barefoot opinion on corns

["John & Sue Greenall" <greenall@vermontel.net>]

I just looked at a nice horse for a friend, the kicker is that the horse 
has corns.  I must admit, I have had very little experience with 
corns so I thought I would ask the list.  The horse has been 
competed rather successfully in both endurance and CTR.  The 
corns just showed up this season and the vet advised going 
barefoot.  They did.  Corns went away, or so they thought.  Shod 
the horse and they came back.  The vet is saying that this can be 
fixed with proper shoeing, however I know the farrier and he thinks 
the horse needs to go barefoot for 6 months or more before 
shoeing.  This is a major consideration in buying this horse since 
barefoot in the winter in Vermont means no riding the horse, period. 
 So, you barefoot hotshots, will going barefoot fix this and what 
happens when the horse is shod again?  Would a Natural Balance 
shoe make a difference?  
BTW, I rode my mare barefoot (ie. nude, naked, no EZ boots, no 
nothing) on the Florida three day 100 in March and won it.  She 
was super!
John and Sue Greenall
mailto:greenall@vermontel.net
http://www.vermontel.com/~greenall