02.17.08
Riding horses on pavement
From the Forum Natural Horse Trim at Yahoo Groups:
Greg Sokoloski, the officer with the Houston Police Dept. who is
responsible for taking the mounted patrol horses barefoot, has no
problem with the 31 barefoot horses performing daily for 8 to 10 hrs.
on mostly concrete. Some of these horses had various hoof pathologies
while shod and had only gotten worse in shoes. Now that they are
barefoot, their hooves have all improved.
At times the officers choose to boot but most of the time they are
barefoot. The horses are much better barefoot in every way. They have almost
no vet calls now. They are more sure footed. Wet pavement is no
longer as slippery. The horses are clearly more content and
comfortable and their attitudes reflect it.
He welcomes all contacts about this successful barefoot program.
Gregory Sokoloski
E-mail:
hpdmp3486@sbcglobal.net
Address:
300 N. Post Oak
Houston TX 77024
Phone: 713-812-5158
Mobile: 713-898-3721
Please pass along this success story to other vets, friends, and
other lists. People need to know how a naturally trimmed hoof works
so much better than a shod hoof does.
Greg had to endure much criticism and go against conventional
thinking as he perservered with his conviction that a natural hoof
meant a healthier hoof and horse. He braved the press, the public,
the lies, the farriers the vets who said it was cruel, inhumane,
greedy, would kill the horses.
NO ONE has come back with a followup story of how the mounted patrol
horses have not only succeeded, but they have THRIVED. This story needs to be published.
Lynn Swearingen
_________________________________________
peaches’ comment:
We ride and drive our barefoot guys frequently on pavement (summers) at a walk mostly, also some trotting, but not trotting for long stretches (not over 2-4 minutes at a time.) The pavement helps keep their feet trimmed. Coming back from a nice 2-hour walk on pavement, their hoof walls and bars will be nicely smoothed down. We boot them in front for rough rocky ground or for gravel roads, just so we CAN trot them.
Here in New Hampshire we go out on warmer days in the winter too, so long as streets are not solid ice or lacking shoulders due to snow buildup. If we didn’t walk on streets we’d never be able to get them out in wintertime, or in spring mud season either! We have not known the pavement to cause any problems, we just use common sense and don’t “work” them on it, no cantering of course. A mare we used to have (Abby) had dropped soles in front, therefore we never trotted her on pavement but we did walk her on streets.
Barefooters don’t slip on pavement (dry or wet) when they have reasonable hoof concavity, but horses DO slip when they are shod.
Tina Y said,
February 19, 2008 at 1:30 am
I met “Lee the Horselogger” (http://www.leehorselogger.com) when he came through my town in Jan 2007. His drafts are barefoot, and have the most amazing feet I’ve ever seen. He removed the shoes early in his journey and said he’d never put them back on. If I’ve ever seen a testimony for barefoot horses on pavement, his are it!!