I have heard people tell me that I am not a "real" barefooter because I ride my horses 95% of the time in boots, vs in totally bare feet. I do this mainly because of the climate and terrain my horses live in. If I had thousands (most likely over the years it would move into the TEN thousands) of dollars to fix up all the property my horses live in with gravel, sand, etc, then maybe their feet would be better off. But I don't, and though I am sorry for it, it is just something I have to deal with. So I will never have a "gravel crunching" bare horse....so what? They live without boots most their lives, and only have boots on for the several hours I ride a week, if that.. The terrain here is mostly soft grass and soil, which turns into fetlock deep (and some places deeper) mud for 6-8mos of the year. The horses do have hills (in one pasture) or the gravel drive/under the trees to get out of the "mud", but even this terrain is still soft and wet. Add to that, we live in the coastal redwoods, or on pastures that USED to be coastal Redwoods. This makes for highly acidic soil. The only benefit: despite the constant mud and wet, the horses have yet to get scratches/mudfever on their pasterns while living here. The downside: the acidity literally eats away at the already moisture softened frogs and heel bulbs of the horses. This both softens/weakens these areas, as well as compromises them with cracks and divots that allow thrush to creep in and attack these areas even further. A never ending issue here...Sighhhhhhh...
Compare that to the desert (where it seems ppl can pull shoes one day, and ride barefoot that same day unless the feet were seriously compromised), where my, and my friend Terri's horse (we ride and keep our horses on the same property and I do all our combined feet as well), spent a week at an endurance ride near Death Valley, Ca over the holidays. In just a week, the feet went from wet and mushy, to hard, clean, and almost textbook "mustang" feet. What would they have looked like in a month there...a year?? It was sad having to bring them back to Humboldt, knowing what awaited those feet. The only downside: Terri's horse has three white legs. The alkalinity in the desert soil caused him scratches and always does :( She ended up having to pull him from the last day of riding because of them, and resulting rubs she got from boots when she wrapped his legs all up trying to prevent the scratches. That will be another topic though...And if anyone has good scratches remedies (or better yet, PREVENTATIVES) or protocols, let me know! We'll be going back to the desert for a ride in Eastern Mojave in February...
I will post a series of pictures of the horses' feet from both after a week in the desert, and a week back here in Humboldt. I will split it into two additional posts.
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The best scratches remedy I've used (finally worked after four months of fighting scratches with other things) was Furacin 1/2 jar, DMSO 1 teaspoon, mixed with a prescription strength steroid cream (Triamcinolone Acetonide 1%). This was applied liberally twice a day for a few weeks. Or applied liberally and wrapped with saran and vet wrap and change every 2 days. It softened and healed the crusty scabs. Took us four weeks to clear a stubborn case of it, and a friend's horse cleared in one week. Of course always check with your veterinarian first!
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