Horseshoes or Barefoot. Which do you think is best?

[Texarkana]

I have an extreme problem with one of these common shoeing scenarios. Any guesses which one?

Horse A: Hardy-bred horse with genetically flawless feet, but logs several miles a day over abrasive gravel and asphalt roads. Needs shoes to protect against excessive wear.

Horse B: Upper level jumper competing over courses with tight turns and variable terrain. Needs shoes for additional traction.

Horse C: A now-retired pasture pet recovering from a severe injury; needs structural support and wears shoes.

Horse D: OTTB ridden 3 days a week in an arena with good footing; spends the rest of the time in a deeply bedded stall with a couple hours of turnout in a pristine paddock. He’d get ridden more, but he has this intermittent mystery lameness that no one can pinpoint. Luckily, the farrier is “the best around.” He charges half the price of others and horses never throw his shoes; the vet even recommended him. Good thing, because this OTTB would die without shoes. After all, the trainer says all TBs need shoes. Trainer knows; she used to “breeze” racehorses…

This is what I meant in my earlier post when I said the “if” situations get murky. It can be assumed that everyone involved in these scenarios is educated in husbandry and wants the best for their animal. But as horse use has changed in society, we have come to tolerate a few terrible hoof care practices. The worst, I feel, is the cavalier, “some horses just need shoes,” attitude that is pervasive among even experienced professionals.

[S1969]

@Texarkana

Horse D: OTTB ridden 3 days a week in an arena with good footing; spends the rest of the time in a deeply bedded stall with a couple hours of turnout in a pristine paddock. He’d get ridden more, but he has this intermittent mystery lameness that no one can pinpoint. Luckily, the farrier is “the best around.” He charges half the price of others and horses never throw his shoes; the vet even recommended him. Good thing, because this OTTB would die without shoes. After all, the trainer says all TBs need shoes. Trainer knows; she used to “breeze” racehorses…

This is what I meant in my earlier post when I said the “if” situations get murky. It can be assumed that everyone involved in these scenarios is educated in husbandry and wants the best for their animal. But as horse use has changed in society, we have come to tolerate a few terrible hoof care practices. The worst, I feel, is the cavalier, “some horses just need shoes,” attitude that is pervasive among even experienced professionals.

I think this example is a common one (all TBs need shoes, and farrier and trainer are “the best around”). But, it isn’t clear that the “mystery lameness” is because of the shoes.

All things being equal, this horse should not be lame because of the shoes. If the trim is good, the shoes might not do anything useful, but they shouldn’t make the horse lame. A horse that doesn’t need shoes shouldn’t be injured by wearing them.

[danacat]

I’m a barefoot fan: cheaper than shoeing and more importantly healthier for the horse – but if I was still riding jumpers/eventers and still trained/owned and raced TB’s, I would go back to shoes. I’m not convinced the natural hoof can handle the man-made rigors of these sports…

… and I’m equally unconvinced that horses without shoes in these sports (and others) would have an edge against those with shoes. Just the opposite IMO. There probably are exceptions, but since I’m not in either game anymore, I haven’t seen them first hand.

I would venture a guess though, that some if not many unsuccessful barefoot attempts (regular riding horses) are unsuccessful because the transition to barefoot was either not done properly – or – the hoof healing process was misunderstood or misdiagnosed to = ‘this horse can’t go barefoot, needs shoes’.

[tazycat]

I have no choice it’s barefoot and using boots when needed. Have no farrier to shoe horses, trimmer doesn’t do shoes period. So horses have to go barefoot if sore on hinds they just have to toughen up. Never have found hoof boots that stay on hind feet. Wouldn’t use the farriers i know of i’ve seen there work and it’s crap trim job. Shoes slapped on long ,long toes with horrible underrun heels. Plus those farriers won’t come out to where i live, not that i’d use them.

Durasole helped tons when i first got horses and pulled shoes,that and hoof boots. Now their barefoot 98% of the time no issue. That’s on all surfaces covering many, many miles a day.

[Texarkana]

@S1969

A horse that doesn’t need shoes shouldn’t be injured by wearing them.

I agree, a horse should not be injured by shoes themselves.

…but, that’s assuming that the horse already has healthy feet with no major pathologies and that the shoes are well applied.

What happens frequently is a horse has pathological hooves created by lifestyle and management: too little movement, poor diet, unbalanced trimming, etc. Shoes are applied in lieu of correcting the issues, because that’s what our society says you do. The shoes appear to improve the horse, so it is deemed the horse “needs” shoes. In reality, the shoes are just masking the underlying management problems.

In the best case scenario, shoes manage the human-induced hoof pathologies without causing additional problems. The alternative scenario is the shoes exacerbate the existing issues over time, or even worse, create new issues.

Connecting the latter situations to the hoof management doesn’t always happen. Partly because of our society’s acceptance of shoes as benign, and partly because the management team who caused the original pathologies is often the same team trying to address the new problems.

