I tried it with Raf and it didn't work out, but mainly I think due to the EP that I chose, who insisted in taking more and more hood off each time until he was sore and his pastern angle was affected. I hated putting on/getting off the boots too - they were so tight I was worried about straining a pastern joint in my efforts , yet one of them still insisted on pulling off in muddy conditions. Current farrier says he couldn't manage bare foot with what we do, his shoes are worn to thin metal after 6 weeks in summer, it used to be 5 before his arthritis diagnosis. I don't expect Ben would be the same though as I don't think you hack on roads?
We recently tried it with Jack too - he only has fronts but since he is retired we thought we'd take the fronts off. However he got sore so rather than going through all the trauma of conditioning his feet we just had the shoes back on - he's an old boy and probably been shod all his life. He might as well live out his last years in ease and comfort.
Sorry that's not very positive is it? Actually I'm sure it is the best thing in an ideal world, it just didn't work for us, but I wish it had. I think it's important to be open minded about these things. Good luck with Ben.