Shoeing Tennessee Walkers for Trail Riding?

Question
Hello.  We have 2 Tennessee Walker Geldings and right now they are not shoed.  They have never really been out on trails and we were wondering if we decide to take them out do we have to shoe them?  (Up to now the have only ridden in a soft arena.)


Thanks,
Jane

Answer
Hello Jane,
Thanks for your question. I guess the answer all depends on what your plans are for your walkers. If you ride mainly in the arena and only occasionally want to go on trails, and the walkers are fine without shoes otherwise, I would buy them hoof boots and only put these on for the few times you ride them on trails. If the trails are soft ground or grass, they should even be ok without the boots. These boots are the price of one set of shoes and last forever and are great for trails. If you eventually want them to be trail horses but want to keep them barefoot, then you would have to ride and condition their hooves on the ground they are most often ridden on since hooves have to adapt to rough surfaces over time. This can take some time which means you will not be able to ride wherever you want whenever you want but may be ok on hard ground but not rocks and still need hoof boots occasionally (my mare is barefoot and ok on pretty much any ground but I always still put hoof boots on when I know we are going on difficult, rocky terrain to make her comfortable). If you want them to be trail horses NOW and ride on lots of different terrain and you do not want to transition them slowly to be barefoot trail horses, then I would either shoe them or still ride them in boots. It all depends. The best thing, in my mind, and what you are doing, is to keep them barefoot and only think about shoeing or booting when and If they need it. Since horses spend most of their time in pasture or stall WITHOUT us, I always wonder why they have  to wear shoes for these time just to make it more convenient for us to ride whenever we want and wherever. So I am a devout fan of keeping them barefoot and finding alternative methods (like boots) to protect their feet only for the time they need it.
Hope this was helpful! Please let me know if you need addl. info about boots.

Christine