Barefoot horses
Barefoot horses live a happier and healthier life than shod horses. We assume a horse needs shoes without really thinking about why or how that affects a horse’s overall health. Through years of doing something one way, we often don't remember why we were doing it. It's just normal.
This is exactly how it was for me, my horses all started with shoes, as did every other horse I know. In actual fact, barefoot was almost unheard of. Honestly I don't know the full reason that started our barefoot horses journey, just over the years thinking that something didn't seem quite right, I wouldn't like the idea of having solid metal shoes on 100% of the time (spend a day in steel toe cap shoes is enough) and the same with bits, I wouldn't like the idea of being controlled with something in my mouth. So personal interest lead me to barefoot horses research, which led me to where we are today, with healthy happy horses and being firm advocates of barefoot.
I am limited on time whilst building this website and will continue to add more to our beliefs and journey but for now I have added interesting articles that backup how we feel for you to read and a video we put together with a kind volunteer at the Finca
If you feel like helping out Tenerife Horse Rescue you can help us in many ways.
Here you can see we are proud to be on the front cover of the worldwide magazine "The barefoot horse magazine" here you can read our story and much more information about the benefits of being barefoot for your horse.
If you would like to read further about the benefits of being barefoot follow the link *right* of the picture of our lovely set of hooves to read the full interview and article with words much better than I can put together...
Pete Ramey: The Benefits of Barefoot Horse & Rider magazine chats with one of the world's leading natural-hoof experts to answer your questions about going shoeless.
"Since our special report on the barefooted horse, the natural-hoof movement has continued to pick up steam. Barefooted, booted horses now dominate the world of endurance racing, where travelling at speed over rugged terrain is the norm. You can also find shoeless horses in many other lines of work and areas of competition, including Western performance."
"Horse&Rider: What are the key benefits of a shoeless foot?
Peter Ramey: It's not about the foot alone; it's about improved overall health. Recent blood-flow studies by Robert Bowker, VMD, PhD, show that the horse's foot gets at least twice as much circulation when he's barefoot on yielding terrain, as compared to when he's wearing a metal shoe. The back part of the foot is designed by nature to flex, twist and distort with uneven terrain and turns--it helps reduce stress and prevent injury to joints, ligaments and tendons. Metal shoes prevent most of that twisting and flexion the hoof was designed for."
