Re: barefoot horses: wearing faster than they grow?

On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:12:53 -0800 (PST), AKogler <akogler@xxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

On Feb 18, 2:53 pm, Bill Kambic <wkam...@xxxxxxx> wrote:


How many inches do they grow per year?>

I dunno since I have to trim them every ten days to two weeks or so. I
dont want to not trim them just so I can measure them for you >;-> I
suspect that they would be ten feet tall.

Its also hard to be absolute because I have 8 that are barefoot, and
have had them different lengths of time. And since I only buy lame
horses/projects, there were lots of issues to address.

So I'll tell you what. Mark the feet and trim at 21 days. It's
winter and the laws of equine physiology say that the feet grow more
slowly this time of year (even though that growth rate will soon begin
to increase as the days grow longer). That should give a reasonable
growth rate without causing pain, discomfort, or loss of utility. Tell
us what that number is. I'll do the same. A comparison of growth
rates in different places might put a lot of "he said/she said" to
bed.

They are doing great barefoot being trimmed as per Pete Ramey. I am
doing this with a vets supervision, and with my shoers input and info.
He llikes it too and is intrigued by what has changed in my crew. Can
we just leave at that, Commander Bill?

Remeber that seven of my ten are barefoot in virtually idyllic equne
conditions (except for that 60" of rain per year). I manage them
through FOUR distinct seasons per year (ranging from six months of
monsoon through three months of drought and from artic cold to
tropical heat, and mostly in very high humidity). I KNOW about the
management of barefoot horses. I'm not a tyro here (even if I've
never seriously read any of the work of Ramey, Bowker, Strasser, or
anyone else). So when somebody comes and tells me that I can keep all
my horses barefoot if only I perform some "magic" trim (that I can
learn if part with some gelt at clinic they'll be glad to host me at)
my Detector, Nightsoil, Bovine, Male (AN/ASA-4A) warns me to be
careful.

My shod horses evince NO hoof pathology. They are not numb. I can
wear out a set of shoes in five weeks and still have a sound horse
under me.

So from my saddle I'm in an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"
situation.

Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn what you do with your horses.
:-)

I do give a damn that what you post is dramatically at odds with what
I know to be the reality of how equine feet grow and work (both from
my own experience and from education I've achieved). I will comment
on those posts as I see fit because they don't square with my
understanding of the Laws of the Universe. If it works for you (an
assertion unverified by any third party observation) then all well and
good. But my doubts remain.


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