WHY I RIDE MY HORSE BAREFOOT

When I first got a thoroughbred gelding named "Gunman", I put him in horseshoes. He had a long spell without shoes before I purchased him and was in shoes regularly for the next four years.  After some foot problems (which I believed came about by infections in old nail holes resulting in a farrier cutting away most of the front of his left front hoof and then becoming lame for eight months), I spelled him unshod for about a year.  The price of shoeng a horse went up and my wife decided that for Christmas she would make a gift of farrier's apron and a farrier's course.  She bought a book on what she thought was basic farrier knowledge.   In fact, she purchased a book advocating something quite different! 

Since then I have been a journey to learn all I can about natural hoof care and barefoot horses.  I have read Dr. Hiltrud Strasser's two books, "A Lifetime of Soundness", and "Shoeing: A Necessary Evil?" which gives facts that every horse owner should know about shoeing.  I am doing all my own trimming now and helped Dr. Strasser come to Australia and New Zealand in 2003. Additionally, I trained to become an SHP but did not resit the final exam due to personal and vocational reasons, and bad timing. After trimming professionally for a couple of years, I returned to pastoral ministry and tend a few remaining clients.

What is really amazing is that I personally have had the experience of reversing the death sentences given to a few horses who have been diagnosed with progressive ringbone, navicular syndrome and chronic laminitus...and who are now becoming sound and doing very well.

The single most convincing thing for me was to see a thermograph of a horse's feet--three of which were without shoes and one which was shod. Note the shod foot has virturally no blood circulation. This is consistant with horses with shoes on.

You can see some pictures of my horse's feet at the links on the left and visit some other good links to educate you in the concepts of natural hoof care.

I will never put shoes on my horse again!!

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© 2002 - 2007 by The Naked Hoof Pty. Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of these publications may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher and/or authors. The information and products contained within these webpages and articles are intended for educational purposes only, and not for diagnosing or medicinally prescribing in any way. Readers are cautioned to seek expert advice from a qualified health professional before pursuing any form of treatment on their animals. Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.

Last edited: 30 June, 2007
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