Q. I've heard there's a barefoot hoof trim that means you never need shoes.

A. Aw c'mon; theres a kung fu master who can puncture a coconut with his finger but, there's no fingernail trim that will enable me to do that. Below is a frank analysis of the different options.

Regular shoes:

Advantages:

• Many horses perform better and enjoy being ridden more with shoes.
• Protects the hoof wall from excessive wear and chipping.
• Allows the farrier to compensate for conformation irregularities.

Disadvantages:

• Loads the hoof wall more than the sole and frog which is not good for hooves with weak walls.
• Incompetent or neglectful shoeing is probably more damaging for the shod horse than poor trimming would be for the barefoot horse.

Barefoot:

Advantages:

• Allows the resilient structures in the back half of the hoof (heel, bar and frog) to absorb impact.
• Rhythmic pressure on the frog and bars seems to aid the circulatory function of the digital cushion and keep the digital cushion from atrophy.
• May help the horse feel the ground and adjust his gate for the footing.

Disadvantages:

• Some horses will not want to travel on all terrain without shoes.
• Horses may wear the hoof excessively.

Resilient polymer shoes (not including Equithotics which are essentially rubber covered bar shoes):

Advantages:

• Has the advantages of both barefoot and regular shoes to some degree.

Disadvantages:

• Slippery on wet grass.
• More likely to come off, particularly in difficult conditions.
• More expensive.

Selection matrix for resilient shoes:

• Regular shoe with frog pad: most serviceable.
• Half shoe/ half pad: good compromise.
• Eponashoe polymer shoe: closest to barefoot.

Q. Why is there such a large variation in farrier prices?

A. The Bay Area price for full shoeing ranges from about $100 to $220. Every farrier chooses a point on the spectrum of volume versus quality. At $140, Bob Freeman has been discribed as "The most moderately priced of the high quality farriers."

Q. What's with hot or cold shoeing?

A. Every horseshoe has to be shaped to fit the horse's hoof. The hoof must be leveled so that the shoe will fit perfectly. The traditional method for accomplishing both these ends is to heat the shoe in a forge then, shape the red hot shoe using a hammer and anvil. The hot shoe is then held on the hoof to check the fit and burn about a sixteenth of an inch of hoof wall to level it.
With the risk of wild fire and with the improvement of shoeing tools, today's farrier must have more than one way to get the job done right. For shoe size 3 and below, a good farrier can provide precise shoe shaping and fit with or without the use of a forge.
During wet weather, hot fitting is helpful in making the hoof surface less hospitable to bacteria.