Can I just have my regular farrier pull the shoes and ride if horses do so well barefoot?
A. Not necessarily. While horses are individuals and some may fare well if you just “pulled shoes and rode”, most will need some time to adjust and some always need some form of protection that can be provided in a healthier way than traditional shoes. Much like if you suddenly omitted wearing your tennis shoes out jogging, you wouldn’t go very far until your feet toughened up. There is also a difference in the trims from your regular farrier and a barefoot trimmer’s methods. The removal of dead sole and frog that is routine in traditional trims removes the hoof of it’s own protection. A natural trim leaves as much of the sole and frog as possible to build into thick callouses. Until your horse has built up enough callous, you will likely need to outfit him in boots to make him comfortable enough you can still ride. This is much like you wearing gloves to muck stalls until you can do it barehanded. The gloves prevent you from getting blisters, but still allow callouses to form.
