I know, this is a highly debated topic. Hear me out..

My wife and I have gone completely barefoot with our horses since we've had them (about 5 years). We've really had no issues with excessive hoof wear, soreness, lameness, road founder, or anything else. This year, we are planning to ride quite a bit more than the years past. The group we ride with always shoes and always suggests we shoe them. After our week long trip to Hocking Hills (which is very rocky terrain), they stopped picking at us becasue of how good of shape they were in. 

I called our farrier and asked him what he thinks since he knows our horses hooves the best. He's seen them right after we've come home from long rides where there were many miles on asphalt, rocks, etc. He's always been impressed with how our horses hooves looked. He always comments on how good their feet are. I told him the kind of riding and amount we planned on and he suggested we shoe them. I trust him a lot and its not just a "more money" ploy for him.

I asked about trimming soles and he said that he does take the sole off when he shoes. Do any of you leave the sole on? We've worked pretty hard to callous those soles to prevent any "ouchy" issues.

What do you all think? I want to say no shoes and we'll see, but then if we wear the hooves faster than they grow, we can end up laming them up for the riding season.

I just cannot stand how bad some horses feet look after having shoes on. Brittle, tender-footed, and so on.

I do not want to shoe them, maybe i'm being stubborn or maybe I'm inherently resistant to change. BUT I do want to do whats going to be best for our girls.

Can I shoe them for a week long ride to Big South Fork, pull the shoes and ride the summer barefoot, then shoe them again to go for a week and a half to various parks including Hocking Hills in the fall? Will this cause a lot of issues?

Mine are barefoot as well and have been for many years - I do endurance riding.  If I think the terrain is going to be really rocky, I use my Renegades.  Easy on-easy off.  And NO holes in their hooves.  Much cheaper in the long run.

I have looked into the various brands of boots. Maybe this would be a better option for us? Do you like the renegades?

The more research I do, the more I lean to not shoe them.

What I've done in the past is just let their hooves get a little long (not much) before we go.

What I'm most concerned about is ruining the overall integrity of the hoof. I don't want the sole cut down, and I don't want to lose the sidewall thickness.

Maybe I've read too many "pro barefoot" articles and can't see the forest for the trees. This is a whirlwind decision for me..

Thanks for the suggestions...

Z, this is my fear..

Do ya'll use hoof boots on front only or both front and rear..

Renegades on all four

I've tried other brands and they were a major PITA!

More reasons why you should not shoe your horse. The videos are quite informative.

http://www.swedishhoofschool.com/Videofilm3.htm

Thanks for the link and info. I know the reasons why I shouldn't shoe. This is why this decision has bothered me so much.

Could I get away with using just the fronts? I read that they are only really necessary on the front, but some endurance rules state you have to be adequately shod on all 4. We don't do endurance, just have a couple week long trips scheduled this year and several 3 day weekends, with various day trips tossed in.

I think that you would be fine if you used them only on the front as that is where most of their weight is carried.  You are correct in that some of the endurance rules require hoof protection on all four.

I noticed that when walking barefoot on semi-rocky surfaces, it was only the fronts that were 'ouchy' for my horse.  On really rocky surfaces, it is all four.  If I notice a rocky patch, I always try to go around as it can be slippery as well.

I just put that coment about reasons not to shoe for others who might like some more info - didn't mean to imply that you don't know why you shouldn't shoe

My horses have been barefoot for most of the past 5 years.  I can ride anywhere for a day. And I ride some really nasty country and put a lot of miles on my horses. What I have found is that my horses start walking in the grass along the edge of the trail. Being just a little hesitant to trot or canter on hard surfaces. If I know I'm going for 2-3-4 days of mountain riding, I will bring some boots. ( I currently use the EasyBoot Gloves)  With these I can give my horses protection on the 2nd or 3rd day.  And yes I typically just boot the front hooves.

That said, Last fall, I decided I just didn't want to mess with boots for hunting season.  Deep snow, Dead fallen logs, rocky crevices all take a toll on the boots. If I don't loose one, I'm at least sure to tear a gaiter or two. I don't care what brand of boot you buy, bushwacking through timber chasing elk is hard on boots. And I was tired of paying to repair or replace. So I put shoes on for the 4 weeks that I was hunting.

Hunting season is the hardest work my horses do all year. Besides packing me around, I'm often dressed heavily because of the weather, carrying a rifle, ammo, bino's, daypack with lunch and survival gear. I add 50lbs easily to what I normally weigh during summer rides. add to that we are riding at 8,000-11,000 foot elevation, often straight up steep mountains.  No switch back easy trails.  Arrival often means a pack trip up the canyon carrying in our camp and a return trip to get bags of feed for the horses, At the end we pack camp out and return to haul out any elk we've shot. Anyway, you get the drift.  They work hard over very rocky terrain.

So last fall I put shoes on.  I've been triming my horses for the last 5 years. So this was my first try at putting shoes. Call my old farrier and he told me what shoes and nails to buy and I put them on.  I did not trim any sole. My hardest tack was flatting out the hoof wall. My horses had a very good mustang roll on all their feet. And that roll didn't leave me much room to drive nails thru.  But the shoes stayed on. I pulled them 4 weeks later.  The mustang roll I put on  after pulling the shoes removed almost all the nail holes.  I can honestly say, I don't think it affected my horses feet at all.

