by Adpaga » Fri Aug 12, 2005 3:59 pm
Hi RioG,#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#please keep in mind that I have no experience with Navicular, and will only comment on the barefoot aspect.#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#The
three dressage horses that are in my care are all warmbloods,senior to
junior. Two of them have had shoes on in the past (shod allround for
all their previous life), the younger one only got shoes thisspring. I
used to take the shoes off in the winter to let the feet restand widen,
and did find an added comfort in their gaits while barefoot.This spring
I did put the shoes back on for a while, but decided withthe OK of my
vet and farrier to take them off again, since the groundson which they
train and show are mostly excellent. We are finding thatthey have
gained in movement, soundness (thrush, narrow heels, chips,etc are
gone) and general quality of the foot. I have to credit myfarrier who
comes every 4 weeks to check on them, and make sure thefeet remain
balanced, but for 25$ a trim against 85$-160$ for a set ofalluminium
shoes, it is well worth it. All horses have sucessfullycompeted this
year, are on full daytime group turnout, hack, trailetc... The older
one had some issues that had made trailers necessaryfor shoeing in the
back feet, and used to flaire up in the backpasturen. He has been
farefoot since this winter and has not once beenoff, even though he was
pulled out of retirement two weeks before anational show my other horse
couldn't go to, and had to perform a soliddressage level..#ed_op#br#ed_cl##ed_op#br#ed_cl#So my
opinion would be: check with your vet and farrier, and if bothare
comfortable with it and your farrier is willing to make the extraeffort
of a more frequent visit, please, let your horses free!#ed_op#br#ed_cl#