is conditioned to thinking that shoes are always needed, and secondly because we have been using shoes for so long, we have not been breeding with soundness of feet as a priority, because we shoe anyway.

Man started putting shoes on horses because of the work that he was asking them to do, if they hadn't been a necessary evil, would we have invented them?

I've seen both sides, from lots of road work in the damp of the UK, shoes are really needed, to my horses now working on the same land that they graze on, and not a tarmac road in sight, They are a good old fashioned breed, with good feet, so don't need shoes now.

There is no right and wrong to the whole question, we just need to match the needs of the horse.

Answer 8

Well, my questions is, where do you live?
I live in Phoenix, AZ, the DESERT! People here espesially freak out because our horses pretty much cannot go without shoes. I agree with you, it is healthyer and horses are made that way. But many have become acustomed to using shoes and can't even imagine barefeet. If our horses don't wear shoes and you go an a trail, they crack, chip, dry out and break and you may n ot be able ti ride again, until shoes are put on.
Anyway, thats what I think

Answer 9

My 2 can't quite cope with it - they go barefoot at the back and shod in front. My daughter's first horse has terrible feet - they just fall apart so he needs special shoes and feed supplements all the time, her thorobred has been barefoot for the last 4 years and I wouldn't dream of putting shoes on her again.

BTW - I'm in the UK and roadwork is an unfortunate reality

Answer 10

Shoeing and trimming questions can be almost as personal as asking whose church is the best...Ways of handling feet on horses are philosophy based, research based, theory based, tradition based, and some folks are very hard to change when it comes to the sentiment of what was good enough for so in so is good right and just. So here goes...

I love barefoot for my horses. I only have one horse that needs corrective shoes and he wears plastic/rubber shoes that are more sneaker like. I have had to put shoes on some of my horses at times for treks outside of our normal footing. I think of it this way. When I am at home doing my normal routine, I am barefoot. I am talking me personally, the human....But when I go hiking in terrain that may be dangerous for my feet, I decide on hiking boots and thick wool socks. When I run, I wear my sneakers. I fit my footwear to my life, but mostly I am barefoot. I know I am not a horse, but I also subscribe to the belief that I will not take any better or worse care of myself than I do of my horse. If my horse needs extra support, he gets it. If not, he goes barefoot.

As for the folks who say look to the mustangs.......I am very careful not to compare my horse's situation to that of wild horses. Not that we can't learn about horses from studying wild ones, not that the mustangs aren't important, but Do you know how many mustangs died today? Or how many were born? Or what their chief cause of death is? Or their percentage of lameness ? My point is that the situation for the mustangs is very different from our horses that live with us. We talk about the mustangs as a group of horses but our horse is individual. No one is vaccinating the mustangs, trimming their feet, asking them to perform complex manuevers with another predatory species ontheir backs, etc.
This is not to say that the mustangs are not important and cheers to the BLM for studying them and making sure that our wild horses are OK.