How awful Gnasher

oh gnasher how dreadful! how on earth do you get over something like that? What a nightmare poor poor horses

That is so awful Gnasher. I am so sorry. Not sure how you get over something like that Your poor horses. Were you and your friend hurt too? How about the fool on the bike?

He's paralysed.

I'm fine really, still on antidepressants, but otherwise all the fractures have healed - it's the mental scars that never mend, but you "paper" over them with mental "wallpaper" - hide the cracks, but they're still there. It's nearly 8 years ago, and I consider myself sound enough in mind and body now.

But I digress. We must get back to talk about barefoot horses. I used to have a gorgeous 17 hh dutch warmblood, and would love to have another when I retire. He had fabulous feet, so I would definitely try him without shoes. Particularly on tarmac, they are so much safer, and also on rough ground too I feel - although they don't have toes, Gemma used to "feel" the ground when the going got rough which she never did with shoes on. You still need the farrier regularly of course, but you do save a bit of money on the cost of shoes. I would think if you do some road riding, you would get away with a farrier visit every 12 weeks, maybe a bit more?

If you are entirely off road, then I would think you could go for as much as 16?