I'm feeling torn and a bit lost right now. My beautiful 11-year-old showjumper, who's my absolute star (despite him being extremely opinionated and difficult to ride!), has always been barefoot since I got him 4 years ago. However, recently, he's been getting splits in his hoofs, leading to a concerning abscess issue. He had an abscess a couple months ago and took so long to recover and I don’t want to risk that again just after recovering…

The decision to put shoes on him was made today by my farrier, who has been inconsistent and unreliable for the past 6 months, often rushing through my horse's hoof care. This sudden change has left me feeling conflicted. Seeing him with shoes on now feels strange and unsettling.

Although my farrier has a lot more knowledge and does the shoeing for a lot of the big riders in my area, I don’t know how to feel about this.

Any advice on how to approach this situation or opinions on barefoot vs. shod horses would be greatly appreciated