Well
it's a heck of a lot cheaper than shoes, that's for sure. Let's
be practical about this. Horses are expensive enough.
Saving money on shoes means more money for equipment, supplements,
shows and clinics. And it might even save you on vet
bills...wouldn't THAT be nice.
Beyond that, horses weren't born with iron
shoes; therefore, they aren't designed to function at their best
wearing them. However, over the centuries shoes have become more
or less "de rigueur" for most working horses. They are nailed on
as soon as the horse is broke and he will probably live most of his
adult life wearing them. The reasons you'll hear vary from "he
needs the support" to "he's got crappy feet."
The truth is most horses don't start out
with crappy feet. They didn't start out with feet that needed
the "support" of a metal shoe. Every horse, barring some birth
defect, starts out with a foot designed to carry him through his life
over whatever terrain he will meet. His feet are designed to
grow strong and adapt to changes in his workload and environment.
The domestic horse with well-tended feet can live his entire life
quite easily without shoes.
The healthy equine foot is designed to
absorb shock, give traction and aid circulation. Allowing the
horse to have those functions in his feet by maintaining an effective
shape and structure will yield what every horseman holds important:
Sounder horses with better performance.
One of the secrets to these sounder,
healthier, better performing horses is maintaining the foot with a
trim specifically oriented around the natural functions of the foot.
Respecting that Nature knew what she was doing when she created the
hoof and trimming to her guidelines can produce feet of amazing
strength and functionality. Barefoot horses can work as carriage
horses, walking all day on asphalt. Barefoot horses can compete
in endurance trials traveling 25, 50 even 100 miles without a hitch.
Barefoot horses can race and jump, cut cattle and show.
But to answer the real question of WHY,
one needs to understand the HOW of barefoot. A look at the
anatomy and mechanics of the barefoot pretty much tells the whole
tale.
Well
it's a heck of a lot cheaper than shoes, that's for sure. Let's
be practical about this. Horses are expensive enough.
Saving money on shoes means more money for equipment, supplements,
shows and clinics. And it might even save you on vet
bills...wouldn't THAT be nice.
The truth is most horses don't start out
with crappy feet. They didn't start out with feet that needed
the "support" of a metal shoe. Every horse, barring some birth
defect, starts out with a foot designed to carry him through his life
over whatever terrain he will meet. His feet are designed to
grow strong and adapt to changes in his workload and environment.
The domestic horse with well-tended feet can live his entire life
quite easily without shoes.
One of the secrets to these sounder,
healthier, better performing horses is maintaining the foot with a
trim specifically oriented around the natural functions of the foot.
Respecting that Nature knew what she was doing when she created the
hoof and trimming to her guidelines can produce feet of amazing
strength and functionality. Barefoot horses can work as carriage
horses, walking all day on asphalt. Barefoot horses can compete
in endurance trials traveling 25, 50 even 100 miles without a hitch.
Barefoot horses can race and jump, cut cattle and show.