When the barefoot discussions were heating up a decade or two ago, I recall some were dubious, to incredulous, about horses jumping barefoot. With one Olympic team and one puissance horse now showing it can be done at the highest levels, has anyone changed their mind about barefoot?
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Barefoot horses do consistently well on the modern synthetic surfaces. They may actually have an advantage over shod horses-- synthetic fibers have lots of âstickâ, and a shoe grabs in the ground with 0 slippage. A bare hoof has just a bit of give and slip, which is more natural and comfortable for the horse (and beneficial for longterm soundness, âbarefootâ qualities aside).
It is not unusual for racehorses to run barefoot at synthetic tracks like Presque Isle Downs; but nearly unheard of on dirt and turf courses. It makes good sense to me that sound, upper level horses who train and compete exclusively on perfect, manicured, fiber surfaces should not need shoes.
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Okay. As I recall at the time, some asserted a hoof needed âsupportâ from shoes to jump. As in, âhoof would break apart upon landingâ or similar. But as far a s âperfectâ surfaces is concerned, I hear more than enough complaining from folks about footing at many venues. So I find the âperfect footingâ portion to be a bit disingenuous. I will have to track that detail down as it regards some of the more famous barefoot jumpers.
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I suspect the âperfectâ surface is one laid by a specialist company and, generally, such hi-tech isnât cheap. It also requires precise and regular care to maintain its perfection. I recall that the surface in the main arena at the London Olympics was tested by dressage, eventing and showjumping riders. The first two where happy but the showjumpers felt the surface did not fully suit them. The mix was then successfully reformulated to work slightly differently.
How many shows in the USA spend that much money on arena footing when people ride on dust and crushed rock at home?
I think it can only be done well at the highest levels, where one has absolute control over care and footing at all times, not just when being ridden. And also with a highly skilled farrier who can use the newer methods to maintain them with the plastic layers that prevent the excess wear. Itâs not feasible for the average person with regular turnout and average footing and infrastructure.
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This. If weâre talking about Peder, heâs got an incredible farrier that travels with him. I bought a horse from a good friend of his during Covid shutdowns and we had an interesting conversation about him.
During Covid when travel was much more challenging, there were specific competitions and places that he skipped bc farrier was unable to join him. At that point, he would not travel without him and maybe that has changed or he now has a team, but it goes to show that it took a village to get his horses comfortable. I suspect most of us donât have access and exclusivity at that level to someone that skilled.
I agree too that FEI horses arenât doing our typical horse routines of turnout, the occasional trail ride, etc. Generally, itâs stall to ring to big rig to plane to rig to stall.
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How much any horse can do barefoot has a lot to do with the footing, but also the quality of the horseâs feet, which is influenced by both genetics, and with the environment that the horse lives in. High humidity environment is as bad as wet environment for horsesâ feet. Time standing in a stall rather than constant motion is bad for feet.
I have TBs and TBX horses. When I was living in a humid and wet environment, they HAD to be shod⊠pretty much all of them, to be able to do much. BUT, when I moved the farm to a dryer climate, the difference in hoof quality is stunning. Havenât shod anything for 14 years now. I do a bit of careful trail riding, not 10 hours over the mountain tops- just nice trails, recreationally. But yes, they jump at shows barefoot. My old mare just loved those 3 bar classes, up to 5â. Barefoot, no problem. Never had any vet work, injections or other soundness issues.
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Speaking only for FloridaâŠ
Pretty much all major show venues have high quality synthetic footing in their arenas. And many dressage, eventing, and show jumping stables have synthetic fiber arenas to school on at home. It is pushed very heavily by local arena builders and âpeer pressure.â I specifically DID NOT want fiber for my new arena last year, yet I had many friends and acquaintances try to change my mind.
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I also remember heated conversations on this board about how if you dared to jump a barefoot horse over a certain height their feet would just implode and the world would end.
Of course, I knew it was BS because I know people competing barefoot who were jumping pretty darn high. Then a few years later I competed my barefoot horse every weekend, sometimes on good footing and sometimes on subpar, at the 4ft. Which according to some of the people on here should have crippled him.
Thereâs actually a lot of barefoot horses doing upper level work. Itâs just usually not talked about or noted. Dressage is a good sport to look at for examples. Even walking around a show ground, if you start looking at the feet itâs pretty interesting. The horse hoof is an amazing structure that needs a lot less intervention/support than we tend to give it.
Now, Iâm not anti-shoe; I have an OTTB who needed them for a while until his hooves grew out. And there are some sports you just have to have them; like if you need studs.
