There are several of us old boiled owls here in central PA - 81, 78, 72,
etc. - have forwarded the info to them so they should be getting in touch.
Patty

Re: FW: Attention Riders 70 years of age or  older or those who may know...

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Becca and Sue,

Thanks both of you for your excellent posts, which I'm saving for future
reference.

Patty

  >,,I guess I can speak for Berit, somewhat, since I have been along on
her  barefoot ride since the >beginning....

  >.... I think everyone should try conditioning a barefoot horse and
  >competing in boots before passing on their opinon.  It just is not
  >that easy!

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Hi. I guess I can speak for Berit, somewhat, since I have been along on her 
barefoot ride since the beginning. I would like to clear up the Fort Valley
connection. She has not gone back there on her barefoot horses. She  competed
there years ago on her gelding that had shoes. Berit lives in northern NJ where
the trails have footing much like Fort Valley.

She has competed barefoot all over the northeast...Fairhill, MD, Biltmore, NJ
Pine Barrens, VT-Moonlight & Justin Morgan, Maine and Ohio.  Most of these rides
were 50 mile endurance rides.

One of the horses had shoes for years and she decided to pull them. That horse
took about 3 or 4 years till it could go barefoot anywhere. In the beginning
Berit tried boots (I think we do have better choices of boots than 6 or 7 years
ago.) but she found them to be cumbersome and usually caused problems.  She
threw them away.  Her first barefoot rides were done in sandy south Jersey. That
horse has over 1000 miles barefoot, both CTR and endurance.

Berits other horse never had shoes and his feet are huge and like steel. He has
done a few 50s and Berit is hoping to do 75 and 100s on him. Certainly the
wearing of the foot on that distance is something to stay aware of. However, she
has seen her horses stay completely sound even when the wear on the foot would
shock all the barefoot trimmers she has studied. None of the barefoot trimmers
out there or perhaps very few have the experience of working with horses that do
endurance mileage.  Thus far her horses lameness has never been directly related
to bare feet.

Berit feels very certain that bare feet allow you to figure out other things
going wrong with the horse sooner than when they wear shoes. Foot growth
(angles, more growth on one side, etc.), cracks, rings and hoof consistancy are
great clues to muscle soreness, injury, immune system and nutritional issues,
etc. Some things are not so easy to see, but if you keep studying the situation,
you will hopefully figure out what to do...and the answer is not usually putting
on a shoe.

As has been noted before, each horse is different and you there is no hard and
fast rule. Riding barefoot is a choice and for some horses, it is the best thing
you can do for them, even in our sport.

--- In ectra@yahoogroups.com, Patty Lambert <2celtichorses@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Barb,
> Thanks for the post - so it looks like you've had success barefoot in
> the sandy NJ rides - guess I'll have to go back and try one of 'em w/o
> boots. I no longer travel as far as Biltmore, etc. so I think my plan
> might be first to do a 50 endurance and carry the boots just in case.
> Wow, Fort Valley barefoot - that's really an accomplishment - we did it
> a year ago and for the first time used 4 boots. Wish Berit did have e-mail!
> Patty
>
> 2a. Re: Just thinking out loud here...
>      Posted by: "Barb Horstmeier" batalrose@... gypsytashi
>      Date: Thu Nov 26, 2009 5:25 pm ((PST))
> Hi Patty:
> I have one horse that completed the Mustang 50 completely barefoot and one
> that has completed  FITS 100 barefoot in the hind.  Rita Swift had a horse
> win the Biltmore 100 with only sole guard.
> Berit has completed many 50s barefoot included the Fort Valley rides.  I
> have rode with her in the Green Lane CTR and you would never know the horses
> does not have shoes.  This was the horses first competition and completed in
> great shape.  She does not have e-mail or I am sure she would be active in
> this discussion.
>

