This just in from Tennessee Mahoney:
“Pearl did 110 miles (two 55 milers on days 1 and 3) barefoot in Southern New Mexico at the Las Cruces Pioneer ride this past weekend. On day 2 I rode Khyber, my up and coming gelding, on his first ride, a 35 miler. He also did it barefoot, after months of rehabbing his feet from shoes with the help of Renegades.
Here are some pictures of Pearl’s hooves taken immediately after the second 55 miler (and 110 total miles), right after I unsaddled her.
There were quite a few horses that either pulled for lameness, as a result of stone bruises at this ride. There were also pulls due to lameness which I believe were due to tendon/ligament injuries as a result of the sections of deep sand. The footing was a mixture of deep sand, gravel and dirt roads, volcanic rock, caliche roads, and gravel river beds.
Pearl had all A’s through each day and at the finish, not a single B at any point. These two rides were training rides for her, in hopes of preparing her for 100 milers.
I haven’t touched her hooves with a rasp yet, this is exactly how they looked after the two rides, I did not touch up any chips or trim any flaps.”