I’ll admit, I do the same. Yes, I know about footwear safety (definitely got that drilled into me as a kid) but as a BO, I’m frequently running out to throw some more hay or check water…something that doesn’t remotely involve touching the horses.
Unfortunately sometimes that does end up with me touching the horses since they seem to get themselves into trouble at those exact moments LOL
But - I definitely wouldn’t intentionally do it with clients around.