Upper level barefoot jumper

[Irene2022]

Looking to get some ideas or perspectives!

I pulled my horse’s shoes this winter while we take a break from showing and he’s having a grand time being barefoot. I’m trying to figure out what I should do for the upcoming show season and would love to hear if there are any first-hand accounts. I’d love to continue barefoot if I can and I know some horses do it (Swedish team), however, I’m just a DIY rider and don’t have access to that level of on-demand farrier service. We jump 1.30+ and sometimes compete in sand footing which I usually like to wear studs for, so with barefoot I’d lose that option (I think the Swedes do some sort of a resin layer?).
He does well in steel shoes so I feel like I might be messing with something that doesn’t need to be fixed. But my horse is a bit of a clunky guy and he’s moving so well right now so I feel like it might also help our results.
I plan on talking to my trainer and farrier before making a decision but would like to be prepared with an informed idea.
Would love to hear any thoughts!

[MsM]

I would expect your farrier would have the most insight if s/he is experienced and open-minded. My farrier shoes some $$$ horses jumping GPs. He was tickled when he had some that could go barefoot. He said the biggest issue with otherwise suitable horses was the feet wearing down too much in the sand footing when showing a lot.

[Xanthoria]

Here’s a good article about it: https://www.cavalliecavalieri.com/en/2022/11/17/silvia-torresani-the-swedish-show-jumping-team/

Excerpt:
“The first thing I would like to emphasise is that it is not true that all horses on the Swedish team are barefoot. The barefoot horses ridden at the Herning World Championships, for example, were All In ridden by Peder Fredricson and King Edward ridden by Henrik von Eckermann.”

Another article: https://www.cavalliecavalieri.com/en/2022/11/17/luca-moneta-international-rider/

Why not reach out to Luca, Peder and Henrik with specific questions?

[Railbird]

I actually was just talking with a farrier who attended a conference where the farrier who attends to the swedish team spoke. He said to be clear that he does not have all horses barefoot all the time and even those horses are not barefoot all the time, but that on very specific footing with careful attention, it can be a better option for some high performance horses where the footing has minimal slip. If they then were competing on grass they would need shoes. I think the major limitation there is someone who understands a performance horse at that level and what they need to be barefoot and how to evaluate which conditions require shoes vs none. Very few of the performance farriers do much barefoot work and very few farriers who do barefoot work do many performance horses, from my experience.

[Texarkana]

@Railbird

Very few of the performance farriers do much barefoot work and very few farriers who do barefoot work do many performance horses, from my experience.

Emphasizing this. I’m the biggest rah rah barefoot person out there, but this is a huge consideration.

The biggest reason horses aren’t successful barefoot is because of the humans performing their hoof maintenance, not because of the horses’ hoof quality. If you want barefoot performance horses, you need a team behind you that understands the intricacies of barefoot performance horses.

[Peggy]

Lacy Stormes Barefoot Show Jumping USA

[BrownDerby]

Spooner’s Halcon, featured in COTH, is barefoot too.

[NancyM]

This horse is barefoot. These are 5’ standards. And no, we did not compete full courses at this height, this is a “3 Bar” class, which was her specialty. She’s 15.2, and I’m old. She won this class with some regularity at this height.
I find (and she found) that on sand footing, or indoor footing usually, the traction was very good. Not so good (or not good at all) on wet grass (surprise!!! -not).

This horse raced, and of course was fully shod with racing plates for that. Started her jumping career after we had moved to our new farm - “semi arid” environment. This has made a HUGE difference in the ability to remain without shoes. If I was going roping bulls in mountainous terrain for 10 hours a day, my horses would need shoes. If I was going to Spruce Meadows in the pouring rain, they would need shoes with studs. But indoors, and in sand type rings… things are pretty good barefoot these days. Your mileage may vary. I trim my own, under some supervision (hubby is a retired farrier). It’s not difficult.
It feels to me like they can “feel” the ground better when barefoot. I haven’t had any problem with slipping in the right situations. She has been plenty fast in the jump offs too.

[StormyDay]

I compete all of mine barefoot. I have 6 in work. I’ve kept barefoot horses all over the country.

The vast majority of competition surfaces today are not very abrasive so you don’t need to worry about wearing the hoof surface down. When competition arenas were pure sand this was a significant issue and the main reason people needed to shoe an otherwise hoof healthy horse.
When I lived in South Carolina I had to shoe two of my horses because the sand was abrasive enough to wear their feet down.

Some people apply quick drying super glue to the bottom of the hoof to give an extra layer to prevent abrasion if you’re going to be riding somewhere with rough footing. Theres also a product on the market that’s aimed at horse people that’s similar.

[Highflyer1]

My horses are primarily eventers and dressage horses, and I’ve competed up to Training level eventing and the occasional 3’7 jumper class barefoot. I found that most of the time the biggest problem isn’t the competition footing, it’s all the bits in between that turn out to be rocky or gravel, the driveways and parking areas and entrances.

[CBoylen]

It’s going to depend on where you show. One of the barn I train at we are able to keep the majority of the horses barefoot. The property is entirely devoid of rocks or gravel and all the arenas are synthetic. All of the horses I think have eventually required shoes when moving on to new owners.
If your horse has been good at your facility, and your showgrounds resemble the above, it may be doable. When WEF was mostly sand and not synthetic, my a/o hunter would wear through his shoes in his five week shoeing period to the point that I twice had them actually break in half while still on his foot. So abrasive sand is a no-go for barefoot, as well as concrete or gravel happy showgrounds.
Don’t push it if you see the slightest shortening of stride or abnormal behavior in your horse. Nothing screws up the rest of the body faster than stingy front feet.

[StormyDay]

@CBoylen

It’s going to depend on where you show. One of the barn I train at we are able to keep the majority of the horses barefoot. The property is entirely devoid of rocks or gravel and all the arenas are synthetic. All of the horses I think have eventually required shoes when moving on to new owners.
If your horse has been good at your facility, and your showgrounds resemble the above, it may be doable. When WEF was mostly sand and not synthetic, my a/o hunter would wear through his shoes in his five week shoeing period to the point that I twice had them actually break in half while still on his foot. So abrasive sand is a no-go for barefoot, as well as concrete or gravel happy showgrounds.
Don’t push it if you see the slightest shortening of stride or abnormal behavior in your horse. Nothing screws up the rest of the body faster than stingy front feet.

That’s crazy! My horse would wear through his aluminums but I assumed it was the metal, not the venue.

[Demerara_Stables]

I’m a huge barefoot advocate for horses with good feet. My farrier specializes in barefoot horses and when he does use shoes, he often recommends Easy Care products (the same company that makes the Easy Boot). I’ve started following them on social media and they are coming out with a ton of new products for performance horses, including very light weight synthetic (plastic? Rubber?) shoes with holes for studs. They also have great glue on options that you can apply and remove yourself (just for a show weekend, for instance). My mare has been wearing their Versa Grip shoe for ~6 years.

Definitely check them out! https://www.easycareinc.com/prodcat/EasyShoe-Glue-On.asp