Hi Barb,
Thanks for the post - so it looks like you've had success barefoot in
the sandy NJ rides - guess I'll have to go back and try one of 'em w/o
boots. I no longer travel as far as Biltmore, etc. so I think my plan
might be first to do a 50 endurance and carry the boots just in case.
Wow, Fort Valley barefoot - that's really an accomplishment - we did it
a year ago and for the first time used 4 boots. Wish Berit did have e-mail!
Patty

2a. Re: Just thinking out loud here...
      Posted by: "Barb Horstmeier" batalrose@... gypsytashi
      Date: Thu Nov 26, 2009 5:25 pm ((PST))
Hi Patty:
I have one horse that completed the Mustang 50 completely barefoot and one
that has completed  FITS 100 barefoot in the hind.  Rita Swift had a horse
win the Biltmore 100 with only sole guard.
Berit has completed many 50s barefoot included the Fort Valley rides.  I
have rode with her in the Green Lane CTR and you would never know the horses
does not have shoes.  This was the horses first competition and completed in
great shape.  She does not have e-mail or I am sure she would be active in
this discussion.

CT Morgan held at the Brooks' place. Beautiful!!!!

--- In ectra@yahoogroups.com, Carolyn Burgess <ilovecassiegirl@...> wrote:
>
> My big bay Standardbred, Ru, did both Hidden Brook (Heather Bonneau's ride)
and NE Morab (Linda LeVitre's ride) barefoot, oh, I also forgot that he did the
October ride in Connecticut barefoot.  I can't remember the name of that ride,
but it is an unforgetable one.  I must be brain dead now.  The pool, the food,
breakfast sandwiches made on the grill.  Everyone knows this ride.  Now, towards
the end of that ride, he was riding on the shoulder of the trails, but he wasn't
sore afterwards. Trotted out sound.  Now I will say that this guy has size 3
feet in the front, 2's in the back and they are tough, solid feet.  No boots or
sole packing, just barefoot.
>
> Carolyn Burgess
> Newton, TX
>
> --- On Wed, 11/25/09, Bonnie Hurton <BHGypsy@...> wrote:
> Perfect example for my most humble attempt at trying to showcase that barefoot
CTR can be accomplished and that it can be done well.  Now be kind....
>
>
>  
>
>
> Thanks Janet!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  Bonnie
>

My husband still goes on about Bob delivering beer to trailers in his golf cart!
And the food was to die for...We were asking Patty if she's thinking of bringing
back that ride. Tough one to do barefoot from what I recall, but Carolyn did, so
it's doable.
  Esther and I both came off our horses at the same time at the beginning of that
ride one year, deer spooked Hammer who was in the lead, he whirled, dumped me,
Pokey reacted to Ham, he whirled, dumped Esther. It happened so fast I don't
even remember falling, I just hit the ground with a thud. Ham started trotting
back to camp, so Pokey started following Ham, Esther screamed in her best
teacher voice POKEY,WHOA!! Pokey turned around and came back to Esther, so Ham
turned and followed Pokey back too. Damn horse would have left me there in the
leaves if it weren't for Pokey! We both limped our way through the rest of that
ride as I recall!!

--- In ectra@yahoogroups.com, Carolyn Burgess <ilovecassiegirl@...> wrote:
>
> At the Brooks', they were the most wonderful hosts!
>
> --- On Wed, 11/25/09, Carolyn Burgess <ilovecassiegirl@...> wrote:
>
> From: Carolyn Burgess <ilovecassiegirl@...>
> Subject: [ectra] Re: Just thinking out loud here.....
> To: ectra@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Wednesday, November 25, 2009, 9:21 AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>       My big bay Standardbred, Ru, did both Hidden Brook (Heather Bonneau's
ride) and NE Morab (Linda LeVitre's ride) barefoot, oh, I also forgot that he
did the October ride in Connecticut barefoot.  I can't remember the name of
that ride, but it is an unforgetable one.  I must be brain dead now.  The
pool, the food, breakfast sandwiches made on the grill.  Everyone knows this
ride.  Now, towards the end of that ride, he was riding on the shoulder of the
trails, but he wasn't sore afterwards. Trotted out sound.  Now I will say that
this guy has size 3 feet in the front, 2's in the back and they are tough, solid
feet.  No boots or sole packing, just barefoot.
>
> Carolyn Burgess
> Newton, TX
>
> --- On Wed, 11/25/09, Bonnie Hurton <BHGypsy@aol. com> wrote:
> Perfect example for my most humble attempt at trying to showcase that
barefoot CTR can be accomplished and that it can be done well.  Now be
kind....
>
>
>  
>
>
> Thanks Janet!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  Bonnie
>

