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I'm a little surprised at this.
Yes, Falabella ponies are as cute as cute can be ...
But horses, generally, are dumb as posts. Even the smart ones.
They also have a tendency to panic and run first, and start thinking after their slow little brains catch up with the rest of their bodies. This works well for them in the wild, but less so around humans. (Anyone who has ever ridden a horse which shies and bolts knows exactly what I'm talking about here.)
My guess on the cute little shoesies is this ...
Horse hooves are adapted for walking and running on grassy areas.
The reason that we shoe horses (with metal horseshoes) is to keep the hoof intact on a variety of substances. Horse's hooves are apt to split and crack.
They are like our toenails and keep growing ... part of the farrier's job is to keep them trimmed.
Okay, none of this really relates to the cute horsie sneakers ... but, if you have ever tried to walk a horse over a surface other than grass, or that is a little slick ... they tend to scrabble around and fall over. This is not as big a deal with something the size of a Falabella, but with a 16+ hand horse, you got yourself a major problem.
I had a horse fall on me under similar circumstances. He and I both ended up being okay, but it was quite scary.
I wouldn't think that a horse would be a good choice for a blind person also, on account of how sensitive a horse's feet can be ... even minor damage to the frog (soft bit in the center of the underside of the foot) can make the horse lame ... and this includes getting a stone lodged between the wall of the hoof and the frog. It's something you realize fairly soon when you're riding, but might go unnoticed for some time by someone not able to observe the animal's gait.
So ... I guess my shorter answer would be the purpose of the shoes is for traction, protection of the hoof, and to cut down on the "clip clop" noise.
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