Welfare considerations for horses competing barefoot and how to assess fitness for different surfaces.
Barefoot competition can be a welfare-positive approach for horses with well-conditioned, appropriately maintained hooves on suitable surfaces. However, welfare depends entirely on honest assessment of individual horse foot health and appropriate surface matching. Horses with inadequately conditioned hooves, competing on hard or abrasive surfaces without appropriate protection, experience the same pain as shod horses with poor fitting shoes. Hoof boot provision for challenging conditions allows barefoot management to coexist with competition welfare responsibility. The barefoot philosophy should never override the individual horse's welfare on any given day.