Week 7 Blog #1,2

Dear Robert Cook,
I have read your letter to the editor on http://www.bitlessbridle.com/Cook_Dean_ltrs_Your_Horse.pdf , and I have found there to be a couple logical fallicies in it. In the letter you said the researchers and vets aren’t completely happy with the results of shoeing to help horses with laminitis issues. The goal of shoeing a horse with laminitis is to make the horse sound again and not in pain. With a good farrier this is exactly what the shoes do, if the horse seems to be in pain the vet will also give it specific a specific pain killer designed to help wit the laminitis. When someone makes a horse barefoot after having shoes for a long time the horse goes lame and is very tender footed. If the farrier trims the horses feet too short they will start to bleed. Shoeing is needed for certain horses in certain climates, even the barefoot theory will leave a horse lame depending on the horse and the climate. Yes, leaving a horse barefoot is best for the health of the horses feet in its natural habitat, but in reality, since we have taken horses out of their natural habitat and have confined them sometimes shoeing is desperately needed to keep a horse sound. An example of the barefoot theory not working better than shoeing is horses in the northwest. Thoroughbreds especially don’t have good feet, with the moist climate in the winter, and the dry climate in the summer, their feet go through many drastic changes. Especially with the variety of footing the horses have to walk on, they go from walking on hard rocky gravel to walking in muddy mush. The mud will soften their feet and when they go on to gravel there is a shock and their feet get sores. This is a reason why shoeing is a big necessity. In reality, shoeing is not a horrible thing to do for horses, everyone has their own opinion, and different things work for different horses.
Sincerely,
Betsy