Hi,
I am currently doing a Diploma in Equine Podio-Therapy, ie: in simple terms having your horse BareFoot.
Was wondering if anyone else does or is interested in having their horses barefoot ???
I'm sure there will be plenty of skeptics out there, will be interested in your thoughts

As a farrier I do lots of horses that are kept barefoot and many of them do just fine, however there are some I wish the owners would pony up the bucks for shoes to make their animal more comfortable. What needs to be kept in mind though is it is not something that works for all horses in all conditions. Many horses, especially the ones that were bred for a particular quality be it color or talent, with little consideration for hoof quality, do horribly barefoot. Many palominos, paints, and   more...

As a farrier I do lots of horses that are kept barefoot and many of them do just fine, however there are some I wish the owners would pony up the bucks for shoes to make their animal more comfortable. What needs to be kept in mind though is it is not something that works for all horses in all conditions. Many horses, especially the ones that were bred for a particular quality be it color or talent, with little consideration for hoof quality, do horribly barefoot. Many palominos, paints, and Appaloosas generally tend to have very thin hoof walls and we have the breeders to thank for that. On the flipside many other horses have extremely good hoof quality. In addition if U ride in extremely rocky conditions or have extreme performance requirements shoes are a proven method of dealing with these adverse conditions.

Many barefoot advocates will argue that this can be overcome through months/years of proper trimming, however you cannot overcome genetics. You cannot make horses with small bones get large bones by exercising them, nor can we make a horse that has a genetic predisposition to poor hoof quality grow better hoof through trimming, nutrition maybe, but not trimming.

Shod horses have won every major jumping, barrel race, and cutting in recorded history so we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves for nailing shoes on them. Correctly applied shoes are responsible for very few hoof ailments when compared to the vast number of hoof problems that can be corrected through shoeing.

Trimming your horses in a well educated manner with good tools and keeping records of the angles/dorsal length is something I think all owners should be able to do, however blindly following the "barefoot mantra" will surely injure some of our equine friends.

Yes horses were made barefoot by the creator and this is "natural", but we need to bear in mind that the things we do with them performance wise breeding wise, as well as the simple act of riding them are not natural acts for the animals and may place stresses on their bodies (including hooves) that we as prudent owners should protect them from. We never compete on our horses without splint and bell boots to protect them from overreaching, as the events we compete in are not natural motions for the horse and these type of injuries can be minimalized through protective gear. Shoes are protective gear as well.

All three of my horses are barefoot. I use my Natural Hoofcare Practitioner. He has done all of mine since I owned them. They have awesome feet! Hard soles, they wear evenly, and i do trot on roads and gravel!

I tried it for about 6 months, but my poor guy was always getting bruised from pebbles. Also tried old macs - he didn't like them. back to shoes and he's very happy