My horses are barefoot which means they do not wear shoes.  Shoeing a horse was thought to be necessary to work a horse on the roads, it was thought that otherwise the horses hoof would wear down too quickly and the horse would be unusable.  Shoeing horses was called "A necessary evil"  as shoes are unhealthy for a horses hoof.  It has since been discovered and proven that shoeing is no longer necessary to work a horse on hard surfaces, in fact it is very beneficial to the horse to remain barefoot.  Barefoot a horses foot isnt "bound" by a metal shoe and it can contract and move properly with each step as it was intended to do.  This allows the foot to receive better blood flow as the frog pressing and lifting off the floor pumps blood around the foot, somthing which doesnt happen in a shod hoof.  Therefore barefoot horses have warmer feet and legs than a shod horse, this can be clearly seen by thermal imaging.  Barefoot, a horse can feel the ground properly underneath it and has better grip, reducing accidents from slipping.  The lack of proper blood flow and hoof function in shod horses means that infections such as thrush can take hold quickly as the hoof cannot fight if off as well as if it were barefoot.  Also nail holes in a shod hoof are ideal breeding ground for fungus and bacteria.  Shoes also make the horse walk on the hoof wall which isn't natural and can pull the hoof wall away resulting in white line disease and laminitis.

Shod horses often place their feet down toe first because of pain in the back of the foot from thrush or weak hooves.  This has been shown to be the cause of navicular pain, many horses diagnosed with navicular have been made sound and even competed again by removing the shoes, changing the diet and conditioning the feet with the help of hoof boots and exercise, allowing them to walk properly, heel first.  There is more to a horse being barefoot than simply to remove its shoes, the horse should have a low sugar, low grain high fibre diet and lots of exercise and movement over different sufaces as well as a proper trim. Ideally they should be turned out 24/7 but not on rich pasture.

 It can take a while for the horse to grow stronger hooves especially after being shod for many years so hoof boots will be needed at first to protect them.
Healthy barefoot horses with proper diet,trim and conditioning are more than capable of roadwork on a daily basis, the hooves will speed up their growth to match the wear. Hoof boots such as easyboots can be worn on a newly barefoot horse to protect the hoof until it is stronger, or can be worn on any surface the horse is uncomfortable on.  Horses should not be worked on any sufaces they arent comfortable on, this will not help them.  There are many barefoot horses competing in many areas sucessfully including, showjumping, endurance, dressage and cross country.


http://www.performancebarefoot.co.uk/

http://www.easycareinc.com/education/whybarefoot.aspx

The two things which can directly affect the health of the hoof are diet and exercise. Observers of wild horse populations note that the equine hoof stays in notably better condition when horses are in a herd situation and are free to move around 24 hours a day, as wild horses do, permitting good circulation inside the hoof.  It is recommended that horses be allowed to walk at least 5 miles per day for optimum hoof health. The terrain should be varied, including gravel or hard surfaces and a water feature where the hooves can be wet occasionally.

Diet is very important too, as changes in feed can directly affect hoof health, most notably seen in cases of laminitis. A healthy diet is based on free access to roughages (grass or hay) and some mineral supplementation, with a relatively low grain ration; feeds and forage with high levels of sugar (carbohydrates) correlate with higher risk of clinical or subclinical laminitis and with other hoof ailments.

Modern research by individuals such as Jaime Jackson and Tia Nelson have studied feral horses to observe the way in which their natural foraging and roaming affected their hooves. They noticed that the hooves of these horses had a different configuration from domestic horses kept in soft pasture, having shorter toes and thicker, stronger hoof walls.

Barefoot Myths

Barefoot horses can't be ridden on roads. 

Yes they can!  A properly transitioned barefoot horse can be ridden anywhere.  The roads are an excellent surface for barefoot horses to be ridden on.  I ride on the roads most days, and do quite a lot of trotting too.  Your horses feet will not wear away to nothing, the more you ride, the more the feet will grow in response.   If you horse has just had his shoes removed, you may need hoof boots such as easyboots to protect his feet on the roads until they are conditioned properly. 

Not all horses can go barefoot.

Mostly, they can.  But not all owners can!  Some horses may take more time and effort to go barefoot, depending on how long they have had shoes on for.  The longer they have had shoes on, the weaker the internal structures of the foot are, so they longer they will need to recover.  With a good set of easyboots, a good low sugar/high forage diet and plenty of excercise most horses will do very well barefoot. Even thoroughbreds.

Barefoot horses will be footsore.

No barefoot horse should be worked if they are sore.  If they are sore, it means something is wrong.  It may be that they need hoofboots to make them comfortable, or they need their diet improving, or you are trying to transition them too fast.  A properly transitioned barefoot horse should not be sore at all.  This myth probably comes from misinformed owners pulling the horses shoes and expecting to go on a 10 mile ride straight away.  Then when their horse cant walk the next day they think "this barefoot thing is rubbish" and they put shoes back on.  The people around them get the impression then that barefoot horses cant be ridden for long rides without being sore.

Barefoot horses dont need trimming.

Barefoot horses need more trimming than a shod horse.  It is recommended you have your horse trimmed by a barefoot proffesional trimmer every 3-6 weeks to keep them in balance.  Shod horses grow a new hoof capsule in around 12 months, or longer.  Because barefoot horses have a better blood supply and arent bound by a shoe, the hoof capsule can take as little as 6 months to regrow a new hoof.  

Your horse can only go barefoot if you dont work him much.

Not true at all!  In fact after the transitioning period, the more work your horse does, the better!  There are a growing number of people who do endurance with barefoot horses. http://www.easycareinc.com/Cool_Stuff/Contest.aspx

DISCLAIMER-  I am not advocating that you just rip your horses shoes off without researching it first!  Neither am I saying you are being cruel to your horses by having them shod.    Barefoot horses need  a good set of hoofboots if they have had shoes on for many years.  If done too fast/without thought you may make your horse sore. A barefoot horse shouldnt be sore! Hoofboots may be needed for the transitioning period until the hooves have strengthened.   If you dont understand this then you may be better off keeping your horse shod.