This past year my gelding (never has had shoes on and in his first year)
did:

NJTRA Bunny Hop (25 miles but we did closer to 30 after getting lost)
NJTRA May 30
Brookfield 30 (NY)
Chesapeake 30 (MD)
Jersey Devil 30

Next year our first 3 rides are going to be 25/30 again and then if
we're up for it we'll be doing the NJTRA 50 in May.  As I've said before
if it looks like we need to go to AHP I'll look into it in more detail;
but my hope is that he'll be able to stay barefoot and sound even with
the multi-day rides.
Sherry in PA

-----Original Message-----
From: ectra@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ectra@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Patty Lambert
Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 10:01 AM
To: ectra@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ectra] Re: Just thinking out loud here...

Hi Janet,
Thanks for the post! I was just about to ask if someone could list the
rides they have done barefoot, and this gives me a good idea which ones
to try. Have you done any multi-day or one day 50s barefoot, anyone, and

if so which ones?
Patty

The new boards were wonderful. The booth looked great. I had fun!! And
thanks Janet, Colleen, and Tom for making my Saturday so much better!

Libbie

eclarsen1 wrote:
>
> and thanks to Ellen who nagged and cajoled us all into line, and did
> the new displays and setup.... It was a nice display, and a fun time!
>
> Elaine
>
> --- In ectra@yahoogroups.com <mailto:ectra%40yahoogroups.com>, "ELLEN
> L. TULLY" <et-albert@...> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Ooo....Elaine Larsen and Robin Malkasian, please forgive me, I was
> afraid I leave some names out.
> >
> >
> >
> > Your time and contribution of information is much appreciated.
> >
> > Thank you.
> >
> >
> >
> > To: ectra@yahoogroups.com <mailto:ectra%40yahoogroups.com>
> > From: et-albert@...
> > Date: Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:35:21 -0500
> > Subject: [ectra] Equine Affaire - MA- 2009
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Thank you to the following people for their time and support at the
> ECTRA booth this year. Thank you also to the folks that submitted
> photos enabling us to update the presentation. I hope to get a photo
> of it to the NL (once I get it back).
> >
> > Roberta Bryant, Morab group whom we share the booth with each year.
> > Libby Kohler, our constant & reliable back up in times of drought.
> > Patti and Bob Brooks, who contributed use of larger DVD player, rugs
> and literature and who were a presence each day.
> > Dinah Rojek
> > Mel Blittersdorf
> > Roxanne Winslow
> > Kathy Hall
> > Michelle Grarld
> > Jeff and Katherine Gardener
> > Ann Raynor
> > Leslie Brooks
> > Linda LeVitre
> > Esther Fiddes
> > Patti Christman
> > Mary Palumbo
> > Robin Malkasian
> > Nancy Okun
> > Tom Hutchinson, Janet Brunjes and Colleen Hoyt, who all came down
> from Maine to spell anyone on Saturday.
> > To Joan Stratemeyer for a quick hand in setting up
> > AND to Joanna and Bill Lasher for making the trip from NY to shut
> down the booth on Sunday afternoon.
> >
> > Thank you to the members who popped in to say "hi", maybe next year
> you can stay a little longer.
> >
> > Thank you to Lee Alexander for the live horse demo on judging.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Ellen Tully
> > Chair Equine Affaire
> >
>
>