I had to put shoes on my pony due to the bluestone ring being to abrasive and wearing his feet down enough he would get sore. He’s not upper level or fancy. Just ridden for 1-2 hours daily by kids.
Never say never on shoes, do what keeps the horse happy and working.
My older horse - he has long struggled w/ long toe, low heel issues. Because the shoe could be set back and bring more support to the heel - he wore shoes for a very long time. Then the farrier said “hey - looks like we’re having some caudal failure here”. So we tried frog support pads. That was downright painful. Then we tried pads. That was fine until we had rainy weather/mud and - in spite of packing - he suctioned mud up under the pads and became very lame. Each time we’d try pads, I’d pull the shoes to provide relief until the farrier could come back. He was sore barefoot but more sore w/ pads and mud. We pulled his shoes over winter and gave him time. He was sort of ok but just not 100% happy working in the arena. Turned out you couldn’t tell unless it was frozen mud or ice - than he was ouchy. He DID get significant depth in his heel and better hoof balance. But now, I just put shoes back on him w/ pour in pads. He literally is doing the happy dance. He is so much more comfortable in shoes. We will try to maintain frog support w/ the pour in pads and then pull shoes with the snow and he has scoot boots for working while barefoot. I think he falls into the category of “needing shoes” to be happiest. maybe after a couple more cycles of barefoot he could make the transition to full time barefoot but he is pretty clear about liking his shoes right now.
The first horse I transitioned to barefoot occurred by default. After the shoe got pulled 3x within a cycle there was not an option to keep nailing it back on. As horse was semi-retired, owner was not inclined to invest in something schmancy. When that OTTB progressed well barefoot, I was able to persuade the owner to try it with a few more. Every pulled shoe was an encouragement to try barefoot.
My last 4 horses were all barefoot. But I would certainly do shoes if there was some pressing reason, especially climate/terrain related. But for where I have lived the past 20 years, it is very doable to be barefoot. And NO PULLED SHOES !!
I had to add an update after all this time. I always find threads like these so helpful to another in future as well,
The gelding I originally took barefoot did transition quicker than I thought. Took about 6 weeks for him to be noticeably better and he did get glue ons for a couple weeks when the nail holes kept snapping off hoof. He’s about 80% comfortable on all surfaces now (despite having some unrelated issues still).
I also recently picked up a OTTB filly with some pretty crappy low heel long toe. We kept the shoes while she settled in and then pulled them off to do some fixing, I suggested slow trim bit by bit but farrier thought it was best to trim the toe back to where it should be. Filly immediately walked off sore, didn’t even want to walk and was completely sound to work an hour before her trim.
We are now 10 days post shoe pulling and the poor girl is still very tender though very gradually getting better. She gets a little bute in the morning and a daily hand walk to get her blood moving.
Still not entirely sure the farriers call to trim so excessively after pulling shoes was the right one but he stands behind it and checks in every few days to see how she’s feeling, which is incrementally better… I do have to say it is mighty frustrating.
His reasoning appears to be supported by many barefoot articles, something about how being sore stimulates growth and circulation etc…
Can’t help but to feel bad for the poor thing. Though, I can’t imagine she’s hating the extra pampering and the private turnout filled with hay bales all to herself 
Just jumping in here for some unsolicited advice, but as a crazy barefooter–the being sore promotes growth idea is BS. All it does is cause inflammation and compensation and it turns into a whole mess very quickly. Barefoot should not mean pain. I highly recommend checking out Pete Ramey’s work (hoofrehab.com is a great place to start!) and getting your mare some boots!
It can be hard to predict whether a trim will make a horse sore when it changes structure that much. I’d suggest padded boots so she can move around more. Also maybe x-rays to see what’s going on inside. Some.horses get almost a laminitic episode after a big trim.
Yes that is almost what it seems… super interesting! However, no pulse, heat etc thankfully.
Mega frustrating…… we’ve got some boots for turnout though she acts like she can’t function
Before trim and then immediately after trim close up
It wasn’t right. A partial trim is best in these cases. Leave the foot some protection in its newly nekked state, and come back in 2 weeks or so to see how the foot is wearing on its own, and remove more if necessary.
Never ever purposefully make a horse sore. The logic is bass ackwards. Soreness equals less, and uneven movement, which equals LESS circulation which equals LESS growth
And, it’s a good way to induce mechanical laminitis.
Now this is interesting! I have never heard of mechanical Lam… I’ll be researching that to death now.
I’m starting to think is a good time to change farriers seeing how this seems to be a trend
Road founder. I saw a horse become crippled by this after a long ride in the suburbs by his clueless teen owner. I am also dealing with a project horse that gets hot sore feet for a week after trims that try to address her imbalanced structures. It’s totally different from just being “ouchy” on gravel. I feel like you can’t always predict it in a new horse. If the horse is ouchy on surfaces with no gravel or sharp bits it’s more than just a too short trim. Do you know where her coffin bone is in relation to her sole?
Oh wow! This is also news to me. Super interesting.
I should get new images actually now that she got a trim. A friend of mine went through this last summer with the same farrier and had to do have the vet stand with the farrier, image and explain, image again, explain etc.
Any chance you could post some sole pics?
These pictures are hard to judge, but immediate first impression is just that the farrier took the heel way back and didn’t do much to address the sole, worsening your mare’s alignment rather than helping it. Sole pictures and better aligned lateral pics will make it much easier to gauge. But to me at least, the angle on her LF looks better in the before picture.
I would really advise you to find a new HCP and get her in padded boots ASAP. Nothing positive will come from her gimping around, it won’t promote growth and it certainly won’t help her eventually be more comfortable barefoot.
Thank youuuu!
I am going to grab some further photos in the morning and will post. I do agree, this weekend was my last straw to see if it magically got better. While it is better, it’s not what I want to see.
Yes I think this might be a thing with them if it’s who I think it is.
Ahh you knew 
I’ve switched Conrad out from him but was hopeful it wouldn’t be a persistent issue with Phil.
A little update. Spoke to vet, he’s coming tomorrow to do some new rads to make sure the farrier is doing a correct trim.
Had a new farrier consult this morning. He seemed good from what he was saying.
He cleaned up Phillys feet today to take a look at what’s going on, he was quite meticulous and took an hour to measure angles, watch, little trim, watch etc which I appreciated over wham bam chopped off your horses foot.
New farrier feels the fronts are typically tender and flat from the hard as rock footing and track trimming he sees in ottbs. However he felt
The balance was off and the hoof was bearing more weight on the toe. There appeared to be a spot with an old abscess that has come out, soles not overly tender with testers but they were soft for sure.
He did the tiniest modification, right front (black) walked off almost looking sound, a few tentative steps but got better, white front is about 30% better but there appears to be bruising at the toe.
He prescribed a hoof hardener and poultice wrap as he expects another abscess in white foot.
Tomorrow we are going to revisit rads once they are finish, discuss with vet on best course of action.
Attaching photos of sole, he didn’t trim/brush the frog area so it’s a bit black, however the frog is actually getting hard where it was soft a week ago.
Hoping to avoid shoes but may be needed until ground softens, bad timing for the world to go dry…
The first photo appears to have had multiple abscesses blow out. The sole also looks extremely thin. I also see some bruising. I wouldn’t ride or work her until that thickens up some. Good diet and foot care is definitely the best course of action. This is typical for horses off the track though so don’t fret, she’ll be good as new in no time.
You are amazing, thank you always for your advice. You really know your ottbs!!!
Been through many post track intros into real life with them 
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