With the shoes on my horses stayed in the center of the trail, No more beating my knees into trees as they tried to walk the edge of the trail to get into softer dirt. They were much more eager to move out even on the rockiest of terrain.

Could I have gotten the same effect with boots on all 4 hooves.  Absolutely. I believe in boots.  But where a set of shoes cheaper than repairing or replacing lost boots. YES. Did I have to get up 30 minutes earlier each morning to go around and put boots on 16 hooves. Nope,  Shoes stayed on for all weeks, Saved me a lot of sleep. Did I have to go pull boots off when I was cold and tired after a day on mountain. Nope.

I will probably still use boots for a weekend ride that needs some protection. But if I see a multi week period that I know I will be working the horses hard, I'll probably put shoes on again for that short period.

This is where I hunt.  Steep mountains .

Picking way through Deadfall

washed out canyon is full of rocks and gravel. It's 7 miles up this canyon and horses some times make 2 trips a day up and back for 28 miles of walking on rock

I had horses step in rock crevices and pull boots right off.  and I suspect if stepped just right they could pull shoes right off

I can ride my barefoot horse thru almost anything, I just can't do it multiple days in row with out some protection.

You said you leave your barefoot horses just a little long to give them some hoof to wear off. I'm just the opposite. It's not wearing off the hoof that causes my problems, But rather the flairing that causes the horses pain.  If I leave the hoof wall long, I am promoting the flaring of the hoof as the horses put their weight on the hoof wall.  I usually trim mine up before a tough ride to insure there is no leverage to tear the lamini in the whiteline and cause the hoof to flair.

I've also used Vettec SoleGuard to add protection to sole area of my horses feet.  It's advertised to stay in place for up to 3 weeks. I find 12-14 days to be more realistic. But it does work.

nice pictures.  I dont shoe my horse unless I have to. Most years  I have shoes put on for one to three months and go bare foot the rest of the time with no issues. I do keep an eye on the nail holes when the foot is growing out and rasp as needed to prevent chips.   I had a pair of easy boots but as said takes time to put them on and after a long day riding pulling them off is a pia.  I am going to look at the renagades

BS on that. The hoof is a cone structure, saw it in half and the integrity is destroyed. May as well stick a bananna in that press. Junk science at it's best.

Is there an English version Rich?

Although I am all about barefoot, I do see relevance in what Painted Horse is saying...he certainly rides in much more extreme terrain than I probably will (on my own horses). Things are always relevant and folks on this forum have a wealth of knowledge...if what you are doing is not broken, don't fix it. I just feel (and it is only my opinion) if you go fine barefoot, use boots when it gets rough, then maybe avoid putting on/taking offf shoes just for a ride or two. Have safe and enjoyable riding adventures!! Life is good!

I agree, there may be some venues and circumstances where shoes serve a purpose.

The "if they need shoes, then shoe them. Whats the hard part of that decision?" is the response that I have gotten from the folks we ride with. They mean well, but to me, just don't get it. It's not that I've "bought into" a theology, but I truly want what is going to be best for my horses. In fact, I tend to lean that shoeing is more of a "tradition" than a necessity in many cases. I, however, can most align with the barefoot side of the coin--it just makes sense to me. I've spent a lot of time doing research on both "arguments" and honestly, I would not be opposed to doing something like Painted Horse did in that scenario. My farrier told me that this was not really possible and he preferred to take the sole off. I can't imagine there was much hoof health and integrity being compromised shoeing that way and for such a short time. Thanks Painted for sharing your experience.  

Possibly, those unshod horses that you've seen more problems with were fresh out of shoes or not given the opportunity to become good barefoot horses. I've seen more horses shod "correctly" with problems. Their feet are always sore, brittle, and theres little hoof left to attach a shoe to. Not to mention the numerous joint and tendon problems. These horses are shod 9 out of 12 months by the same farrier whos been in the "biz" for 30+ years.

The more I research, the more I find that I may have been out of line in the past by leaving the hoof wall a little long (thanks for calling me out painted). Now I know and can change it. Not that I've ever had any problems, but for the same reasons I change the oil in my truck at 5k instead of 7500--Just because I can do something, doesn't mean I should.

I don't think shoes are inherently bad, but I agree, if done incorrectly, barefoot and shod can cause issues. I will respectfully disagree with your farrier, farmbabe, when it comes to "trim vs. natural trim." If it's anything like around here, a "trim" is what they do before shoes. They take them way down, take the soles off, takes the frog way down, and no "mustang roll." I fired a farrier for this. I found our current farrier who is a big believer in natural trimming, but shoes as well. His natural trim is essentially taking the hoof wall down, taking out flare, and rolling the toe. He obviously uses discretion and will do more if needed. Our farrier now is $15 cheaper per horse and does a thousand times better job.  

I "thought" I knew quite a bit about why barefoot was "better," but I've learned so much more. Like I said, I'm glad I asked here. Maybe a lot of my decision making troubles were due to ignorance.

Thanks again everybody.