A few of my misconceptions!

I've never wanted to be an expert on barefoot but I have read around the subject a bit. Here are a few things I've learned over the past week!

1. Newly barefoot horses need lots of walking on hard surfaces, no pain no gain - WRONG! Horses must be comfortable at all times, so it's boots on any surface that makes them even slightly uncomfortable. In our case this means booting Lottie's friend Jazz each time she has to walk the short distance from field to stable.

2. Gravel and pea gravel mean the same thing - WRONG! I kept reading about 'pea gravel' being good for barefoot horses but in my head I had missed off the 'pea' and replaced it with just 'gravel'. I knew what pea gravel was but I hadn't joined the dots... In case you don't know what pea gravel is, it is a very small and round type of gravel with no sharp edges. You could look at it and know that you could walk over it barefoot. Plain old 'gravel' is completely different. We couldn't walk on it barefoot and neither can the horses - not without a lot of preparation. It's important to know the difference.

3. You can spend time happily selecting from a wide range of hoof boots - WRONG! Oh how I was looking forward to choosing from the myriad of types now available. What a disappointment to discover that there are few boots that will fit our horses... both have front hooves that are roundish and slightly wider than they are long.