I have only had my horse about six weeks. She is a 10-year-old QH mare and she has never needed shoes. Everyone always comments on what great feet she has..including vet/farrier. She passed all soundness checks with flying colors. I don't jump her. Only flat work in the arena.
The only place I ride her currently is the indoor arena which is a mixture of some kind of hard bark chip material. The bark chips pieces are somewhat large and hard and mixed with a dusty sawdust-looking material. Sorry but I don't know what you would call the footing exactly!
I have noticed that occasionally she will stumble when I trot her and it seems like she is not moving out like she should. Could be laziness because she can get very lazy..esp in the arena..but it is not all the time. Again..it only happens occasionally.
I am wondering if the footing could be hurting her? Unfortunately, I have no other place to ride her to test my theory. (I am moving her next month due to lack of riding space)..but for now I have to deal with it. Since it only happens once in awhile, I don't know if I can blame the arena.
Wondering if the large wood chip type of footing can cause soreness in barefoot horses? Some of the wood pieces are quite large and have never seen footing like this before.. although I'm new to horses in this part of the country (NW).
The only place I ride her currently is the indoor arena which is a mixture of some kind of hard bark chip material. The bark chips pieces are somewhat large and hard and mixed with a dusty sawdust-looking material. Sorry but I don't know what you would call the footing exactly!
I have noticed that occasionally she will stumble when I trot her and it seems like she is not moving out like she should. Could be laziness because she can get very lazy..esp in the arena..but it is not all the time. Again..it only happens occasionally.
I am wondering if the footing could be hurting her? Unfortunately, I have no other place to ride her to test my theory. (I am moving her next month due to lack of riding space)..but for now I have to deal with it. Since it only happens once in awhile, I don't know if I can blame the arena.
Wondering if the large wood chip type of footing can cause soreness in barefoot horses? Some of the wood pieces are quite large and have never seen footing like this before.. although I'm new to horses in this part of the country (NW).