This is the most frequently asked question I receive and the response is so common I've decided to go ahead and post it for convenience.

Question...

My horse has been barefoot for months. We live in a wet environment so he always has thrush. He also has thin hoof walls. Every time we ride he comes up sore and I have to walk him home. Boots don't work so we don't use them. Can you tell me how long it will take before he can go barefoot or do I need to put him back in shoes?

Answer...

First off... Who is trimming your horse? Your trimmer should be able to evaluate the horse’s situation and give you some idea of what you can expect. Without seeing him it is very difficult to give you an assessment. I live in a wet environment as well and I've managed to beat thrush on my own horses and on customer’s horses. Thrush is definitely a painful condition for them so addressing that sounds like a good start.

The next question... What kind of boots to you use? There are boots that stay on without rubbing or coming off on horses that run endurance events. They have to be good boots and they have to be properly fitted.

The time it takes a horse to be 100% without boots depends entirely on the health and condition of his hooves to begin with. It also depends on how the horse is managed. I have horses in my care that have terrible hooves because they live in soft wet terrain on a high sugar diet. They will always have terrible hooves and their owners accept that they will always need boots to work on terrain that is harsher than where they live. For them natural hoof care is simply a cheaper, more convenient alternative to shoes. I have other horses in my care who’s owners are extremely diligent about managing their horses exercise, diet and exposure to diverse environments. These horses have exemplary hooves and can perform on just about anything you throw at them without boots.

Shoeing is generally an easy way to mask symptoms without addressing the cause. In brief (extremely brief!) the hoof is a highly vascular and nervous structure. It is designed to expand upon impact and fill with blood. When the hoof lifts off the ground it contracts forcing the blood up the horse’s leg. When you apply a shoe you do it with the hoof off the ground in a contracted position. When it lands it can no longer expand to its full potential. Thus you're restricting circulation to a highly nervous system. Essentially the horse’s feet go numb. That's how a shoe works. If you think about the structures that a shoe protects it begins to make sense. The shoe is a thin piece of metal that only covers the outer wall. The outer wall is insensitive. That's why you can cut it, rasp it, drive nails through it etc… The only way a shoe could protect the sensitive structures would be if it was used in conjunction with a full pad completely covering the bottom of the hoof.

My general philosophy is that if you address the cause you relieve the symptoms. Your horse comes up sore. Why? 

Without seeing the horse, his hooves, his environment, your tack, your riding skills (no offense intended it's just something important for me to consider when I see a new horse), his overall condition (teeth, musculature etc.), his feed, his exercise routine and so on I can't really know the cause or give you a time frame for fixing it.

Hope this helps you and your horse,

Todd