Just looking to get some opinions. I am also getting second and third opinions from farriers in my area. Can a horse be shod, balanced 100% despite conformation? My horse is slightly toed out, which I don't mind a bit and I would rather have than toed in. One farrier tells me that he will never be able to be shod completely balanced because of his conformation. Another farrier tells me that he should absolutely, any horse despite conformation, should be able to be shod balanced. 

Yes. If the farrier is good, the foot can be balanced. With any conformation deviation, the key is to shoe the horse as it stands and not try to "fix" the deviation. A horse that toes out is harder to balance than a horse that toes in because the path of travel is opposite of the deviation. If they toe OUT, that means they wing IN and are more likely to interfere with themselves. Toeing IN means they wing OUT and rarely hit themselves. One that toes IN (pigeon toed) is a better deviation than one that toes OUT. 

Thank you for your input! I've talked to a few farriers and vets  out of Kentucky as I have a few friends there, and in their opinion, they would rather have a horse that toes out. My vet says the same thing. So sometimes I get confused! I'm trying to learn. There is just so much to everything! I appreciate your opinion!

I think it boils down to how your farrier explains it.

If your horse has a conformational flaw, you CANNOT fix it. Their anatomy is what is given to them. However, you can try your best (with shoes) to help the horse as much as you can.

One of my horses is slightly toed IN. His left front is worse than his right front. Based on his xrays, my farrier very slightly offsets his left front shoe to the OUTSIDE. Since my horse is pigeon toed, the lands with more stress on the outside of the hoof, due to his conformation. So by offsetting the shoe slightly OUT, we can help him land/load more evenly. But always realize that when you shift pressure/force in one direction, you are going to influence other things. Yes, it might still be in the horse's best interest to do it, but it's a matter of mechanics.

Same horse also has heel pain in both front feet. So he is also given a 3 degree wedge pad with this shoes. Conformationally, he does NOT need a wedge and therefore my farrier will never put him in anything higher than that. We know that we are just moving stressors to other areas but in the horse's best interest, since he has heel pain, you have to get the stressors off the heel for him. (knowing that you are just moving it elsewhere)

I know I'm probably not repeating any of that nearly as clear as my farrier, LOL, but I think it just might boil down to what your farrier means when he says "balanced".

My horse will never be "balanced". He has issues that his body has created and I can't do anything about that. But I can shoe him to the best of our ability to help him the most for his body and how he travels, to get him the land/load as evenly as we can.

Your horse needs to be shod for their feet and conformation.

If you shoe a horse to be perfect and their conformation and feet do not go that way, you can end up hurting them worse.  We all know what it feels like to wear a shoe that feels funny, so our feet, ankles, knees, etc hurts after we wear them.  Imagine having to run barrels wearing that pair of shoes and living in them daily.  

There are some flaws that can be corrected via shoeing, but not all.  If your horse is sound, you want to keep shoeing them in the manner that keeps them so.