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The following quotes come from “The Lame Horse” (1974) authored by
James Rooney, an American vet who has been working with the horse, specifically on the loco-motor system and lameness for many years.

“....the use of horse shoes, that evil piece of metal which we nail to a horses foot.”

“Keep the toe reasonably short and the heel reasonably high: the way the horse wears his hoof if allowed to go barefoot without human intervention”.

“........pastern fractures become a way of life. Once horseshoe contributes because it tends to prevent the foot cutting into the ground, adding to the risk of slipping. I remember years ago, a harness trainer who loved muddy, wet tracks. He was a blacksmith and whenever it rained, he pulled the shoes from any horses he had going that night. If ever there was a sure bet, his horses were sure bets on muddy tracks. Naturally they got much better traction because the foot, without metal cut into the soft going”.

“How do we prevent navicular disease? Let the horse wear his foot naturally barefoot, and then trim him the way he wears. The horse wears his foot the way he does because that is what is mechanically and biologically correct for him. Your eye and ideas are not nearly as good as nature’s”.

“There is no real cure for ringbone......What one does is get the foot back into proper perspective an alignment......If you will pull the shoes and go on with the earlier stages of light training, the horse will tell you how his foot should be.....let the animal wear himself into proper alignment”.