[Second_Star_To_The_R]

@tazycat

I have no choice it’s barefoot and using boots when needed. Have no farrier to shoe horses, trimmer doesn’t do shoes period. So horses have to go barefoot if sore on hinds they just have to toughen up. Never have found hoof boots that stay on hind feet. Wouldn’t use the farriers i know of i’ve seen there work and it’s crap trim job. Shoes slapped on long ,long toes with horrible underrun heels. Plus those farriers won’t come out to where i live, not that i’d use them.

Durasole helped tons when i first got horses and pulled shoes,that and hoof boots. Now their barefoot 98% of the time no issue. That’s on all surfaces covering many, many miles a day.

THIS X1000. I had to start calling south to find a farrier that understood the concept of therapeutic shoeing and while he is better than some, having to have the vet here for every single shoeing is getting old fast. I’m not a fan of $800 shoeing bills for one horse. Ofc the farrier before him nailed a heel caulk on my laminitic horse and bragged about how “I had a foundered horse I used to shoe, and I put a shoe on ( now picture the weasel grandson from dirty dancing saying “the pachanga”) BACKWARD”. As if putting a shoe on backwards was the most masterful and innovative thing he’d ever done. I wish we were lucky enough to have the farriers that have done some of the trims I see on this board. They exist they just don’t travel to my area. And can’t make time for me to pull 6 horses to them or have no where for me to pull them to.

[Mukluk]

Use the least restrictive method that does right by the horse. Barefoot if you can other options if you can’t. Really depends on the health of horse’s hoof and the kind of riding that you do.

[KittyinAus]

I like to keep my horses barefoot as much as possible. It’s cheaper.

[kcmel]

Honestly, if I was horse shopping and found the perfect horse but he needed shoes, I’m not sure I would buy him. I’m spoiled! And I can’t tell you how many times my friends/trainers have had to cancel plans because of a lost shoe.

But I only do lower level eventing. If my 6 YO makes it up the levels with my trainer, I suppose at some point he will have to have shoes for studs. Which is going to suck, especially since I won’t want him turned out with another horse with hind shoes on. But we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

[saultgirl]

Barefoot is best if the horse is sound and healthy without shoes. If the horse needs shoes to be sound and healthy, then shoes are best.

Mine are barefoot most of the time. Mare has needed front shoes with pads in the past when the frozen mud ruts were making her sore.

[tazycat]

My horse’s are barefoot have been since I’ve owned them. Dead sole sheds out on its own. Trimmer rarely touch’s soles with hoof knife.

I would never have steel nailed on my horse’s. …barefoot by far is best. The hoof can function as it should bare…steel shoes hinder that.

[S1969]

@tazycat

My horse’s are barefoot have been since I’ve owned them. Dead sole sheds out on its own. Trimmer rarely touch’s soles with hoof knife.

I would never have steel nailed on my horse’s. …barefoot by far is best. The hoof can function as it should bare…steel shoes hinder that.

The hoof can function as it should, when bare, unless the horse requires shoes to do the job you are asking it to perform. Correctly applied shoes should not “hinder” a horse’s ability to work; if it did, most performance horses would be barefoot. It’s silly to imply that all people who shoe their horses just know any better and enjoy throwing money away every 6 weeks. I’ve got a 22 year old retiree that wears shoes. Believe me, I don’t enjoy paying the extra money or holding her in -10F to have them put on. If there was another reasonable alternative, I would be doing it.

[tazycat]

@S1969

The hoof can function as it should, when bare, unless the horse requires shoes to do the job you are asking it to perform. Correctly applied shoes should not “hinder” a horse’s ability to work; if it did, most performance horses would be barefoot. It’s silly to imply that all people who shoe their horses just know any better and enjoy throwing money away every 6 weeks. I’ve got a 22 year old retiree that wears shoes. Believe me, I don’t enjoy paying the extra money or holding her in -10F to have them put on. If there was another reasonable alternative, I would be doing it.

Shoes for my horse’s will never be an option. So if they get sore tender they are booted. If its hinds that get tender/ sore its called toughen up. I durasole the afending feet. Like I said shoeing will never be an option trimmer DOESN’T shoe. Wouldn’t have any local farriers touch my horses feet…Wouldn’t let them on my place.

I never implied it was silly to spend money in shoeing. Or that all horses should be barefoot. I personally wont own a horse who requires shoes. If they can’t do job required barefoot they dont belong at my place.

I pay good money for a good balanced trim…no flare no long toes no under run heels. Feet that can ride on any surface and endure many miles a day. Needs shoes here ,they need a new home easy as that.

[Jumping31]

There’s a couple things to consider, the horses health, activity level and type of activity, financial limits, and personal preference. My trainer puts shoes on her competition jumper but her other horse’s hooves are too sensitive for shoes so he doesn’t get them. There’s no exact right or wrong answer.

[JB]

@tazycat

My horse’s are barefoot have been since I’ve owned them. Dead sole sheds out on its own. Trimmer rarely touch’s soles with hoof knife.

