Barefoot Performance: Dressage

Classical Riding and Barefoot? The perfect combination.

FEI Dressage Horse, Juneau: The Barefoot Comeback Kid

Dutch Warmblood gelding Juneau made his FEI dressage comeback at 18 years old, barefoot, with Dawn Jensen riding. The pair won the Prix St. Georges classes, winning High Score FEI of the show—only 10 months after he was written off by vets as a hopeless case. Read their entire story in The Horse's Hoof Magazine Issue 37.

Catherine Chandler and her barefoot warmblood Hermes won the 2009 USDF Region 5 Championships at Training Level Open!
Click here to read their story online, which was published in THH Issue 37.

Feb. 2007: Two Barefoot Dressage horses score 70's at Arizona Dressage Association February Fling Show!

Above: Your trusty editor, Yvonne Welz, with Gezebella (aka Belle), a 4 year old RPSI (OldxHann) mare by Gatsby. The pair received 71% for Training Level Test 4.

Above: Catherine Chandler of Wickenburg, AZ, with CF Promise Me (aka Indra), a 5 year old TB/Clydesdale cross mare. They received a 70% for Training Level Test 1.

Above: Linda Fragale and her horse Artie. Click here to read their story. A barefoot program helped him regain his soundness and movement. Photo courtesy Linda Fragale.

Above: Compliments, 2003 Hanoverian gelding by Contucci out of a Banter/Akzent mare. Photo courtesy Dawn Jensen.

Above, 2002 Hanoverian mare, Dona Violetta, by Don Frederico out of a Weyden/Daimler mare, bred by Judy Yancey, owned and ridden by Dawn Jensen. Photo courtesy Dawn Jensen. Visit Dawn Jensen’s website at: www.completesporthorse.com

Read about British Olympian Dressage competitor Emma Hindle, who is now winning barefoot:
http://www.brookhousestud.com (click on the British Flag, then select the News button)
Quote from article, "Both Diamond Hit and Wie Weltmeyer bounced off the ground striding with confidence. The secret to this power and rhythm in her horses is the fact that they wear no shoes. 'The experiences I've had riding without shoes is unbelievable,' Hindle explained. 'Three years ago Wally had a problem after one shoeing, so we wanted to see how he did without them. Since then, we've taken off for three months in winter and put them back on for the shows. This year we decided to keep them off and I think it's brilliant.' Praising her farrier Erwin Zimmermann for doing a superb job trimming her horses' hooves, Hindle claimed that a horse moves best without shoes. 'Like everyone else I thought a horse needed shoes, but they aren't born with shoes on,' she joked."

Above & Below: Yvonne Welz riding Kendra, APHA Paint mare. Above photo was Nov. 2004; below was Sept. 2005.

Below: Belle, RPSI Warmblood filly, just started under saddle at age 3.