Thank you 'Fred'. I totally agree! That is something that we have always looked at on our horses, big or small. We raised full sized Appies for years (my parents did) and they had excellent feet, but as my Mom stated, this is also rough country and to put in a 12 hour day here on horseback working cattle or checking waters out on the ranch, there is no way that ANY horse will get by without shoes.
My Dad had a 1/2 Mustang mare that had the thickest hoof walls of any horse we've had. He was called late one evening to drive cattle (this is when we lived in Eastern Oregon for a short time) All the shoes had been pulled off the mares, as no one was expecting to have to move cattle. There was no light or time to shoe, as Dad had to leave at dark the next morning, so he took Candy, as she had the best feet, to ride that day.
They came in at dark that night, and Dad was walking. The sandpaper effect of the lava beds on Candy's feet ground them off to the quick. He got off and led her home, so as not to put any more pressure on her feet than he had to, and was really angry with himself about it. That horse was sore for days after.
Yes, each horse is different, and folks need to use common sense about it. My Mom's Arabian didnt have crappy feet, and had run barefoot all her life on a ranch. When she came here from South Dakota (grasslands), she had to have shoes because her feet were not used to the harder ground and desert here and she was gimpy. Over a period of time, her feet did toughen up, but it took a few months- even with shoes on.