I thought the OP's posted article was very interesting.

I personally think it -should- depend on the overall quality of a horse's feet (and a good farrier can manipulate with or without shoes, obviously), and the horse's job. If your horse is a pasture ornament with no lameness issues - I'd say barefoot. If it has issues, use a good farrier and talk with him (as well as your vet, depending) on what your horse should have. If your horse is competing heavily, you may want shoes to prevent wear and tear on the hooves that comes with a lot of riding, particularly in certain footings, or for safety reasons - corks for grass to prevent slippage.

My horse is still barefoot, mostly because I know I won't show anytime soon (unfortunately), and our footings not bad. However, since we've been going on more and more trail rides, and a lot of roads are gravel, I'm considering putting front shoes.

Just front shoes is also an option, particularly if you're worried about horses kicking each other (or you/people/animals). Front legs seem to take more of the strain (?) and I know most of the lesson horses before I had my own horse only had front shoes (if any).

I guess it depends on:
- quality of horse's feet
- quality of farrier
- horse's job
- health issues
- safety issues
- price (this really shouldn't matter, but practically, a horse that doesn't have shoes costs much less then a horse that does, on all four feet, with cork holes...)

sorry if this has already been typed, I really only read the first page, then this page. I'll come back and read it all later lol.

~cursivenight
To me, horses and freedom are synonymous
FFV MASCOT, 500 Club Mascot, OSL

http://www.torideahorse.blogspot.com