"My horse can't go barefoot"

I've known for a long time that shoeing is a much easier option for owners than barefoot.

It doesn't surprise me, therefore, that most owners want shoes on their horses.

I'm also used to the enormous ignorance about "barefoot" which we encounter all the time - the typical internet opinion: "rip the shoes off, oh look, my horse is crippled - that must be because it can't go barefoot"...But it doesn't stop it from depressing me when I hear it :-0

These owners already know all about what is "natural" for their horses, and they tell you that the horse is on the best possible diet - fabulous grass 24/7 and a lovely feed supplement in a glossy bag, perhaps with some conditioning mix for when its in work.

They also know that there is some sort of "barefoot trim" - but thats fine - their farrier has done 4 years training so of course he knows all about trimming, and what a bonus, he only charges a fraction of what a UKNHCP practitioner would charge to trim their horse. He tells them, though, that horsey has poor hooves "because of its conformation" - or possibly genetics (maybe its had the hooves "bred out of it"), so although they can try barefoot when its out on soft ground, it will need shoes for work.

They like the idea of barefoot because its cheap AND "natural", but sadly, they aren't able to save money for long, because their horse is so lame without its shoes that they shoe it again a few weeks later.

They are then in the position of being able to say authoritatively that barefoot just doesn't work for every horse, and they know, because they tried it.....