We've all heard this and once upon a time, probably said it ourselves.

What's actually going on in this scenario though?
It is most likely 1, 2 or all of the below:
Diet has a massive affect on the health of our horse's hooves, the tightness of the waterline, their ability to grow new hoof and the quality of their hoof horn. When the diet isn't species appropriate and therefore optimum, its very common to experience little to no growth between trims, as well as chips and cracks through movement.
Movement is essential to the wellbeing of our horses and like diet, is often an overlooked aspect of our horse's care. Restricting movement directly impacts our horse's rate of hoof growth due to lack of stimulation and hoof to ground contact. This also results in poor quality hooves that don't grow healthy new horn between regular trim cycles.
Shoes themselves impede the hoof's ability to function, disturbing the natural wear patterns and weight bearing points, the balance of the hoof and the individual job of each vital part of the hoof. It takes time for the hooves to recover from the damage occurred through shoeing.
Transitioning to barefoot looks different for every horse and can take different amounts of time, with different hurdles to overcome. If you're struggling to transition your horse or you're someone stating the below, ask yourself the reason WHY. There's no such thing as 'just because'.
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