[Ag-eq] horse training

[nfoster at extremezone.com]

I have found bells to be very helpful; I also attach them to my friends horses
so I can follow better on the trail.

Over the years I have had 3 different mules and 3 different horses and only 1
horse wore shoes.  I do use old Mack boots when riding in really rocky areas. 
The barefoot trimmer trims Jack and Cruiser every 6 to 8 weeks.  I have never
tried filing the hooves myself.  I think that hoof care is so important that I
would rather leave it to the professionals.  It's also really hard work and I
don't think my body is up to it!  I always use a barefoot trimmer and not just
a farrier.  Bare feet need to be trimmed differently than horses wearing shoes.

Out of all my animals the only one with lameness issues was the one with shoes. 
The mules never had hoof problems and I rarely used the Old Macks.  Cruiser, my
current horse seems to have very hard feet, so far I haven't had to boot him.

Nella
Quoting Jody Ianuzzi <jody at thewhitehats.com>:

> Hi Michelle,
>
> Well, I don't have a horse yet but I would probably walk in a pattern in the
> area to muck out and when I kicked pay dirt I would pick it up with a fork
> or gloved hands.  I think it would be really lucky to have a horse that goes
> in the same place every time.
>
> I agree that leaving a halter on all the time is not a good idea.  I think I
> would try and find a breakaway halter or maybe put the bell on a light
> string around their neck.
>
> You can buy a whole bag of jingle bells at Michael's craft supplies and they
> aren't very expensive.
>
> I probably won't shoe our horses since we live on a dirt road.  If I was
> going to ride on a hard surface I would probably get sport boots.  That
> would save on the cost of shoeing.  Does anyone file their horse's hooves
> themselves?
>
> Yes, I have good echolocation skills too and listening to the surface you
> are on is a great idea.  We have flat terrain here and no rocks.
>
> JODY
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Ag-eq mailing list
> Ag-eq at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/ag-eq_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Ag-eq:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/ag-eq_nfbnet.org/nfoster%40extremezone.com
>