I also leans towards skysblue experience. Also with baskana that "new" ways take a while to take hold. Seems a lot of topics concerning horses have most folks pretty passionate in their opinion. Keeping an open mind and researching makes the most sense to this gal. A most interesting topic for sure. My trimmer suggested dabbing iodine on the sole to help toughen. As I have that on hand for his goiter, I now get double duty out of that little bottle of iodine that I had to show my ID and credibility in order to buy. Also just walking him up and down the cinder road to help callus the sole. Due to an injury to one of my geldings foot a couple years ago, he's not had metal on his feet since. His feet have never looked better. No splits or cracks whereas with shoes they were a common occurrence. I do have boots for him to wear. I'm keeping an open mind about it all before I would even think of poo-poo'ing the barefoot horse. So far so good for this horse woman.

I must agree with Skysblue on this. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of common sense and good farriers. This subject is also a 'hot' topic in the endurance circle. Seems most are pretty much a yes or a no and no one seems to straddle the fence. There are lots of places on internet and in books to read on this subject. BTW, there was a time(late 1700s) that doctors did not wash their hands between the morgue and the live patients... Someone had to prove to them where the infections were coming from. New ideas take time no matter what the subject.

I agree with doubleoo, there's nothing wrong with traditional methods.

I have a serious question here for someone. I dont shoe, and trim lightly only when he needs it. He's not on a schedule for trimming. My horse has a good foot to start with. I ride a State Park where they say you gotta have shoes, with no problems...yet. Its no secret the hoof needs to be conditioned to the terrain he rides on. Or that is the secret and the major problem with barefoot horses. I ride him hard alot, using common sense in the rough areas. Another thing...some tend to pare off all the dead stuff on the bottom of the hoof, talk about a horse that wants to head for the ditch. One farrier told me cutt'n that all out is like cutt'n the callus's off a mans hands. If ya nip and file off a quarter of and inch, put a shoe back on the same thickness, the elevation is the same. Are you saying that a horse only bruises on the surface area the shoe covers ? Or because its the contact area, chances are less for bruising in just that area the shoe covers ?

I think it funny how this subject keeps coming up every couple of years. As far as natural and wild horses. As wild horses they chose were they go and mostly travel on the grassy areas since they like to eat. They avoid rocky areas if possible, same as you would if you were bare-foot and had a choice on where to walk. When man came along and started to use the horse and went over terrain that the horse was not use too, they had to put a metal shoes on so the horse wouldn’t go lame. As a case in point, my girlfriend let her horse go barefoot and rode on the trails with no problems. When she moved to horse to my house, her horse started to go lame because of the rocks so we put shoes on the horse and after he got over his bruised feet, he had no more problems. The place she use to ride at had mostly sandy ground and the ground around my house is more rocks then dirt. I have seen many different methods and shoes come and go over the years, but the only one I have stood the test of time is metal shoes. Look at the Strasser method, a few years ago, it was the answer to every one problem. We could do it yourself and stop using those expensive farriers. But as time goes by I now hear mostly negative comments about that method. Therefore when making a choice to shoe or not, take into consideration how the horse is used and the methods that have worked for centuries and stood the test of time. I have to disagree with the argument that metal shoes compromises blood flow and causes contraction issues. Horses have been shod for centuries and I have not heard of one whom foot has fell off because the blood flow was stopped. If a shoe is property installed (no nails aft of the widest part of the foot) the foot will expand and contract the same amount as if would without a shoe. Before I get off my soapbox, get the facts before you ran off and started using the latest mouse trap. Double

I have tried it both ways and I think it really depends on the individual horse, the terrain you are riding on, and what works best for the situation. Currently, I have my horse shod though he had been barefoot for the past year.

Very informative message board - glad for the weblinks and info. Another local ES friend spotted it and told me to check it out. I recently purchased a trail horse and will do some road riding - I was going to shoe him in the spring but now plan on keeping him barefoot. I have thoroughbreds that race, and years ago had a stake horse that trained and ran barefoot - shelly walls and would go lame with shoes. Like most horse people, I thought shoeing would keep the hoof protected. But I have always understood the compromise shoeing causes for blood flow and contraction issues. Glad to have the postings as a reminder to reflect...

I have been experimenting with the natural hoof trim for a year now.So far i haven't had any problems.If you ride in rocky terain you need a pair of boots until the sole toughens up and then i think i would still wear boots to keep the hoof wall protected and the sole from getting bruised.My farrier showed me how to trim the feet and every 2-3 weeks i use a wrasp to keep the shape of the hoof wall and the alignment of the sole and to get rid of the growth.It only takes a few minutes as long as you stay on top of them and it sure is a lot cheaper than having a farrier trim and shoe every 6-8 weeks.I had a Master Farrier explain to me that it sure does help the hoof by letting it pump a lot more blood as it expands and contracts.Give it a try,since all horses are used for various jobs what works for some may not work for others. Don

Hey, Cloud, what the heck are you laughing at??

RRROFLMAO @ hokus pocus/magic leadrope and a stick!!!!!!!!!!