I miss ole Hoss........ just sayin As for me.... I shod only when necessary and keep them barefoot all other times. Necessary is completely determined by the horse, the work, the country, etc. If it's determined to be "necessary" then I will try for fronts only as first choice. Pretty rare when I do the backs. Every horse is differnt and so is every environmental situation. I definately believe that under good circumstances barefoot is a lot more healthy, but for a lot of instances it's not possible to have a working healthy horse without them. I do believe (and practice) that there are a lot of things a person can do to help facilitate a healthy barefooted horse. It is more than just a matter of ripping off a shoe and going barefoot. The foot that has been shod long term is going to be a mess at first without them and will take some time and effort to be brought back to health. The farrier will need to trim for bare feet and not shoes. If your farrier doesn't understand the difference get another one. Hoss said one thing earlier I kind of disagree with... . he said "trust your farrier". Before you farriers get all mad.... a good farrier is worth more than double his weight in gold. I consider good farrierism (yes I made up that word), to be one of the single most important things I can do for my horses. But there are 9 untrained and downright bad farriers out there for every 1 good one. It is OUR jobs as horse owners to do our due dilligence in becoming at a minimum knowledgeable enough to tell the difference, and hopefully enough to take an active part in deciding what is best for our horses. Did I step innit?... I blame GM

From only the farrier's working POV, Yes, the weight is primarily on the fronts, shoes do provide traction, support, and correction. We do need more knowledge than just how to bang the shoe and drive the nail to shoe a horse correctly, but here is a totally new perspective (it seems to me)... While talking to a very talented dressage trainer/instructor about the horse's gait and balance, the shoes on the fronts leaves the hind end light, aluminums on the fronts with steel on the back makes the hind end heavy. Now most of us sit in a saddle and move the horse with joystick action on the reins, but someone who really does know a horse, (upper FEI experience) can feel when the horse is balanced. Does a 12 ounce shoe really make a difference to a 1200 lb animal? That weight on the end of those long legs might be more easily understood if you you tie a rock to the end of a string and swing it around your head. that string is a lot heavier now eh?

Mustangs run in the wild all there life without shoes--Of course there smart enoough not to run full blast on ice or in mud around barrels in the middle of a rainstorm(Plow the arena 12 inchs deep and then worry about traction???) I rode a mustang raised in the canyons here on the Canadian River with four black feet as hard as a anvil day in an day out and never had to do more than shape them up with rasp now and then. Shoeing an necessary evil or Unnecessary evil I donot know but take a good look at the toe grab on Barbaro's broken BACK leg and ask youself if they helped him run faster or were the cause of his death!!!

Ditto...My last horse I had also got shoes all the way around and like you my farrier was very easy on the eyes.The only problem was he was young enough to be my son.Hey,you can't blame a cowgirl for looking and being making sure the Wrangler patch was still in good shape and wasn't worn out.Also you never know when he might get some dust or dirt on that patch and might need some help getting it off. He even increased his fee and I did not even reolize it until I was balancing my checkbook at the end of the month.It was worth every penny. Oh,by the way did I mention he was a good farrier too. "Thank Goodness" Paradiselady

My horse wears shoes front and back, he could probably go bare.. but that's only because my shoer is so cute.. it takes him longer! He's a lousy shoer, and charges 3 times what anyone else is, but dang you should see him bent over!

THE ONLY THREE REASONS TO SHOE HORSES IS 1,PROTECTION 2. CORRECTION 3.TRACTION .I HAVE PUT FROM ONLY ONE TO FOUR SHOES ON HORSES IN EVER COMBINATION YOU CAN THINK OF.US TRAINERS ARE TRICKY LIKE THAT,OK OK 4.TRAINING AIDS.

Yes I have complete trust in my farrier he has always done a 100 % good job keeping my horse sound and happy. whenever someone asks about new things to try I say "ASK my farrier" he knows my horses feet . We always work together if theres a issue .if you dont have confidence in your farrier then best think about a new one... if horse feels good then dont fix something that aint broken.

As a proff farrier I feel that our job is to maintain the soundness of the horse not get him sound. This takes a team effert and the team leader is the ONE PERSON in charge of the horse and the team, each player has a job and we need to do our jobs to the best of our abbility.When ome member of the team tries to cut corners the horse suffers. Yes 4 we need to trust the farrier but the farrier needs to know when to call someone with more expereance and ask for help, He also needs to try and continue his education to better serve the horse. I work for the horse and if the owner knows more than me, well I might listen but if I feel it's BS I fire em load up and leave. I once told a lady that I work for the horse, she said good that SOB can write the ck. Latters check yer cinch and have a good ride. Ole Hoss

I agree with Hoss to some extent. But you need to make sure you have a good farrier. I have had farriers tell me my gelding needed to go without shoes. Funny thing is I trusted him and took the shoes off. He was crippled in 2 days. My horse and the ones that I have been around rather they are riding horses, pasture horses or show horses. I have not had issues with putting shoes on the front only. I have had to put shoes on the back. I prefer not having shoes on that back because all mine are pastured together and it makes for some nasty kicks when they have shoes on back. So that is one more reason I only put shoes on the front. But like everyone else not all of mine have shoes on and it depends on what you do with your horse. If you are just trail riding out in the pasture and there isnt many rocks. I wouldnt put shoes on if your horse has good feet.

gifted, to funny..lol I never have felt like that its half shod. less is better except when needed..in my opinion I been competing for 24 yrs and have never had anyone relate to it like that.lol funny...