*HeAvEn'S a LiE* - barefoot 20yo ringboned TB doing xc

YEAAHHHHH for Rainie. For those of you who haven't been following - Rainie is a 20yo TB with severe ringbone. At 16 he was retired and was barely able to walk around his paddock. We were arranging his euthanasia when we heard about this freaky hippy thing called barefoot trimming. Seeing as Rainie was unable to walk with shoes on, and i knew how lame he was when ever he lost a shoe, I dismissed it as a crock of $hit. HOWEVER, my lecturer at uni suggested i look up andrew bowe - and i read about the success he'd had with ringbone horses and other severe pathologies using simple barefooting principles. I decided it was worth a crack as a last resort.

Simply put I am now a firm barefoot advocate, respected career barefoot specialist, have undertaken several veins of specialist education, and have all my horses (who compete heavily) out of shoes :)

Rainie is now 20yo and back in moderate work. He trail rides, jumps, swims, competes etc all barefoot, and only uses hoof boots for road work. his previously flat crappy shelly feet have developed strength and concavity.

Here he is for a 2 hour training session up to Level 1 HRCAV (max height 1.05m) on his SECOND EVER TIME CROSS COUNTRY. He did not pull up the slightest big sore or puffy the following day. He surprised us all with his courage and pluck and I had gone there expecting to potter around the level 3 max.

Needless to say I will be entering Rainie alongside Earl in the local jump trials next year. :D

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• rainie
• barefoot
• thoroughbred
• ringbone
• cross
• country
• jumping
• Horses
• Riding

[KRequestrian]

Hello Wandin! Omg he looks FANTASTIC! What a little superstar he is, awesome job with him! :) x

[IskanderRun]

@KRequestrian thanks katie! you could always bring your boy down for a play when he's ready - its $25 to use the course but you gotta book. its sooooooooo worth it as its one of the best courses in the state.

[HazelwoodMasterRed]

So you'll be doing Cockatoo on him? That'd great! My boy is 20 also and had a lot of issues with his back and such, I've been told it could be to do with his feet and once he is back from lease I am thinking about getting him barefoot trimmed.

[IskanderRun]

@HazelwoodMasterRed you betcha!!! looking forward to it, will likely have Rainie and Earl both competing open level 3. will be Rainie's first ever xc comp, and Earls 2nd. soooo excited. are you going? if you are come say hi if you see us! :)

A lot of gluteal and back problems are associated with hoof issues, in particular long toe short heel syndrome type feet and also box trimmed feet. Would certainly be worth a crack if he's having problems you have nothing to lose!

[HazelwoodMasterRed]

@IskanderRun I wont be because my horse is on lease till April because I had year 12 commitments but I won grade three there last year :) It's a great comp, I really enjoyed it.

I will definitely be considering barefoot, especially because he's rising 21 so anything I can do to help him out will be good. Is it hard for them to adjust after wearing shoes for such a long period throughout their life?

[IskanderRun]

@HazelwoodMasterRed Earl was 6th last year - I also loved it, I have never competed in anything like that before! no dressage? all jumping? SCORE! :D haha

It CAN be hard for some; some we think will be really hard & are sound immediately! and some times vice versa. But if done correctly and depending on the surface you want to ride on it can be done trauma free :) does take time to crunch rocks tho! if u dont have me already add me on facey and we can chat more about it and any questions u have

[GallowayGold]

that is amazing! you wouldnt even know that he had ringbone from watching this video!

i love barefoot trimming i have a clydie x and no farrier wants to shoe her because she has such amazing feet. :)

[tillynbella]

Your horse looks great! Very brave for his second time XCing :)

My appaloosa goes lame as soon as you take the front shoes off him, even on soft sand, so we have always had front shoes on, but do you think he could be better with special barefoot trimming?