If there’s one thing about which horse owners and managers are really, really passionate and opinionated, it’s whether to shoe horses or let them go barefoot. And, as 19-year-old Dorado ever-so-tactfully removed one of his shoes last week, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands to consider my position on the question at hand. And at long last, I came to the following conclusion: As much as shoes drive me crazy at timesÑespecially when I’m trudging around a pasture in less-than-comfortable winter temperatures looking for said shoe and the attached pad which, of course, will cost extra to replaceÑbut some horses just need them.

When he came to me nearly six years ago, Dorado had been barefoot for several years. But, during those years, he’d never been asked to do any more than stand in a field. So when we put him back to work I decided to see if he could remain barefoot É and quickly realized it probably wasn’t going to fly. Although he has pretty decent feet for a Thoroughbred, it was pretty clear he needed some extra support to successfully navigate the varied terrain on which eventing takes place, based on his short and choppy stride coupled with the fact that his front hooves started chipping like crazy once he started jumping. Our farrier tacked on a pair of front shoes and things have been going well