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Home > Articles > Doing It Barefoot
Doing It Barefoot
by Chuck Baldino
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As promised, I am letting you know what happened on our trail ride at Cedar Lake, Oklahoma. My 25 year old gave out after the first day (5 miles) the ground was really rocky! In deference to his age, I think I'm going to retire him from hilly rides for a while. My 14 years old gelding (1350 lbs.) went out every day -- 2 days work, 1 day rest, 2 days work -- for a total of about 40 miles. The other 14 year old gelding was only barefoot for 2 months and he required Easy Boots after the first day.
My 11 year old mare was doing fine until the "rest day" when she was kicked while on the picket line and sustained injuries to her hind leg which incapacitated her for the remainder of the trip. My 10 year old mare did he whole ride without a hitch! I was real proud of them all. Their performance proved to me that this will work over the long haul. I just have to be patient.
I have made some observations during this trip. My 11 year old mare historically has been quite a pill when shod at this location. (She has been here 3 times before.) I am usually quite frustrated by the 2nd day, as she is extremely fractious while on the trail. This time she was very calm and paid close attention to the trail and where she put her feet down. I let my greenhorn brother ride her. If she was shod, only I could handle her, and I wouldn't even think about letting an inexperienced rider on her! I was pleasantly surprised. My 10 year old mare (full sister to the 11 year old) was extremely calm on the trails also. She paid very close attention to where she put her feet. Normally there are some ankle injuries to attend to, but this trip there were none, no cuts on any of the horses.
We apparently caused quite a stir in camp, (there were about 20 rigs there) when the word got out that we were riding the trails on barefoot horses. Some said that we were nuts, that this terrain REQUIRED shoes, other were mumbling something about "horse abuse." No one had enough guts to come to me and say it to my face or to look at my horses feet to see that they were fine. All 5 horses came home sound. If they had tender feet, after 1 day of rest here, they are all moving just fine now.
I had a chance to ride a shod horse on the last day, for a short ride. After riding my 10 year old mare all week, this shod horse seemed clumsy and stepped on and tripped on the loose rocks in the trail. It was a lot rougher ride than the barefoot horse. He also didn't pay as close attention to the trail as the barefoot horses did. I felt a little uneasy. I know this horse and have ridden him on the flat ground at home before. He's a lot different at home. The only difference I can see is the shoes. His owner is watching me with my horses before she makes the plunge. Words can't convince her, she needs to see it in person. Well she saw it, I hope she believed it. I'm going to take photos of their feet ASAP. Thanks for listening.
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