My horses have been barefoot for 4 years. I've several of the EasyCare boots.  I' screwed up my post and can only edit for few moment.s So I'll explain more in the next post

I have several 5-6 year old horses who have never had shoes. My older horses were shod, but have been barefoot for the last 4 years. I can ride ANYWHERE for a day. I can't ride rough trails for multiple days in a row barefoot. I either need to give my horses a day off or put some protection on their feet.  That being said, You need to understand that I ride very rough country. My wife says I don't know what the term "a short ride" means. It's not uncommon for us to ride 20+ miles in very rocky conditions. My horses will go, they don't become lame, but they do start walkin the edge of the trail, brushing me into trees and brush as they try to avoid the rough spots after a day of rough riding.

The cure is either put shoes on, put boots on or apply some sort of sole protection like Sole Guard from Vettec.

I've used most of the models of EasyCares Easyboot.  The original easyboot, the Epic, The Bare and now I'm using the  Gloves.  The gloves are hands down the easiest to put on.  They provide protection. But I have had them come off a few times. Usually at a canter or when the horse is making a lot of laterial movements. ( working cows, spooking away from something etc)  You can pay for a lot of shoes ( at least in my area) for what a set of boots cost. Add in the maintenance cost of repairing damaged gaiters etc, you will not really save a lot of money using boots vs shoes. So if saving money is your motivation for going barefoot. You won't really save anything.

The trick to going barefoot is regular frequent triming of the hooves.  You can't let the hoof walls flare. For my horses that requires I trim them every 2-3 weeks in the summer and 3-4 weeks in the winter. If you are paying for a farrier to come trim your horses every 3 weeks, You are going to spend more money in farrier bills that you will save in shoes.  I've learned to trim my own horses. It's not a big deal to take a rasp to their hooves every couple of weeks, I'm usually out feeding and checking on them anyway.

Several of my horses, I just apply the Sole Guard before heading out on a pack trip.  I can usually get 15 days of use before it falls out. So if you do a fresh trim as you applied the sole guard you should be good to go for two weeks of use.  Sole Guard cost $30 a tube and does basically 4-5 hooves. So again, You are not saving any money over putting shoes on.

If you are doing this because you think it is better for the horses feet. Great.  If you are doing it to save money. It won't. Remember not all horses do well barefoot. Some just need shoes. Don't get caught up in hype if your horses doesn't do well barefoot. Of course the type of terrain you ride in, How far you ride, and how often you ride will all affect your horses ability to go barefoot.  Here are some of the places I ride.

Thanks for the input.  I only wish I had the opportunity to ride that terrain.  One of the problems with my horse is he has a tendency to throw his shoes off.  I can't say that he has soft feet.  He has been barefoot since last fall, and his hooves seem to be in very good shape, but sometimes the shoes just don't want to stay set.  So, since I don't get to ride as much as I used to, I was thinking that keeping him barefoot around the farm would be ok and then putting boots on for the trails would protect his feet.

I heard that the renegade boots stay put the best.  None of them are cheap, but I wouldn't want to struggle with getting boots on and off either.

The Easy Boot Goves are very easy to put on.

The other models are a little tougher to get on, But once you've done it a few times, you get the hang of it.

But when they are new and you are inexperienced, They can be a challenge.

If your horse has round feet like one of mine the Old Mac originals fit the best.  I've been using them for about 4 1/2 years now on all 4 of our horses.  We are still on our original boots and they show very little wear and have never come off.  We've had to replace one strap and the local shoe repair place charged $8.  We don't have water in our "water crossings" out here but the sand runs right out the  back of the boot so I don't think water would be an issue.

If your not opposed to used boots you can go to http://www.naturalhorsetrim.com/boot_swap.htm and see if what you want is listed.  I got 3 pair there.