The Barefoot Performance Horse
The Journey of a Certified Dressage Coach and Equine Canada USEF official Judge
At every crossway on the road that leads to the future, each progressive spirit is opposed by a thousand men assigned to guard the past…
1911 Belgian Nobel Laureate, Maurice Maeterlinck
Though more and more people in the performance horse world are taking a serious look at the many benefits of barefoot hoof care for their performance horses, I am often met at one of those “crossways” by one of those “thousands” assigned to guard the past. In conversation with a respected Thoroughbred race horse trainer about horses racing barefoot I was told, “It cannot be done, you’ll have to prove it to me”.
Several years ago, I had the opportunity to work with a horse in the Competitive Trail Riding discipline who won the Florida 100 mile CTR for the Lightweight division, 2 years after going barefoot, and worked with a Thoroughbred mare at the Oklahoma Training Track in Saratoga, NY who trained noticeably well barefoot. I also had an advisory position in the training of another Thoroughbred filly whose owners were committed to racing her barefoot. Renowned author Joe Camp, through his best selling book, Soul of the Horse, and on his Blog, has a long and growing list of successful performance barefoot horses in nearly every discipline competing and winning without shoes.
Pat and Memphis above at the Florida 100 mile CTR
Nick, an exercise rider at the Saratoga Oklahoma Training Track aboard Kate Me Mate
In the discipline of Dressage, the accomplishments of USA Olympian Steffen Peters and his wife Shannon, who successfully transitioned many of their top equine athletes to barefoot, sent a ripple effect across the country for barefoot. Immediately, east coast dressage competitors began contacting me to see if their horses were good candidates for barefoot performance in the dressage arena. One of those calls was from Margaret K Boyce of MKB Dressage, a certified dressage coach and judge, who at the time worked in my area of travel, and who also happened to be a newly accepted student at the Equine Sciences Academy where I received my Degree, Certification, and currently serve as a Field Instructor for the Academy.
For Margaret, dressage is not only a profession but her passion. In 1994, she was exposed to classical dressage, was hooked immediately and started her formal education. She began her studies with top Canadian Dressage Olympians and with Dressage Canada “Hall of Fame” inductee, German dressage master and judge, Dietrich VonHoffgarten. Eventually, Margaret became one of Dietrich’s working students in Vancouver, Canada and obtained her NCCP Dressage Instructor Certificate, as well as her Equine Canada – Official Judge status.
Margaret accepted two working student positions to further advance her dressage education. The first in Verden, Netherlands with Dutch Dressage Olympian Bert Rutten and shortly after in Voerde, Germany with dressage master Johann Hinnemann. Her education was further enlarged when she visited the Spanish Riding School as well as receiving lessons at the French National Riding School with Head Trainer, Olympian and FEI Judge, Colonel Christian Carde.
Margaret moved to NYC and quickly brought Carde over to teach. She helped arrange Carde’s participation in the 2008 International Dressage Symposium “Classical vs Competition”, at Maplewood Warmbloods in Middletown, NY along side German Dressage Master Klaus Balkenhol and FEI Vet Dr Gerd Heuschmann. It was here where Margaret met Kim Walnes who rode Gideon, a Connemara cross stallion in lessons with Carde as well as participating as a demo ride in the Symposium. He was the only barefoot horse.
This horse was not the best mover, but moved the best!
“It was seeing the way this horse moved that made me go barefoot, because this horse was not the best mover at the Symposium. There were many extremely expensive imported horses being presented, but in my opinion, Gideon moved the very best. He was the most level and even in his gaits and had the most solid connection to the ground.” MKB
Seeing Kim and Gideon perform together was the beginning of Margaret’s barefoot journey with her Hanovarian gelding Bigello (aka Big). It was around this time that Big began showing signs of unsoundness after showing on deep footing. Having long toes and a distinct medial-lateral imbalance, she could feel his un-levelness up front constantly, as he paddled badly. She was told that this is just how his hoof grew.
Dr. Carol Edwards, a well respected Equine Vet and Chiropractor who Margaret used, and was an advocate for barefoot, insisted that Big’s hoof is much too long and he will go lame if you do not address it. She finally removed his shoes.
Big and Margaret suffered several set backs in his transition. Everything from over trimming, to incorrect feed choices, to not enough turn out, and many other vital aspects of rehabilitating hooves that were not considered when she embarked on this journey. Transitioning to barefoot from shoes is not as easy as removing shoes and going on your merry way into the performance arena, especially if your horse has been shod long term without ever having an opportunity for a rest from shoeing. More than once she was told to put his shoes back on by her Vet and was often ridiculed by other professionals as being eccentric.
It was about this time in her journey that she contacted me. I began working with Big and Margaret as well as some of the other horses Margaret was training. We had to review diets, supplements, turn out time, hoof boots for protection, dentistry and have serious discussions on current vaccine and chemical worming programs, because some of the horses, including Big, had some negative reactions, which resulted in missed training time as well as shows.
As we worked together through a more holistic approach treating Big and each horse as an individual, Margaret quickly understood that the natural horse care principles taught through studies in the Equine Sciences Academy differ greatly from an approach looking at and focusing on the hoof without considering the many other factors of the whole horse that can cause soundness problems. After making many of these crucial changes over time, Margaret and Big were set to enter the performance arena barefoot and sound!
Every equestrian in the performance realm, who has taken the brave step to allow their equine athletes to also be “horses” through a healthy lifestyle paradigm, came to a crossway that leads to the future, met by a thousand men guarding the past. It is up to each of us to either step into the future or become one of the thousand.
I wrote this article for Equine Wellness Magazine and it was published in June/July 2017. There are a few updates and added pictures.
Love hearing these stories! I'm glad to see she persevered! Thank you!