All of my horses are barefoot until it becomes necessary to shoe them. Why??? because it costs me less money. If however, I have a horse that would perform better or feel more comfortable with shoes on, then by golly, they'll get shoes. This new "barefoot" trend (and I'm talking the method that they need trimmed every 2 or 3 weeks) has done some good with horses that had severe foot problems but all in all, just your regular 6-8 week trims are perfectly fine and a whole lot less straining on the pocket book.