I would never have steel nailed on my horse’s. …barefoot by far is best. The hoof can function as it should bare…steel shoes hinder that.

Maybe your horses can do their job without shoes, but to say blanketly that “The hoof can function as it should bare…steel shoes hinder that.” is ignoring the functions that shoes provide over that of a bare foot.

A bare foot has better traction on pavement, or slick hard ground, or ice, than a shod foot does. BUT, a shod foot with studs beats a bare foot on those surfaces any day.

Shoes - steel, aluminum, composit, rubber, plastic, whatever - only hinder the foot if they are improperly applied, and compound the issue if applied on top of improperly trimmed feet. That improper application can mean put on in the wrong spot, or the wrong shoe for that foot and/or that job, and other things.

Shoes are a must for some horses in some situations to insure proper function. Mother Nature designed the horse’s foot to do the job the feral horse needs, as a species, but feral horses have have their own feet fail them and cost them their lives, and Ma Nature did not design the foot with all the variances that domestication brings to them.

[Guilherme]

@tazycat

My horse’s are barefoot have been since I’ve owned them. Dead sole sheds out on its own. Trimmer rarely touch’s soles with hoof knife.

I would never have steel nailed on my horse’s. …barefoot by far is best. The hoof can function as it should bare…steel shoes hinder that.

There is no evidence, nonewhatsoever, that a properly applied shoe adversely inhibits the function of the foot. That is the sort of nonsense that Hildrud Strasser used to spout.

The world endurance record for a long distance ride is held by three men who rode the circumference of Brazil on six Marchador horses. The horses were shod every three weeks or so. They wore out as the horses were traveling sixteen miles per day, each and every day, for two years, two month, and two days (if memory serves). Those riders wore out steel shoes rather than hoof tissue. Had they not been used the horses would have been traveling on bloody stumps. Somehow I don’t see that as a good thing!

You are certainly free to do with your horse what you wish to do. But if you broadcast bunk it’s going to get some pushback in these waters, and rightly so.

G.

[S1969]

@tazycat

Shoes for my horse’s will never be an option. So if they get sore tender they are booted. If its hinds that get tender/ sore its called toughen up. I durasole the afending feet. Like I said shoeing will never be an option trimmer DOESN’T shoe. Wouldn’t have any local farriers touch my horses feet…Wouldn’t let them on my place.

Well I guess when you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

It is reasonable to decide not to own a horse that requires shoes (especially if you can’t find a decent farrier) but to say that barefoot is inherently better is naive/biased. You said that shoes hinder function, but I agree with Guilherme that many people dispute any evidence of that.

In my opinion, if you need to put Durasole on “the tender feet” your horse could use more protection. If your horses are barefoot, their feet are as “tough” as they are ever going to get, and riding them into soreness is unfair.

[tazycat]

@JB
Wonderful for ones who shoe their horse. With the shoe jobs i’ve seen on here wouldn’t WANT my horses feet looking like that. I’ll PASS thank you very much!

NEVER SAID ALL HORSE"S CAN BE BAREFOOT,nowhere in my post have i implied that…
Fact of the matter is i won’t settle for a crap trim/ shoe job just because horse needs shoes. Won’t lower my standards for how feet should look just because horse needs shoes.

One requirement for any horse i own it has to be able to be barefoot. I’ll use hoof boots if needed. But metal shoes nope, not happening.

[S1969]

@tazycat

One requirement for any horse i own it has to be able to be barefoot. I’ll use hoof boots if needed. But metal shoes nope, not happening.

Because there is no competent farrier available to shoe your horse, or because you think that it actually hinders their hoof function?

I’ve used the phrase “all things being equal” already in this thread; but all things being equal, I think most everyone would choose the horse that can do the job barefoot, instead of the exact same horse that needs shoes. But I think that must be an unusual scenario; to have two completely equal horses that only differ by their feet.

In the grand scheme of owning horses, presuming one lives in an area where a competent farrier can be found, a horse that needs standard shoes would never be off my list for purchase. Special/therapeutic shoes, maybe; history of laminitis/founder, navicular, etc., might be…but simply needing shoes? No. It’s just not that big of a deal for most people or horses.

[Guilherme]

@tazycat

@JB
Wonderful for ones who shoe their horse. With the shoe jobs i’ve seen on here wouldn’t WANT my horses feet looking like that. I’ll PASS thank you very much!

NEVER SAID ALL HORSE"S CAN BE BAREFOOT,nowhere in my post have i implied that…
Fact of the matter is i won’t settle for a crap trim/ shoe job just because horse needs shoes. Won’t lower my standards for how feet should look just because horse needs shoes.

One requirement for any horse i own it has to be able to be barefoot. I’ll use hoof boots if needed. But metal shoes nope, not happening.

You said:

The hoof can function as it should bare…steel shoes hinder that.

This incorrect. Some shoes do this (such as bar shoes) but with them when properly used they hinder with a therapeutic purpose.

Ride your horse sixteen miles a day for a month and then get back to me on the necessity of shoes.

G.