There are still people on this board who are sure that if you ride a horse it has to have shoes.
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It really depends on the horse. My WB mare has never had shoes, ever, my WB gelding does better with shoes. Heâs naturally more tender-footed.
I believe in listening to the horse, not one size fits all âphilosophiesâ on horse care.
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I have been staunchly converted to the âcrazy barefooterâ side of the spectrum for the past couple decades.
I really hate it when people write off barefoot performance horses as being lucky with good genetics. While genetics certainly affects hoof quality, itâs not that simple.
Most horses can work barefoot. Itâs not a matter of having fancy footing or superior hoof quality. Itâs a holistic, multifaceted commitment to abandoning practices that necessitate shoes and embracing practices that allow the horses to keep working barefoot.
Sometimes what it takes to maintain a horse barefoot isnât compatible with what we can offer, and thatâs ok! It doesnât make the person a bad horse owner. But that is not the same as âneeding shoes.â
The concept of âneeding shoesâ to work is so normalized we donât even question it. And when we try to have the conversation about barefoot v. shoes, many horse owners end up feeling attacked, rendering them completely unreceptive to dialog.
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yep. In my case, my gelding with shoes needs them least of all when heâs working in my perfectly manicured footing! He needs them because he lives outside, where the ground is currently frozen solid into pits and ruts and isnât going to thaw any time soon. Also at shows, he canât walk on the gravel roads comfortablyâŠthe arenas would be fine.
My mare has feet of iron to be able to walk comfortably in the field right now. I donât know how she does it but sheâs never footsore. Sheâs currently pregnant, hopefully baby inherits those hooves!
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I was at Olympia last weekend and Iâve never heard the same sound from any other footing upon landing. It was a very strange dull thud. I wish I knew what the surface was.
If you have a programme, it might say in the small print, listing suppliers etc. Or if a class was sponsored by a surface firm, they might have a listing.
Iâm with CBoylen and Tini on this.
Absolutely can be done at the highest levels with complete and total hands on care and maintenance from a top expert. There was a pretty in depth article/interview with Peder post-Olympics, and I remember thinking, âthatâs a lot of hands on and intensive workâ to âbe barefootâ. And certainly not what any barefoot rider Iâve ever encountered at a show is doing. And also, I would argue that most of the trainers I know only know a âgood trimâ or âgood footâ because their farrier tells them âthatâs a good foot.â And often times thatâs a very self-motivated claim and not at all true. Iâve seen some really weird things from very big barns at shows over the years who use big name farriers.
Thereâs also a whole other factor about the fact that most âbarefoot trimmersâ are not working on a large number of âelite athleteâ type horses. Sadly, I think the industry in some ways has split to 1) can trim AND shoe (emphasis on using the shoeing to complement or go beyond what they can do with a trim) to just about anything or 2) can trim without a major focus on supporting a horse doing high level jumping. But of course, some horses do well no matter the program. And some just donât.
For the record, Iâm not anti-barefoot. I agree with a lot of what has been said about the hoof being best suited to all things - grip, flexion, and the ability for the horse to âfeelâ where theyâre at.
But even so, some horses canât adapt or be cared for to that level. Zero chance my TB (who did the big FEI classes for years) could have done what heâs done without shoes. Most of my warmbloods, on the other hand? Iâm pretty sure if I the resources Peder has access to, would do perfectly fine. I always hated that my TB had to live in his set-up too (wedge pads). It was abundantly clear that he has very poor prorioreception and has always struggled with changes in terrain. I think heâd be much more brilliant about reading terrain without shoes at all.
With all of that being said, itâs not a super simple thing. Iâve watched a number of horses over the decades go around mid-sized jumper classes barefoot, and more often than not they looked brace-y and uncomfortable.
To that point, most people are also not doing the right type of conditioning a) at all (like even to be competing at the level theyâre competing at) and b) in regards to preparing feet to be jumping on any particular surfaces. But thatâs a whole other rant about the princess and the pea syndrome people have adopted over footing in general and the idea that footing is responsible for injuring horses at shows (when I would argue that barring a few specific cases/scenarios, itâs almost always the conditioning and preparation of the horses - to include being ridden on different surfaces).
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I agree with @Texarkana and @StormyDay.
