barefoot or shod

[Rustyluv14]

What are everyones views are on keeping a horse barefoot Vs. shoeing them? I personally think that a horse should stay barefoot unless shoeing is necessary. My horse is barefoot with great hooves. I ride her quite intensely daily. We canter/gallop/trot a short, windy little 15 minute trail every good day in the summer that brings us over rocky ground, a series of jumps, through a river (when its not to high!)and down a road. We've completed many long trails that shod horses have trouble with, and jumped many a challenging rocky course. Never had a problem w/her feet . They were very soft and splayed when I bought her, but with proper "natural" trimming they have corrected themselves. Thats why im such an advocate of a natural barefoot trim! Thats my story, so post your opinions, experiances, and info about your horses feet!

[lneill84]

Good farriers make all the difference in the world. My big boy, Eli, had terrible feet-shelly, crumbling, and too narrow when i bought him. The vet was impressed he was sound. She said that if hes sound with feet that bad, he's not going to have issues. The first year i owned him i didnt have a spare horse that was at his level, and it was a diaster. His feet were crumbling, we were gluing shoes on because he didnt have enough foot to nail into, etc. I finally had a spare horse, showed him and pulled Eli's shoes, and off to the paddock he went. He went on The Missing Link, Farrier's Formula and isxoprene to get the blood flowing better to his feet. After about 2 months, his feet were perfect. I had the best farrier in the world, and he was the only one that was allowed to work on his feet. I know a lot of hunters that went barefoot because just for the classes because they moved better. Not a whole lot of my horses ever went barefoot and were shown and ridden constantly. A lot of horses have very weak hooves in general-ponies seem to be stronger in the hoof area. One of my friend's helped in a study of hoof strength. They actually found that horses that were consistently ridden barefoot on hard surfaces had much denser and stronger feet and bones as a result.

[Rustyluv14]

Wow, thats really cool that your friend was part of that study. I definatlly agree, the farrier is all important. I read a book about studies they did on mustangs vs. domestic horses that were shod and barefoot and the structure of the hoof, ect. It was really intresting, and it explained so much about how the hoof works and how a shoe affects the hoof. Im prety much obsessed with it now!

[KellyP]

All of my horses are barefoot. It's really best for your horses hooves unless they have a special condition that requires shoes.

[Bilbo12]

My horse and all his pasture mates are barefoot. My dad wants Stotm shod but I don't. I really think it's better not to unless, like Kelly said, they have a special condition or something. I mean, why are some people under the misconception that ALL horses need shoes? What do horses in the wild do?

[Runky]

Yeah. My horse is barefoot too. And my grandads horse is barefoot also. His horse is old and has no problems with his feet through all those years. My grandads field is pretty rocky too and they walk on it everyday. I don't think shoes are such a great idea. I never really understood the purpose of them. What is the purpose?

[lneill84]

In my case, its to protect the horses feet, especially with jumping. Police horses wear special shoes with rubber to grip the pavement.

[Runky]

Oh, okay, I get it.

[RabbitMage]

All mine are barefoot. Our QH mare had bad feet when she came to us, shelly unbalanced hooves, etc. We pulled her shoes and put her on pasture, they're now wearing evenly, the hoof wall is thicker, and they're hard as rocks!

[LoneStar]

My horses were shod, as due to the location of the yard they had to do a lot of road work, and they were ridden quite a lot.

[shelby123gecko]

Barefoot.. I have no reason for shoes...

[slimboni]

maybe the easyboots would work better for you?