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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Bye Bye, Cinderella

9/28/2016

 
Izzy has lost one too many shoes. We are now going barefoot. I am not an extremist either way: I like the sturdiness of shoes, but the convenience of going barefoot is hard to beat. Izzy just can't/won't keep that right front shoe in place.
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I kept Speedy shod all the way around for many years. For the last couple of years though, he kept coming up lame without any apparent reason. I took him to Alamo Pintado, a premier equestrian medical center on the Central Coast where he was diagnosed with a possible suspensory ligament issue in the hoof. He had months off, and came back sound. When repeated the lameness a year or so later, my vet felt that we needed to change his shoeing. When he came up lame again, my current farrier posited that he was simply whacking himself with his own feet. He suggested we go barefoot. Speedy's been sound ever since.
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While Izzy is sound, he keeps yanking that front right shoe off. He's pulled it twice now in the past week. My farrier isn't complaining about it, but I am tired of replacing chewed-up bell boots that aren't working anyway.
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It's not often the farrier comes to pull just one shoe.
When I saw the shoeless foot on Saturday morning, I said screw it and saddled him up anyway. Dude was sound as a dollar. I called my farrier and asked if we could just pull the shoes and try going barefoot. Farrier said that it's a cheap and easy thing to do and certainly worth trying.
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Hinds were already barefoot.
If Izzy gets sore being barefoot, we'll just stick the shoes back on. Given how sound he's been for the past few rides, I am hopeful that we can go barefoot permanently. He's already shoeless in the back and has been for more than a year, so I think this might be the cheapest fix in history!
Hillary link
9/28/2016 06:29:28 am

My Annie is a bell boot destroyer and used to pull shoes like a freak. Double bell boots (so 2 per foot) worked magic... and then having hind shoes gave us the ability to square her hind toe just a smudge and we haven't pulled a shoe in months.

Hope barefoot works better for you than it did for me. :)

Ian Holland
9/28/2016 06:33:26 am

I had the same thing happen with my old quarter horse . I switched to barefoot and never regretted it. The problem was solved. It did take a while for her feet to toughen up,

Sarah link
9/28/2016 06:35:33 am

My kids are getting more foot sore with age for some reason. My mare is kind of upright in her fronts and needs shoes to not get sore, but for the first time in his life, my 9 year old is sore on the front without shoes, and he prefers the $$$ natural balance shoes on top of that. He has aspired to be a money pit this year for sure.

Leah link
9/28/2016 09:14:56 am

Always nice when you can (hopefully) both save money and do something good for your horse! Most of mine go barefoot year round. The only one who has been shod in recent memory was Topaz for some corrective shoeing -- and even then just the fronts. Hopefully Izzy is able to stay barefoot!

Micaylah link
9/29/2016 08:30:35 am

Ugh I wish I could go barefoot


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I am a lifelong rider. 
    I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.
    ​Welcome to my dressage journey.
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    Photo by Lori Ovanessian

    About Speedy G

    ​Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
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    July 2020 (PC AJSK Photography)

    About Izzy

    Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
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    March 2021 (PC Tess Michelle Photography)

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Site Designed and Managed by: Karen Sweaney

Among other things, Karen is a Wife, Friend, Reader, Writer, Rider, Traveler, and Dog Lover
Contact her at bakersfielddressage@gmail.com
  • Home
  • About
  • My Horses
    • Horses
    • Imperioso
    • G Ima Starr FA
    • Sunshine
    • Nakota and Gideon
    • Corky
    • Sassy
    • Montoya DSA
    • Mickey Dee
    • Sydney
  • Show Results
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
    • 2010
  • Dressage Organizations
    • Dressage Organizations
    • Memberships
    • 2019 Dressage Tests
  • Local
    • Shopping List
  • Home