lamness in the past

Question
My horse has had lamness in his right knee in the past. Front shoes seem to help thise problem but I would really like him to be barefoot in the winter and still be ridden twice a week. What is your advice about this?

Answer
Hello Erica,
first, my apologies for not having responded earlier. I was travelling and just got back.
Your question is not straight forward to answer since there are quite a few things to consider when deciding whether going barefoot is right for your horse. Let my try to help you make an informed decision.
1) The first and most important question is why he was lame in the front and whether the shoes really helped this lameness or whether the shoes co-incided with him (her) lameness getting better anyway (the cause and effect thing...). Did the lameness go away immediately after shoeing (say within a few days or so) or did the lameness get better after a while with shoes. Often, shoes are put on and at the same time the horse would have gotten better anyway, versus therapeutic shoeing that was done to really make a difference like correct or help with a misalingnment of the leg, etc. To know the answer to this question will be most important since it will determine whether your horse really needs shoes to prevent further lameness and whether what caused this lameness in the first place was really rectified by the shoes. Unfortunately, there may not be a straight forward way to tell except to ask your farrier/vet or whoever decided on this course of action to explain to you in detail what the cause was and what was done with shoeing in addition to just putting a shoe on.
2) If I read your question correctly, it seemed like your horse was barefoot in the past and then had shoes put on when he developed this knee lameness? if this is the case, how often was he trimmed and did the horse have regular foot care? Also, how old is your horse and was it really lameness in the knee or elsewhere (just trying to find out how shoes could have helped with knee lameness since shoes produce more concussion that is usually bad for joints but if shoes corrected previous trimming/movement issues or if the lameness was in the foot and not the knee this would make sense).
3) Do you have access to a farrier that does good barefoot trims (not just trims that are the same as what you would do for shoes just leaving the shoes off) AND are you willing to have your horse trimmed every 4-6 weeks during the winter (and will you farrier come out regularly for "just a trim"??). If you want to find out whether your horse can go barefoot during the winter (and possibly also for the rest of its life) is to take the shoes of and get quality trims done. This way you can see whether the knee lameness will come back. You should also ask your farrier why s/he thinks your horse needs shoes.
4) Assuming there is no obvious reason that you can find out for why the shoes were put on and there was not serious therapeutic shoeing done, consider taking the shoes off, get a good trim and buy your horse some hoof boots in case he is a bit ouchy on hard ground (to be expected and not to be confused with knee lameness). These boots are great and you can do ring-riding, same minor jumping and also lots of cantering with them on...you just need to find the right boots for your needs. The advantage of them is that you only put them on when needed and for the rest of the time, your horse can be barefoot!
5) You and most importantly your horse will be the judge of whether no shoes is the right thing to do. Not wearing shoes is always the best option if there are not corrective measures needed to help with arthritis and/or conformation issues to keep a horse sound. However, these can also be corrected without shoes, it just takes longer and does require very regular and expert hoof care and barefoot riding horses do require a different trim than what is often done with horses that have shoes pulled and then are turned out. Its not as simple as just pulling the shoes.
So, if you think about all these points and are willing to try and observe your horse closely (and maybe consider going barefoot all year long), it may be worth a try...but do ask your farrier and vet first to make sure that the shoes are not correcting some critical thing...if they are just regular shoes, your horses hooves are otherwise fine in balance and shape and your farrier tells you that s/he is not doing anything special to his feet, then this may be doable!

Good luck!
Christine