okay jumpers

[Morgan Horse]

This is to all you jumpers out there. My husband jumps but we have gone barefoot and he is thinking about jumping again.. But I want him to stay barefoot.. Any suggestions. He is worried about slipping on wet grass. Now I have tried to convince him that in all my years of ranch work my horses never needed shoes and never fell on me.. But he is stubborn.. He doesn't want to shoe but he doesn't want to crash either... Any suggestions.

[EquineAlberta]

Your husband should definately not jump barefoot. He should wear boots.



How big of jumps are you planning on jumping? Is there sand under the grass, or just dirt? (Many shows have some sand in their base). I think that shoes with Caulks are best for doing the bigger jumps (over 3') and even for some smaller stuff if it rains. We showed barefoot on grass last year to 2'6" and did fine even after a light rain, but the footing was pretty new/nice.

Karen

[Carri]

I agree, I really think it depends on how high he is jumping, and on the horse's feet. If the horse has great feet, and he is not jumping high, I would not be worried about him slipping, but if he does not have great feet, I would have him shod and use studs if slipping is a problem.

Shoes with no studs are more slippery than going barefoot.

[Morgan Horse]

Yeah he is looking at some boots, It will definitly be over 3 foot... And the horses have great feet. We are just wondering if anyone has jumped with boots and which ones work best for it...
We really don't want to put shoes on them since it is only a few minutes that they need the extra traction.. We have a great barefoot farrier, but he is a bit of a stubborn old fart and I don't want to lose him just for the sake of some shoes.. So any boot suggestions would be great..
Thanks

[Horsie Michelle]

When I jumped I road a barefoot mare and we were jumping up to 3-4+ feet at times (she was a rocket!), but it was either in a ring w/ sand or a pretty sandy landing/takeoff spot. Plus I was yound and it was a long time ago so I could have been being "crazy" for all I know.

Anyway while my hubby and I were living in SFL we used a farrier that was trained under Pete Ramsey to do barefoot trims. His name was Frank Tobias and I believe both his wife and daughter jump barefoot. His site is www.barefoothoofcare.com .

I don't know to much about the safety aspect of jumping barefoot...but I had a lot of problems when we moved and had to board our barefoot mare w/ other boarders/people basically telling me I was insane for having her barefoot even when the vet and farrier said she was fine. I'm not anti-shoe or pro-barefoot, more less case-by-case, but have you had any of these problems going barefoot?

[llarryllama373]

woops, sorry about that something weird happened. sorry.

[Morgan Horse]

Both horses have great feet and the farrier is the best in Alberta for bare foot..IMO. I tried the website link but it is not working.. Thanks though.. I think it can be done just the horse and rider have to know each other really well and work together.

[Barnmum]

Shoes are important for jumping due to the corks required. It's not for protection, it's for traction. Think of it as "good grips" in the mud or wet grass. Just allows the horses to have a more secure footing. Horses in the pasture don't need them because most horses can't be bothered to jump anything they can't step over! Sorry but IMP, jumping horses on the grass without corks is like tackling a spring snowstorm in your summer tires.

[GreyDot]

Originally Posted by Barnmum

Shoes are important for jumping due to the corks required.

Sorry to differ, but not all horses need corks - it really does depend on the footing, the course, the height and spread of the jumps and the horse's own biomechanics. I've done 4'6" on all footing, including wet and summer-dry grass with bare feet in the back, and only borium cleats in the front. As already pointed out, shoeing in the back can actually make it more slippery, as the foot does have its own natural traction. Have also done 5' verticals and a 5'x5' oxer in plain shoes on sand - and then took the horse out on an XC course. The horse belonged to an Olympic rider, under whom I was riding - but that was what that particular horse needed. I've also ridden a pony who, owing to her style of jumping, needed a full set of corks no matter where she was being jumped. It just helped stabilize her. However, that is how those horses went best. Really no hard and fast rule; you just have to know what you're riding and how it feels.

