Had my horse in the competition yesterday an I was very surprised at the condition of the hooves on all the other teams. They were so long the horses feet looked like duck feet.Some were so badly broken off they were limping.I know a lot of ranchers never trim their work horses but instead just turn them out on rocky pastures. This kind of treatment has got to take its toll on horses feet. I have always trimmed my own and
people were asking about my animals feet. i would have been embarrassed to have my horse at a driving competition looking like that.

We went to the local county fair. It seemed the 'hitch' horses had 'dinner plates' for shoes. Pulling teams had much smaller hooves and shoes w/ some serious chalks. In lightweight class only 3 teams had dropped out at 7500 lbs. Really well behaved teams. First pull seemed to be the hardest(for a couple) as the teams were exited.

you know this is how it all starts.next thing it will be a law that peaple have to trim there horse feet every 6 weeks or animal cops will ba at your farm taking you stock because there feet aint trimed.just because you do somthing to your horse dont mean other people should to.there is some peoplr that let there finger nails grow to 3 or 4 in long.there is some people that take there animale to the vet every 3 months.there are some people that feed there horse just corn (like me)and on and on and on..you know i have enough to worry about and it aint going to be other peoples horse feet.i drive a 69 ford that looks like it should be in the scrap pile im not embarrassed.kids are!!i guess what im trying to say is just do what you think you should do and let other people do what they do.have you ever seen a wild horses foot?

If a person trims or shoes thats up to them. But if I'm buying, or bidding, on a horse it matters to me the shape of the foot. It's where a horse lives. If the hoofs are grown out or cracked, or look like they haven't been cared for, I'll pass no matter how good or pretty.

Dave, you are too much of a perfectionist. At a county fair, it is a social event as much as a livestock competition. Think of it as "take your barn chores to the fair and have a few days off from the farm".