"Failure" of Bare Hooves?

"Oh, my horse could never go barefoot!"  "I've tried my horse(s) barefoot and there was just no way they can go without shoes!"  Yes, I've heard these statements.  The biggest group of riders who make such statements are those who simply tried to ride their normally shod horses after they lost 1 or 2 shoes on trail or, maybe, had them pulled during some off season and then unexpectedly decided to go for a ride.   That really isn't a fair trial.  Of course, I have heard the same from some people who have actually gone to the trouble to locate a natural hoof trimmer and gave their horses some time, but found the horse could not go barefoot over rocky or hard-packed trails without being sore.  The gave up and went back to nailed-on shoes.  So...failed.  OK, so the first group didn't really understand 'barefoot'.  But what about the second group.  Why so many "failures"?  1.  The failure may occur because there were nutritional issues that the trimmer either didn't understand or did not adequately convey to the owner.  Or maybe the owner was told that the horse had such issues, but did not really understand how to go about correcting them.  With nutritional problems, the white line will not become tight, flares may never completely resolve and the hoof will not develop a nice thick sole and possibly have thrush issues that preclude the development of a healthy frog.  These horses may be OK in hoof boots, but have trouble being ridden bare.  NOTE:  This is where owner education is critical.  The link to the EC/IR website and group will help any and all owners who fall into this category. 2.  The failure may occur due to lack of a competent natural trimmer.  Several reasons for this situation:  a)  Not enough trimmers are out there, yet.  b)  The owner didn't want to pay a trimmer to come out as often as needed.  Usually 4-5 weeks is the interval recommended.  If the horse has a problem that is being addressed, then every 2-3 weeks is not unreasonable.  3.  The failure may occur because the horse is kept confined either in a stall or in a small paddock with little or no movement for the greater part of every day.  Unless the horse had healthy hoof structures to begin with, he cannot develop sound hooves without lots of movement.  Lots of proper movement with a heel-first landing.  They need more exercise and turnout in an area with lots of room to move.  4.  The failure may occur when the owner wants to start riding the horse barefoot without allowing time for the hoof to "transition" and does not provide proper hoof boots for that in-between time.  In some areas of the country, hoof care professionals will carry with them a supply of hoof boots.  After trimming the hoof, they will determine the proper size boot and fit the boot to the horse.  At the same time, they are helping the owner learn how to use them.  Otherwise, it can be bewildering for the owner who knows nothing about hoof boots to figure out the correct size and how to install the boots.  Unfortunately, in this state and most likely in lots of areas, most professionals do not provide the needed boots and the owner is basically left on their own to deal with that problem.  A boot that is not correctly sized will certainly fail.  People who start losing boots or who find that the boots are very difficult to use will tend to give up on the idea.  Now, there are some very good (user friendly) boots available.  However, you still need to get the correct size.  That is why I have a page on 'hoof boots'.  After losing countless boots myself and trying a lot of different kinds, I feel that I can offer some advice to save other people some of the frustration that I have gone through.  5.  The failure may occur because even after allowing sufficient time and addressing the various issues, the horse is still not able to be ridden over rugged terrain.  Reasons for this are varied.  Depending on the severity of the horse's problems to begin with and whether or not they may have metabolic issues, some horses simply will not be able to be 100%.  This does not mean that they are not better off barefoot.  It just means that if you are to ride them over anything other than yielding terrain, they will probably need boots.  Nailing shoes on them will not fix anything and will just send them backwards.  It may make the owner feel better for a while and the horse may look better for a while, but eventually the horse's original problems will return and will continue to worsen.  Even if you need to use boots on these horses, they are not..in my estimation...a failure.  They have improved and they do live the majority of their lives without the hindrance of nailed-on shoes.  But, like their human owners, they need boots to go riding.  These horses may not be 100% successful, but they are not failures.  Please do not subject them to nails.