I would definitely NOT jump a horse in boots (EZ-Boot etc.), as those are meant to be a very temporary measure, and will not provide the horse with the traction he will need. Even a bare foot will get decent traction owing to the frog and bars contacting the ground, but if you have a boot on that foot, the foot may slip inside it and cause untold injuries to both horse and rider. VERY dangerous.

Have your husband try a few small jumps from a trot, and have him feel the take-off and landing. Try a few turns coming in and off the jump, at a trot or a gentle canter. If he feels stable on that footing, and the horse isn't scrambling to stay on track, then it's fine as it is. If not, you can start by adding shoes with borium cleats - NOT full corks. The cleats are just small bumps on the heel of the shoe that will give a little more purchase. However, some horses really don't like that extra grab. Let him try bare

[Morgan Horse]

Thank you Greydot that is the best information I have got... He is working in deep sand right now and no problems.. But he is just started to train again after the horse had some back issues that we sorted.. He is only jumping about 2 foot 9 now and will work him higher with time.. I will try to get him to set some up on the grass and see how the horse works.. Both horses have good arches and bulbs on thier feet so thier traction should be good naturally.. As for the boots you make a good point.. Thanks again

[Morgan Horse]

Thought I would show off one of our boys at work... This is the one with back issues. As you can see 2foot 9 isn't really testing him.. He stands 17 2

[GreyDot]

He's definitely not having to work very hard at it - although I would definitely add a HELMET for your husband

Do start out bare, though, and go up from there. You can always add more if you need it.

[Morgan Horse]

He's male and doesn't listen to me.. I would love to see him wear his helmet at home. Last thing I want is a wreck.. I will start nagging him...It took him two years of me telling him that Finnigan had an issue and not just a training problem.. So if I start now he might wear it for winter

[kshnooks]

Haha, sorry I just had to laugh with EA-from your OP it sounds like your husband is debating whether or not he should go barefoot...NOT the horse.

The horse I ride in lessons is shod up front, barefoot in back and he does ok. All jumping, however is in a sand/dirt area

[pasopony]

First of all, get a helmet on your hubby's head (at least when he jumps!) That's more scarey to me than jumping without shoes

Horses land on one front foot every time they jump. So grip is pretty important. If hubby plans on jumping more often than not, at heights over 2 ft., then I would shoe in front and leave the back open. As GreyDot said, the horse would probably be fine with Borium, or even a rim shoe, for the traction and not need a set of corks/caulks. Although I prefer my horses barefoot, I do shoe those whose jobs require it - and consistent jumping over 2 ft is a job that requires some support for the hoof. If he was just occasionally popping over some jumps, I'm sure he'd be fine. The question to me is how often is he jumping? He looks rather serious about it.

Jumping in easyboots, or similiar, is quite dangerous. They are not made for traction, but for hoof protection. They're fine on the trails or pleasure work, but not for jumping.

Edited to add: My hubby is a trucker. A real he-man. And even he knows he's not allowed to ride (even on the flat) without a helmet. All it took was seeing Darren Chachia go down and get airlifted out of the Red Hills Horse Trials and he doesn't ever "forget" anymore.

[EquineAlberta]

Yes, I did mean the husband (re the boots)...glad someone was on the same wave length as me!

But there are some super expensive boots you can custom order than can have cleats in them...but the problem is if your horse isn't used to the grip/twisting it can come as quite a shock as it changes how they move.

I am facing this same debate looking ahead to next year as I want to show some jumpers on grass, but don't want to shoe.

Karen

[Morgan Horse]

Let me know what you decide.. Still debating what to do.. we have tried the expensive boots and Hubby didn't like them.. SO now we are wondering what to do..

[Spyder]

These are Eskadons on this horse are are not that expensive but do protect the horse. Shod on the front only to protect the hoof. Screws can be added at anytime to give traction if the ground is not ideal.