Bare Foot

Unshod

Shoe less

  Whatever you like to call it, riding your horse without shoes is quite feasible provided certain basic rules are adhered to i.e no rough stony or rocky ground, no abrasive surfaces (roads) and most of all the animal is restricted to not very much work.

Reasons why you should or could keep a horse without shoes: If you keep a horse that you don’t ride for various reasons then if it has good feet you could keep the horse unshod.   You could possibly keep and use a horse to ride though with very restricted riding and then only if the surface was not very abrasive. Riding in fields and soft surface riding schools would be alright though after a time I should think that the horse could do with a change of environment if only to stop it and you being bored out of you mind.  If the horse has a problem then it would depend on the condition as to whether it is advisable or not to go shoeless.  So as you can see shoeless horses severely restrict the enjoyment and use you may get out of it, and depending on what you want to do with it would perhaps make it not worthwhile keeping one at all.  One of the reasons given for keeping horses shoeless by the promoters is that shoeing causes conditions such as Navicular, laminitis, and side-bone ad- infinitum.  I am not saying that bad shoeing cannot cause these conditions, but they are more likely to be caused by the use it is being put to, the surfaces it is ridden on, feeding and last but not least breeding. 

Reasons why you should or must keep a horse with shoes:  To give a horses foot protection  against wear and tear when in use on roads, rough surfaces, stones, and rocks, then shoes are a must if you wish to get any long term use out of it.  I don’t say that short and not very often rides cannot be done, but if the animal is to be used reliably on a regular basis then the only way to guarantee it is to use some sort of foot protection, the usual one being steel shoes though there are other types of foot protection I have not found them to be long lasting and economical as the ordinary shoes which have stood the test of time.  Horses which are used in competitions where grip is of great importance can also benefit from shoes which are of a design to enhance the grip given on various surface on which it must compete, including studs which screw into the shoes and may be removed after for more normal use.  The normal horses foot is designed by nature to be used by a horse on rolling grassy plains while the horse is grazing and for short high-speed flight when attacked.  Apart from nomads on the steps of Mongolia modern day horses do not live in this fashion and are certainly not used in this way, so shoes are a must for some, in fact a lot of the activities on unnatural surfaces horses are required to perform on Do Require Shoes of some sort, some of them very specialised indeed

The proponents of the various shoeless theories: According to the shoeless fanatics of the lunatic fringe keeping horses without shoes will cure all conditions of the feet that are known to man and a few that are not and is the natural state for the horse to be in.  It is not natural to keep a horse in any condition where it is used for riding or competition, so if you see a statement where the method being touted in a riding horse is described as natural then you are reading a patently and obviously illogical and untrue statement and shouldn’t bother to read on, unless you want a good laugh, this person is looking for gullible owners with very little experience to sell their questionable wears to.  Don’t kid yourself, selling is what they are there to do, you are the mark and they are going to get the money from you one way or another, either by doing the job for you at an exorbitant rate or teach you on a special short course to do it yourself.  By the time you find out you have been gypped it is too late, they have your money, and the horse is probably going lame to boot. Because the articles promoting their ideas are in print either in books or magazines ( even on the internet these days) does not make them true, Take them all with a pinch of salt and do a in depth check on their so called research.  They all say that they have done it though it is very hard to pin them down on it, and what they do produce is lacking in control and their interpretation is certainly suspect to say the least.

Any remarks or comments please E-Mail :- Giles@farrier-giles.co.uk I would be pleased to hear from you Giles.