The problem I had with boots is that none were able to stay on for galloping and jumping.  Which is 2/3 of my sport.  They worked well for walking and some light trotting, but my horse works much harder and faster than that.  I went back to shoes and although barefoot has a lot of conveniences, my horse is much more comfortable now and life is easier.

As far as just doing fronts, horses carry about 60%  of their weight on the front feet naturally, so many do ok with just front shoes.  Often though, once you start asking them to really rock back on their hind end and use those hind legs a lot, they need the shoes to support/balance/protect from excessive wear.

Frizzle:

What?!!! There's no way a horse's walls, bars, sole, etc. would not need trimming after 4 months. I agree with the poster who said the chipping, etc. is most likely due to the hoof being too long and attempting to "self-trim.."

no, absolutely there wasn't excess.  the reason i had him out that time was the horse had jammed a small stick up by his frog and i didn't know how deep it went in (had to use pliers to remove it).  i said while your here you can trim or a least file a bit.  and he said no there's no hoof to trim (there wasn't).  so, it was 3 weeks or so later, i had him out for the trim and there still wasn't alot, he certainly wasn't overgrown (maybe 1/8th inch and not all way around either).  the chips are just minor along the edges from the rocks. and there's no splits.

and the farrier did say they grow slower in the winter. which makes sense from the pattern i'm seeing over the last 2 years.

Frizzle:

Gailforce, can we see pics of the hooves? Certainly, hooves do seem to grow less in the winter. But four months without getting trimmed is a looooooong time. I'd be interested to see how they look.

i was thinking that, but, today i am computer hell and so i didn't want to say, i'll put up pics if i wasn't going to follow through.  i am going to try though.

these aren't very good pics.  just had my phonecamera. 

 1 and 2:  back and left.  3, 4, 5:  front and right

he had his feet trimmed may 2 and previously 15 wks before in november.  also, i did have the farrier out in between those dates and he said they didn't need to be done. (i thought just a minor filing.  a little primp you know)

sorry they're not very good pics (i don't know why some pics came out small and some large, they are all from my cameraphone).  but you can see, especially in the last pic that the toes are being worn down very flat and square

Okay, Okay...

Here goes nothing.

Yes, all horses can go barefoot. Yes, some climates are easier than others. Yes, sometimes it just takes time to adjust.

HOWEVER sometimes it is better to take the route that some here have chosen and just stick with shoes. Those cases where the horse is so uncomfortable that it would mean laying them up for more than a year and the use of boots at all times until the horse is more tolerant of being barefoot make barefoot impractical. Wet conditions are very difficult to maintain hooves in.

For the question of what kind of trimmer to use. Drumroll please... A farrier who actually balances the foot correctly does so in a trim or shoeing. Unfortunately, it is easy for someone to put out a shingle saying they are a farrier and have no clue about what they are doing. I use a regular farrier to do my horses' feet who are barefoot and have 0 problems because he is knowledgeable and capable. I have had barefoot trimmers who never took the time to actually learn about their trade who have crippled horses. It goes both ways - the key is if it's working, it's working, if it's not, it's not.

As far as length of time between trims - I have several horses that are NEVER trimmed (going on 5 years for the one) - they live out in a pasture that has grass, dirt, rocks, mud, and wetlands, and they move around enough that they don't need to be trimmed. I have another horse who HAS to be trimmed every 3-4 weeks no matter what kind of terrain I ride her on. I have a few others that can go 2.5-3 months between trims. And then there's my broodmare that has 4 shoes. They all have gorgeous, balanced feet. Every horse is unique, every horse has its own tolerances.

Boots can change the way the horse moves and stress joints and muscles, we have a horse here that when he throws a shoe we can't even put an easy boot on because he interfers and has to change how he moves which then creates problems in his shoulders or stifles (depending on whether it's front or back).

 As to the actual question - we've had success with the Old Mac G2's - I recommend using the socks under the boots - but they are pretty clunky for a horse that is a more delicate structure or moves closely with its legs.

Gailforce,

Yes, it's a bit difficult to tell from  the pics, but I have to say that they look much better than I expected! On the last pic, I  see some flare that needs to come off. And it would really help if you filed them  every now and then to keep the shape. Better pics would be great if you can get them., but overall they don't look too bad. 

Does your horse get a lot of turn-out? More movement=more hoof growth, so I wonder if that's a factor (?). I would also look at his diet. Although I guess it's probably nice only having to pay for a few trims a year! I walk Salem over concrete quite a bit, but his hooves don't wear down ( I wonder if that's because he has a mustang roll -- ??).

Now, if we could get MIssyclare to chime in, we would be set -- she's much more of a "hoof guru" than I!