Dr. Tomas Teskey, DVM:

"Great damage actually begins before a steel shoe even touches the horse's hoof when the hoof is prepared for its application. The natural, life - promoting, energetic shapes of natural hooves are disrespected and disregarded when a farrier flattens the sole of a hoof for the application of a shoe. Flattening the bottom of the equine hoof destroys its ability to perform its vital functions, and nailing a rigid steel ring around the lower edge further ensures its steady deterioration and deformation, as well as provides for a state of disease in the entire horse." ...
"The conductibility of the nails and steel shoe allow concussive forces, vibrations, and sudden extreme changes of temperature to enter the hoof." ...
"Every horse that wears steel shoes suffers some degree of laminar separation." ...
"There are a myriad of other malfunctions that also occur in a shod hoof, and they all contribute to the hoof functioning in a completely different and abnormal fashion and lead to a severe contraction in their size, so much so that when the shoe is removed the horses can no longer walk comfortably on their own feet." ...
"For the presence of steel on a horse's feet, we are able to observe profound damages that occur due to the stagnation of blood within the hoof and the diminished return of blood back up toward the heart through the veins of the lower leg. Shoes interfere with the hoof’s natural blood - pumping mechanism." ...
"I will not ever ask any client of mine to consider shoeing their horse with steel. I have conviction in my belief about this and it is unwavering." ...
"I feel that farriers and veterinarians and trainers and horse people everywhere must learn the truth and tell their clients, friends, and colleagues that shoeing horses damages them and robs them of years of their lives." ...
"Giving a horse his feet back will liberate him and positively change his life, and it will be a liberating experience for you, too, changing your life as you learn firsthand what a powerful tool this knowledge is."

Dr. Chris Pollit, DVM:

In a 1993 video, "Horse Foot Studies", Dr. Chris Pollitt of the University of Queensland, Australia, showed that circulation in the hoof of a shod horse is not supplied with blood in the normal fashion, but through an alternate route.

Dr. Robert Bowker, DVM:

College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University: Physiological Trimming for a Healthy Equine Foot

"Our research has shown that the equine foot is constantly adapting and responding to environmental conditions. Most feet are sculpted by their environment, rather than only by genetic influences...
"It is simply a matter of 'whatever you ride the horse on is what you should bed the horse on.' The foot will adapt to whatever environmental surface the horse is standing on. The problem arises when we bed them on soft surfaces (straw, shavings, rubber mats, etc.) and then expect them to walk/trot/gallop on rocks...
"There are hundreds of barefoot endurance horses that are housed and trained on hard-packed surfaces (hard dirt, gravel, small rocks, etc.) without tender feet. The environment is the major determinant of a healthy foot rather than genetics. Again, it is a matter of common sense, as the foot will adapt to its environment...
"We do know that such a physiological trim as described here and greater movement--rather than stall rest--are critically important to producing a good foot, regardless of the breed of horse...

Horse & Rider, Feb. 2006, "Is Barefoot Better?"
"The blood in horses' feet does much more than provide nutrients to hoof tissues. It also enables the unshod foot to function as a hydraulic system, in much the same way that gel-filled athletic shoes do."
"We need to be trimming hooves so that more of the back part of the foot -- including the frog -- bears the initial ground impact forces and weight."
"Horseshoes provide a much smaller surface area to absorb shock...So if a bare hoof landing after a jump experiences, say, 1,000 pounds of loading per square foot, then with a traditional shoe, there's going to be 2,000 pounds per square foot."

Dr. Hiltrud Strasser, vet. med.:

"The consequences of the lack of up to 80% of shock absorption are widely known as arthritis, tendonitis, etc. The damage done is all the greater when the horse is young, and the still developing coffin bone is handicapped in its development to proper size through shoeing. Shoeing a horse under 3 years results in crippled and deformed coffin bones and steep, contracted hooves." ... "With a reduction of circulation, metabolism at a cellular level is also adversely effected. Excess protein is not used in the building of tissue (i.e. horn) but builds up in the organism (laminitis, etc.)" ... "It is certain that many people would be alive if the horse's hoof, which caught them in the head, had not been shod."

Dr. Hiltrud Strasser emphasized that even the most "proper" shoeing results in: contracted hooves, bruising of corium, increased impact forces, damaging level of vibrations, strain from weight, unnatural change in impact, destruction of hoof wall by nail holes, and disruption in normal metabolism of the hoof.

"In every case, shoeing presents unnecessary harm to the horse -- unnecessary, if the horse's biological needs are met."