I think a barefoot jumping horse is completely realistic at low to mid levels as well, if done correctly. No need for a farrier to follow you around or be in perfectly formulated and perfectly manicured footing. As others have said, it requires owners to completely unlearn everything they âknowâ about hoofcare. They have to be dedicated to the nutrition requirements, the 4-12 months of full transition time, finding varied surfaces (yes, to eventually include some gravel and hard surfaces) to gradually build up the sole strenghth and increase the horseâs tolerance, etc. I will venture a guess that need for the owner to do a lot of research, careful planning, and sacrifice at least part of a show season is what ultimately scares a lot of people away from considering barefoot. It is NOT just a matter of yanking the horseâs shoes and riding on perfect, synthetic surfaces all the time.
I am very interested in transitioning my horse in the future when we return to the US. Where we are right now in the UK, all I have is soft surfaces to ride or handwalk on, which (based on my still limited understanding of the transitioning process) would be problematic for really getting into the sole development. He lives out full time, but on grass fields with a soft, sandy base. But as I research more and if I can make it work in the future, I would like to eventually try. For now though, heâs in a full set of steel shoes.
I believe in barefoot because the same concept worked for me. I was struggling with severe, chronic running injuries and after a couple years of trying everything (stretches, custom fitted shoes, orthotics, no orthotics, wrapping/taping, Chi running and every running style known to man, RICE therapy, etc, etc, etcâŠ) the doctors finally gave up and told me to quit running if I wanted to still have legs to walk on later in life. But I had to run because I was about to start my military career. By pure chance I found minimalist running, and eventually barefoot running (yes, barefoot as in nothing on my feet at allâŠnot minimalist).
It took me about six months to fully transition to a full time barefoot running routine, but I never looked back. I was able to run miles and miles on concrete, and my chronic running injuries completely disappeared. I became a believer that nature sometimes really does know best if you do the work. Our feet werenât designed to wear shoes and boots. They need to move, to flex, to load, to bend, and move some more. The problem with the âbarefootâ (read: minimalist) running craze of 2010 was that people refused to strip their running program down far enough to strengthen their feet slowly and correctly. The amateur runner doing 20 miles a week thought throwing on some âbarefoot shoesâ (
â:dizzy:) and going out for a couple easy 2 mile jogs was sufficient, when true barefoot or minimalist running programs needed to be measured in hundreds of feet for the first several weeks, not miles. Exceptionally few were willing to do that level of work and educate themselves correctly. So, they went out and ran their too-long âeasyâ programs and got hurt. Then they blamed barefoot or minimalist running for their mistakes. I saw this replay dozens of times because people were either lazy, ignorant, in a hurry, or too proud.
Back to horses, I agree itâs not right for every horse in every circumstance. But Iâm glad to see the mentality changing and the approach to hoofcare evolving to include barefoot as a more mainstream option. Allow the foot to do its job and give it the time and correct training program to be strong enough, and it will surprise you with what it is capable of.
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Guys, Iâm really glad we are having this conversation. I feel like most everyone âgets itâ which is very cool.
A big change from the usual âsome horses just need shoesâ dismissive attitudes.
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Very cool. Thanks for your story.
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The barefoot running is a great comparison. Especially as someone who suffers from foot issues, and the doctors kept telling me to add more and more padding/thicker soles/etc.
The kind of footing a horse is living on is SUCH a big deal too. I have had barefoot horses in a ton of different climates and environments, and it can make a big difference. Where I live now is very conducive to barefoot horses and probably 1/2 of the horses I see are barefoot. Down in Aiken, I had to shoe everything except my mustang. The ground is too hard and abrasive. South Florida is abrasive too because of the coral, but the ground is overall softer, so lot horses do just fine barefoot there.
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Interesting. I ran long distance for many years and did about 7 or 8 marathons and countless half marathons. Used to run in NYC and attended a seminar with Dr Jordan Metzl. he worked out of Hospital for Special Surgery and treated some of our countryâs top athletes. Heâs also a decorated ironman athlete himself. Someone asked about barefoot running and whether he thought about taking it up himself and what he thought about it. He laughed and said, âNever. This is NYC, a concrete jungle with no give and plenty of sharp objects, not the wide open spaces of Kenya. Also, I joked once that I always see a barefoot runner twice⊠once in the park running and then afterwards in my office with some injuryâ. The point being that barefoot running changes your heel strike and foot placement, so it may help alleviate a lingering old running injury because of the angle shift, but can potentially compromise other parts as you do not have any protection against the impact of the ground unless youâre running on grass or sand. It should be noted Iâm a Hoka convert for distance (18 miles+) and have always been true to my Asics for most shorter distances.
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