Shoes vs. Barefoot

Unless a farrier is better than another and sees something extra the horse needs/doesn't need. My mare used to have an amazing farrier before I leased her out and she was moving much better when he advised me to put pads on her front feet along with shoes. The other farrier didn't do that and she moved fine, but when she got pads put on she was an amazing mover and much happier even. Granted, it was an extra $40 or so per shoeing.

Most definitely. My boy had to have a staple put over a crack and that cost me an extra $35. And I also tip my farrier so I pay well over the price he charges for trims anyway.

If the horse can handle it, I like barefoot. Any horse that does go barefoot gets biotin and sometimes another hoof supplement, just in case. I've had some though that do need them. One mare had a riser on her left front and pads in front and if she wasn't shod every four weeks, she would go dead lame. I had asked the farrier and the vet about it, but she was quite literally perfectly sound when she was shod properly.

I like ponies barefoot a lot too. Most ponies are hardy little things and one of my biggest pet peeves is when people buy a barefoot pony and think it looks better at shows if they have shoes. I don't understand that connection :)

I have an arab with great feet but definitely needs shoes. I run alot of roads and even steel shoes last only 6 or 8 weeks. The wear factor would be too great. Also with the ice I need the extra traction that studs, borium or drill tec give me. I would love to run barefoot but it is not practical for me.

Solon, they could be charging you the "regular" going rate and still be ripping you off...

That makes no sense. If the regular rate is say $45 how is that ripping us off? Do you have any clue what their expenses are?

I think keeping a horse barefoot is easy if you have the right natural conditions. One of the biggest problems I see is that people always keep their horses on soft ground with no "natural" trimming items suck as rocks or hard soil or little things that count. But instead alot of us choose to keep our horses on nice fluffy bedding (guilty), soft dirt/grass paddock with every little rock picked out and nothing natural (not guilty). If horses were in the wild they would be walking over rough terrain all day and most wild horses have wonderful feet without getting a trim once in their lives.

But I do agree that horses are individuals, people need to realize what is best for their horse, even if that means shoes or no shoes.

I think you should go to this forum and ask them about how many rip off their customers. And ask them exactly what their expenses are. I think you'd be surprised to know that very few actually make a profit. They make enough to cover their business and living expenses.

The Farrier & Hoofcare Resource Center Forums - Powered by vBulletin

Solon, I'm not looking for an argument. I'm just letting people know that there ARE people that will and do take advantage of customers. It wouldn't be right to pretend that everyone in the horse world is out to better the world. Not all farriers are like that, I never accused all of them of being scam artists or anything. Drop it. This thread was for the purpose to see what peoples opinions are on shod and barefoot horses. Not to prove who's right and who's wrong. Would it make you feel better if I told you that you were right from the start? What on earth was I thinking to reveal that some farriers are not good people?!!! I must be crazy!!!

Also you can't always trust people on an online forum, just because they can type up how they barely scrape up enough to get by doesn't mean they can't type up a lie.

Piper and everyone else thanks for your opinions =) I love to hear them!