Ride Barefoot for the Health of your Horse!

My horse journey started about the same as many kids,  on an ornery Shetland pony.  He became mine by default; after repeatedly bucking off my brothers and sisters, no one else wanted to ride him!  I was so horse-crazy that I would just climb back on and ride through it-  he soon decided that it was easier to trot than spend way more effort trying to get rid of me.  Bud soon turned into a wonderful pony and we went everywhere together.  He even became a show pony for another family when I outgrew him!

Dot was my first "big" horse, an incredible QH mare that taught me what light hands and a soft feel are all about.  Fast and quick on her feet,  she was a former soured barrel horse.  All she knew was RUN!  Luckily for her, I lived a long way from any tack shop, and didn't have any money, so I couldn't just run out and get the "bigger, stronger" bit that all the local horse folks told me I needed to control her.  I pored over all the old Western Horseman magazines that my  neighbor gave to me,  took her out on the roads after school, and practiced what I had read about: shoulder control, hip control, lateral flexion, developing softness, riding on a loose rein, following her nose, basically all the stuff natural horsemanship trainers are now teaching in their clinics!  Many times I felt like I was bumbling through (is this right?),  but it didn't take long before this "crazy" horse turned into my favorite horse of all time.  The horse I had to ride in a plowed field the first time I got on her (just to slow her down!) became a state winner in Western Pleasure, and I learned it isn't what you hang in a horse's mouth, it's the hands on the other end of the reins.  Thank you, Doty's Pine Lass, for the lessons you taught me.

My "working years"  took me to Arabian saddleseat and halter barns,  dressage trainers, an endurance barn,  learning to drive,  and picking the brains of every farrier and trimmer I could find.  Even early on feet were an obsession; read all about what took me down the barefoot path on my trimming page.

Whenever I go to a clinic,  I consider it a success if I've come away with at least one bit of information that I can use.  I hope that I can provide you with helpful information as well.

Enjoy your journey, and remember, your horse wants to have fun, too!

Hanover is barefoot and sound- see how rocky his environment is?

To All Horse Folks..

This site, and anything I write on it, is what I have found to work for me. Everyone has different ways of doing things; feel free to share your methods, thoughts, and opinions!  It's the exchange of information and implementation of better methods that will make us all more talented horsemen, and our horses will benefit.