The great barefoot experiment is underway.

I had planned to pull Freedom's shoes this winter and let the nail holes on his hoof grow out. In the spring we had a lot of mud and the wet/dry cycling did not help his TB feet. Although the new growth looks good, keeping shoes on him has been tricky and has required careful management and patching.

Freedom, however, seemed to have a different plan. I mentioned that he'd pulled one of his front shoes while out hunting a few weeks ago. In some regards, the news was good: other than the fact that there wasn't enough wall left to nail on a shoe, his hoof looks pretty good. There was no bruising, no soreness, and no excessive chipping.

I was not ready to shelve the hunting season after a mere half of a hunt, so the next week I strapped on a hoof boot (Easyboot Epic) and off we went. Yes, I know that lots of people find the idea of riding in one boot and one shoe heretical. I read about people who don't ride at all if their horse loses a shoe and wouldn't dream of galloping cross country. If I did that, my riding time would be severely compromised. Given that Freedom didn''t seem to suffer any ill effects from wearing one boot and one shoe, I didn't let it slow me down.

However, last week, he had another loose shoe, this one behind. When I called my farrier she shook her head and suggested that we pull his shoes now, while the ground is still soft. So we did.

Freedom has now been barefoot for nine days. This is a first for him and so far he seems quite comfortable. The transition is going much better than I expected (knock on wood).

My first move after the farrier left was to race down to the SmartPak store in Framingham. Their clearance section is amazing and they often have hoof boots. Sure enough, I left with a pair of Cavallo Simple boots to try -- at 25% off. While the boots look clunky to me, they fit him well and he didn't seem to care one bit.

The Simple boots are aptly named: they are remarkably easy to put on (unlike the Easyboots which can be challenging). There is no hardware, only velcro closures. You can put them on in five minutes. I'd tried this brand with my Trakehner (I often used hoof boots on him behind) but his rear hooves were too oblong. These seem to work better on rounder hooves.

The next two days I rode him lightly in a field with the boots in front and bare hooves behind. There was no stumbling or tripping and no change in his gaits.

Sunday, I took him to a hunter pace. He was equipped with the Cavallo boots in front and Easyboot Epics behind. I wanted to replicate hunting conditions without being at an actual hunt in case there were problems. The footing was a mix -- some soft fields, some rocky, rooty trails, and a good amount of mud.

I'm glad that I did a trial run because we had mixed success. The first half of the pace went very smoothly. Then going around a corner, Freedom slipped badly. I was pretty sure that we were both going to end up on the ground but somehow he got his feet back under him and I stayed on. I guess the Epics didn't offer enough traction. He managed to lose both boots completely as he scrambled around trying to regain his footing.

So, we left them by the side of the trail and went on. There was no more slipping with the Cavallos up front and bare hooves behind. We even jumped a few small fences.

I wasn't thrilled to ride him that far without hind shoes but his hooves held up well. He definitely has some chipping but nothing severe and he never showed any signs of tenderness during or after the ride.

The Cavallo boots held up better than I expected. They didn't shift at all and they didn't hold too much water (they have drainage holes in the bottom). I was concerned that the muddy conditions combined with how high the boots come up (over the coronary band), that they would rub, but they didn't at all.

Encouraged, I hunted on Tuesday. The territory is one of my favorites -- it's not too far from home and the footing is generally good. I decided to go with front boots only. I think that if I try hind boots again I'm going to look for a pair with minimal hardware because I'm worried about Freedom catching himself in front with the buckles.

The hunt was great. The field was small so it was easy to see the hounds and they were spot on. Freedom was pretty bouncy and didn't want to stand at times but he was rock solid around the hounds, even when a few went right under his legs.

The Simple boots worked really well. Once again they stayed right in place. I got a few funny looks but I explained the Freedom was wearing his sneakers, rather than his shoes!