Barefoot or shod?

[Niassa]

I hear this can be quite an emotive issue but am just interested in exploring the option of keeping a horse who has been used to being barefoot elsewhere, unshod when moving to a yard where all horses are shod.
The horse’s feet currently look excellent, but it will start doing more hacking, including hill work and some road work, with me.

I don’t know much about barefoot and just expected to get a shod horse and keep it shod, but just want to explore options before automatically putting shoes on him.

I’m also a bit nervous about the prospect of discussing it with the farrier who currently shoes all the horses in the yard.
How do I assess whether he would be able to trim feet appropriately, or is this something he would automatically know? (He is very experienced and in the ?worshipful farrier’s company).

You might find this old thread from Horse and Hound useful https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/barefoot-horses-on-roads.242937/

I'd be keeping barefoot, no reason to shoe unless really required. I do if studs required for competing or if they're struggling on stoney ground/hacking. I've kept a range of breeds for many years unshod.

Farrier should have no issue trimming however you will find some better than others...

Barefoot is much better for them. Shoes can hide so much.
my horses have always been barefoot, for longer hacks or stoney trails I use hoof boots.
My farrier prefers barefoot or front shoes only….much quicker for him and he earns more per hour trimming than shoeing. But you may have to do your research as not all farriers can do a correct barefoot trim.

Most decent farriers are pro barefoot nowadays anyway. If the yard is genuinely anti-barefoot & the yard farrier insists on shoes then that's a massive red flag & id be concerned about keeping a horse there.
Some horses need shoes but alot don't & a horse that's happy & healthy barefoot doesn't need shoes to hack. My 2 compete at endurance & TREC barefoot as do many others.

One of mine is barefoot. She’s always been barefoot and we’ve just carried on.

We use the same farrier as her previous owner (just by coincidence) so he’s carried on trimming her.

She does everything everyone else does - hacking, roadwork, XC, etc.

I don't see the correlation between the horse being barefoot and being on a yard where all the others are shod, unless there's some sort of of farrier's group discount? Surely your horse, your choice?

(My five are all now retired on a PP track and have been barefoot and proud for 10+ years!).