Barefoot Canadians

[Claudine Benoit]

I'm sure everyone will agree, your Canadian horse has great feet. How many of you, out of curiosity go barefoot no matter what discipline you practice...?

[Jayme Bizoso]

I have 2 Canadiens and only shoe the stallion if we have a competition coming up in combined driving where it is really slippery and he has to stop a carriage on steep downhill slopes. Otherwise, he is barefoot. My mare has beautiful hooves and just needs trims. I have to say that all of my horses, 3 of which have horrible hooves (TB's and an older QH have improved dramatically with the new vitamins, which includes hoof supplements). Especially the QH who used to be on multiple supplements for various problems, and now one thing takes care of it all. I do notice that if my trims are not on time, then the splitting and cracking can develop quickly.

[Jeanne Clark]

My four-year Old Canadian mare, Ruby, has never been shod. She enjoys 24-hour turnout ---with access to a run-in shed --- in a large paddock with varied terrain. I ride her both on paved roads, on grass and in the woods. Her pasturemates are a five-year old Morgan gelding, and a 12-year old Suffolk Punch draft mare, and neither of them have ever been shod, either. They are, however, all trimmed regularly. Last month, Ruby got what I considered to be a fine compliment. My vet was over to do spring shots. His new assistant took one look at her and said: "My gosh --- Look at those beautiful feet!". All my horses have really good feet, but hers are really outstanding, they hold their size and shape, are perfectly proportioned to her body size, and don't crack or chip between trims. I couldn't ask for more.

[Norman MacLeod]

My 8 yearold mare gose barefoot most of the time but when we go to the rated a jumping shows we do the foot ing is usuallystonedust wich for some reason is one of the only things tha eats up her feet.

[Rona McLean]

My boy has some chipping happening on his feet, front and back....I am having him done every 5 weeks now...my farrier says Canadians are known for this? I bought him last summer with perfect tootsie. He has always been barefoot?

Any thoughts please?

[Claudine Benoit]

Look for a barefoot trimmer or ask your farrier if he is (truly familiar)with the barefoot trim, it's really not the same as a "pasture trim", have him done every 3-4 weeks for the warm months and just so you know and this is my opinion as a natural barefoot trimmer if the hoof wall is chipping, it's telling you it should be trimmed shorter. A barefoot horse will have horse owners in a panic thinking that the horse is "wearing his feet out" but you have to trust the hoof is really doing what it needs to do. A hoof is much better SHORT than long and the more it wears the faster it grows, you just have to give it a chance. What you can do to help your horse is learn to do a mustang roll and do it regularly, every 2-3 weeks and you 'll notice improvements right away! Canadians are known for chipping is the same as our moms telling us if you eat raw cake batter you'll get worms! (my mom anyways!).

[Laurie Alberts]

Just to throw in my few cents here, ever since I pulled the shoes off my huge Canadian mare over 4 years ago and had Claudine do barefoot trims with mustang rolls I've had no foot problems whatsoever. (The mare used to pull off half the wall when she lost shoes, which was often). I was scared too by the shorter foot (oh my god, she'll have no feet!) but they stabilized quickly, the heels widened, the walls thickened, and she grew a nice callus that has stood up to two pregnancies (hers, not mine), gravel roads and often rocky trails. I use boots in winter only when I'm riding or driving her so she can have caulks for ice, but then I pull them right off after. Her 4 year old son has never had shoes and he's covering the same tough trails. Barefoot rules!

[Susan Drover]

I hear people with shod horses tell me all the time, that their horses' feet wear down too fast when they are barefoot. What nonsense! They're just used to looking at too much hoof. Interesting that so many of these people have so much hoof on their horses, yet when they see my horse, they comment on how beautiful her (nice, short) feet are! They're really easy to clean, too - mostly self-cleaning.

[Jennifer]

My gelding has never had shoes. I've owned him for 3 years and the only time he got chips in his feet was when I went a little over the time for a trim & we'd been riding regularly on gravel roads. I've never heard of Canadians being known for getting chips in their feet.

I'd like to get boots with caulks for winter use whenever we eventually start doing pleasure driving. I rode my horse on the frozen hay fields last winter when there was good snow cover.

[Debbie Ogden]

What a great discussion. My horse had always been barefoot when I bought him last Spring. He had competed in sanctioned Beginner Novice eventing barefoot and won or placed in all. When he came to my barn in Feb we had to put Borium shoes on his fronts to get him from the barn to the arena on a steep hill. I pulled his shoes when the snow melted hoping to have him barefoot again. Although his sole thickened up he was always ouchy on gravel roads when we went out hacking and on condiitoning rides. He was fine on the sand arena and on the sand and rubber indoor arena. After 8 weeks I had the farrier put front shoes back on. My farrier loves his feet and often says he would take him to a shoeing competition because he is so round and even. His rear feet have never cracked or chipped between trims (every 8 weeks) and he is on no vitamins or suplememnts for his feet.
I have competed him in UDSF sanctioned events and although we are in the minority there are no rules on shoes that I have found. The only problem was at a recent combined test the dressage was on grass and he was slipping behind in the corners which caused him to tense up and put his head up and shorten his strides in the corners trying to keep himself balanced.