I have concerns about things that are extreme. The belief that horseshoes and nailing shoes onto the horse's hooves can bring about the death of a horse seems like an extreme idea to me. Granted, a "hot nail" run into the quick can cause founder or a deadly infection and shoes left on for 6 or 8 months will distort and damage hooves - but these are rare happenings with skilled farriers. I've been an advocate for leaving horses barefooted since 1973 when Jim Keith taught hoof care workshops for my students at Fox Fire Stable in Tucumcari. I'm also open minded enough to know that sometimes, a shoe (and I love composite or rubber ones) needs to nailed on properly to humanely support or protect the horse's hoof. Glue often just does not work (and how toxic might it be against the porous hoof surface?) and boots rub and suffocate the hoof and leg when left on continuously. I once nailed shoes on backwards on a gelding who was totally immobile from pain (something I learned from a friend) and no bar shoe was available. He walked away! and after he healed, could go without the shoes again. The hoof needs contact with Earth energy and the ability to expand. Turning a horse out barefooted can show you how his hoofs need to be trimmed. Using copper (Yin/yielding) instead of steel or aluminum (Yang, rigid) for gardening tools grows healthier gardens; maybe copper coatings could help horses. I just feel that reinventing the world is sometimes redundant and just improving our day to day caretaking can have the biggest effect. Keep horses barefooted!! Yes. And help them anyway you can when they are compromised. Don't hate farriers.
