Alright - talk me off the ledge please . . . things look bleak

Plenty of cases that say otherwise re. barefoot applecart - depends what you call ages, IMO a few months is nothing when you are talking the lifetime of a horse and if they are well managed during transition period.
 
I would def try the BF Rehab. My lami is bf and we never thought he would get better to do even a quarter of want he does now.

Breathe, make a list of what needs to be done first and just go down it.
 
It isn't really a case of readjust (unless the horse has great feet in shoes) it's often a rehab and building soft structures that haven't had a chance to fully develop or have atrophied. This can take a lot of time in some cases but in shoes this development is less likely to happen as hooves are protected by a cast of sorts, rather than stimulated and proteted by non restritive means such as boots or careful selection of surfaces while tender and building up work when appropriate.
 
You have nothing to lose by going barefoot. My older horse has been in shoes for what 17 yrs of his 23 yrs of life, I took him BF nearly three years ago and yes I'm having some wear issues as I've upped his workload, hoping the feet will now up rate of growth ;), but he's as happy as Larry and sound on all surfaces and less inclined to slip/stumble on Tarmac or grass or surface :) he also has had arthritis since he was 15 and farrier advised removing the hinds to help the arthritis and it has worked he is still sound and happy and has had no injections etc just some supplements over the last few years now he's getting on a bit :)

Any youngster I get in future will be kept barefoot if possible, I really rate it :)
 
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