Does Your Horse Have Shoes

The age old question, to shoe or not to shoe.
Does your horse have shoes, if so why?
Is it due to the terrain or his feet?

Here in CA, I normally ride through a few streets(blacktop and GD) before accessing the trails.

My farrier said he can naturally wear down his hooves in spring through autumn.
I would only need to call him during the winter to trim them since he mostly sits.

But, I've left his shoes on, he's had shoes before I bought him, and some people's opinions are to leave them on since he is used to them. Their example was, we are all used to wearing shoes now, it wouldn't be easy going outside without them now. If you've been barefoot at an early age it would be easier to stay barefoot.

Farrier cost: $60 for all 4 shoes

I had my horse barefoot for the first year I owned him but I knowticed even with Hoof supplements his feet were chipping. Then as he started working harder and jumping higher putting front shoes on had to be done. Out here shoes are alot more just my fronts are 84$, every 7 weeks. To get all around is 160$ or somthing like that. His back hooves are fine without shoes but his front really needed them.

One with shoes on front, one barefoot all around.

Why? One needs them and the other does not.

Always,
Were you talking to me? I"m confused I was just talking about my one horse.

Jesse used to have shoes, only on his front feet though. He has horrible feet so it helped then slightly. The only thing is that his shoes had to be set a little forward, otherwise he would pull them off so it was usually pretty frustrating when we got a new farrier. He doesn't have them anymore because he doesn't have to walk on gravel or concrete which made his feet worse. My last horse was shod because he had super sensitive feet and needed pads with silicon in them, otherwise he wasn't able to walk.

My TB is barefoot as are my two ponies and my haflinger will be when she starts work

Sketter, I believe AB was answering the question posed by the OP, just like you did.

For my part, all the horses on the property are barefoot. If they needed shoes they would get them, but none of mine do.

Noper, just answering the OP's question.

None of our horses have shoes - they don't need them. Dancer's hooves were horrible when I first got her, huge flares - they looked like bells! Farrier commented the last time he was out that they had really improved over the last year. She didn't have a single chip this time!

Chances are, any horse I get will have to be lite-shod or shod with a toe weight. All depends on what the farrier thinks of their particular gait.