Equine Veterinary Journal 1994 26(5) 362-366:

Equine hoof function investigated by pressure transducers inside the hoof and accelerometers mounted on the first phalanx.
P. Dyhre-Poulsen, H.H. Smedegaard, J. Roed, and E. Korsgaard
In a nutshell, this study was performed in order to determine the differences in the forces of impact between a shod hoof and an unshod hoof. In this study, horses were trotted in hand with shoes on, then again trotted in hand after shoes were removed. The shod hooves had greater acceleration force, higher frequency of vibrations, and longer pressure release in the shod trials. The study concluded that the hoof expansion in the barefoot trials allows for more rapid release of pressure within the hoof. The barefoot horse was much better able to reduce the effects of impact, absorb and dissipate more of the forces than a shod foot.

Dr. Ric Redden, D.V.M.:

"The Wild Horse's Foot"
After his study of 1,800 wild horses' hooves in year 2000, including radiographs: "The palmar angles [of the coffin bone] are basically zero [wild hooves] verses three to five degrees for front feet and five to eight degrees for hind feet [domestic hooves] (ref. Verschooten)."
In a nutshell, Dr. Redden is indicating that in wild horse hooves, the coffin bone is ground parallel (the bottom surface is parallel to the ground), which is different from how most domesticated horses are trimmed or shod (with the coffin bone tilted forward, putting a majority of the horse's weight on it's toe rather than dispursing weight over the entire surface of the bone).

The Horse (issue Jan 2003)
"Normally, the angle the coronary band makes with the ground is about 30 degrees."
Here, again, Dr. Redden is supporting the ground parallel coffin bone and angled hairline.

Swiss Cavalry, University of Zurich:

Veterinary Medical Faculty
In 1984, the Swiss Cavalry conducted research into the effect of shoeing. Studies showed that the impact force a shod hoof receives on hard ground is 10-33 times that of an unshod hoof. The vibration in the hoof from the shoe is approximately 800 hz. This level of vibration is high enough to destroy living tissue.

James R. Rooney D.V.M.:

The Lame Horse
"Why in heavens name set standards of performance, standards of excellence that require horrendous feet, thick pads, warhorse shoes and mutilated tails? Natural is beautiful too!" "All too little attention has been paid to that 'natural' foot. That's the way he was made; that's the way he should go."

Ben K. Green, D.V.M.:

"Many lamenesses have been cured by old horsemen simply by removing the shoes and turning the horse out to pasture on soft ground. In severe cases, even sand is better since at every step the horse puts pressure on the frog and the bars and forces the heels of the foot outward, all of this restores the natural circulation and general conformation of the hoof."

Equine Vet J 2003 Mar;35(2):184-9:

Effect of foot balance on the intra-articular pressure in the distal interphalangeal joint in vitro.
Viitanen MJ, Wilson AM, McGuigan HR, Rogers KD, May SA.
This study shows that the pressure in the distal interphalangeal joint is greater when the hoof has high heels.

Scientist, Luca Bein:

University of Zurich, 1983
Comparisons of shod and unshod hooves. According to his study, a hoof shod with a normal metal shoe lacks 60-80% of it's natural shock absorption. "A shod foot moving on asphalt at a walk receives three times the impact force as an unshod foot moving on asphalt at a trot."

Rudolf Zierold:

Institute of Professor Lungwitz in Dresden
Dissertation: The Sensitive and Insensitive Laminae of the corium of the Horse.
Zierold found that, in outwardly appearing healthy, shod hooves, the sensitive laminae showed a significant increase in structural alterations when compared to that of unshod hooves, regardless of the age of the horse. He also stated that the implications of structural alterations in the lamellae of the corium are serious and far-reaching, when one considers that the entire weight of the horse (and far more, at faster gaits or over jumps) is suspended by this connection between laminar corium and laminar horn (ie. the connective layer between the coffin bone and hoof wall). Any pathological alterations from the normal, healthy structure predisposes toward numerous hoof problems (for example, coffin bone rotation, dropped coffin bones/flat feet).

Alexander & Colles:

American Equine Veterinary Journal
Article: "Shoeing--an unnecessary evil"
Alexander & Colles reminded the veterinary community that it is not the lack of strength in the bare hoof that fails, but rather the living conditions of the horse that causes the problem.

Scientist, Bracy Clark:

London Veterinary College
Bracy Clark found that every shoe, no matter how correctly applied, inevitably forces the hoof to contract. He also explained how the books on equine anatomy showed deformed, contracted hooves as sound and healthy, because the authoring veterinarians only studied sick hooves rather than sound hooves.

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The information on this site is not meant to diagnose or prescribe for you. This information is not intended to be used as medical advice and is for informational purposes only. Cheryl McNamee-Sutor is a certified mentor hoof groom, wholistic bare hoof specialist, horse trainer, reiki practitioner, and an educator and distributor of therapeutic-grade essential oils; NOT a licensed doctor or veterinarian. If you are sick, injured or otherwise unhealthy, please consult with a licensed doctor.
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