#shoeing

OMG, I wrote a super long reply to this, and then my tumblr app ate it. Now I’m safely on a computer, so here we go again... I’m going to break your questions up and move them around a little, forgive me. Q: When did the practice of putting shoes on horses start? A: I’m not 100% sure about this, but the history of horse shoes is very, very long, and probably dates back to the earliest intersection of domesticated horses and metal forging. Q: Why do horses wear shoes? A: The primary reason is to simply protect the horses’ hooves from rough terrain so that they are sound to ride or work on hard or rough surfaces.  Another reason is to enhance their gaits for horse showing or performance reasons. I don’t think this is at the heart of your question so I won’t get into it, plus it makes me angry, and I don’t want to engage in a rant that no one even asked for. XD The other reason is for protective purposes when a horse is sick or injured. Q: Can you ride a horse without them having horse shoes? A: The short, but incomplete answer, is yes! The long answer is really, really long, so buckle up. Or stop reading now if you already know everything that you wanted to from the short answers, above. :) Wild horses obviously don’t require shoes to get around without pain, even in rough, desert, and rocky conditions, horses can thrive without human management. Of course, wild horses are both genetically different (due to the effects of selective breeding over time in domestic horses) and they have a different lifestyle. Many domestic horses are stabled, and even domestic horses kept in pasture conditions generally live much differently than they evolved to live, which is in dry grasslands where they traveled many miles each day to forage for food. The hoof is a feat of evolution. I won’t get into what a fascinating mechanism it is because it has nothing to do with the story you’re writing... I know that without knowing anything about your story... but what IS relevant is that the horse’s hoof is constantly growing, like a fingernail. That’s because it’s meant to wear naturally on the surfaces the horse travels in the above-mentioned miles of walking per day that a horse would have engaged in during a typical day in the wild. The hoof has a lot of parts, but the exterior parts which are relevant here are called the hoof capsule, and consist of the wall, the hard external “shell” of the hoof, and the sole and frog, which are softer structures on the bottom of the hoof. The sole, frog, and the wall are designed by evolution to work together to bear the horse’s weight, but the sole and frog are toughened by the browsing/walking behavior to form a kind of callus in the wild. In captivity, the more sedentary horses do not necessarily develop this callus. Therefore, they become sensitive to certain conditions, like you might be if you normally wear shoes, but tried to walk on gravel in bare feet. Additionally, horses’ hoof capsules are constantly growing (again, like a human fingernail). In wild horses, this constant growth is counteracted by the constant wear on the hoof wall and sole from the horses’ daily movements. In captivity, that wear does not occur. To keep horses’ hooves from growing too long and impacting their soundness, farriers, sometimes called blacksmiths, trim and file the horses’ hooves regularly, whether or not they are nailing on horse shoes afterward. But, this abrupt trimming back of a growing, living hoof can create sensitivity that the constant wear of life in the wild does not. The shoe is connected, usually by nails but sometimes with adhesive, to the wall, the outer rim of the bottom of the horse’s hoof, and elevates it so that the horse doesn’t make contact with the ground with its more sensitive sole and frog, allowing the horse to move over rough and hard surfaces more comfortably. Because of the way horses move and bear their weight, they tend to be much more sensitive on the forelimb than the hind limb, so while many people routinely shoe their horses on all four feet, just as many people who keep their horses shod will only shoe the front. Some horses are less sensitive on their sole and frog than others, especially if they are in a healthy trimming cycle (fairly frequent and with a knowledgeable farrier) and have good sole depth. This literally refers to how much semi-hard sole material exists on the bottom of the horse’s foot. Some have a lot more than others, which can affect their sensitivity. Some horses have harder, thicker hoof walls than others, which also impacts their dependence on shoes. And many horses aren’t worked on particularly hard or rough terrain, which also impacts their need for shoes. I have two horses, and I travel with both of them so I like to be prepared for various types of conditions. But I find that one of my horses has impervious feet; she is completely comfortable “barefoot” (without shoes) unless we’re crossing really sharp gravel. My other horse always wears shoes on his front feet only. I tried for a long time to make him less dependent on his shoes, but I finally gave up and decided that if it makes him happy and comfortable, I don’t mind having them put on. There are people who are adamant that putting shoes on horses is bad for them, and others who will scoff at someone for not shoeing all four feet all year round.

Tesoro used to be pretty squirrely about all the handling, noises, and smells that came along with a full set of shoes - for awhile we had to split fronts and backs into separate sessions so he wouldn’t get overwhelmed. Now he stands politely for his full set of four with only a little bit of baby-fidgeting and some worried faces, but almost no shenanigans! He even allowed his feeties to be polished with the fancy new buffing device! Thanks go out to my farrier for always being patient with this sensitive child! He has really helped to build his confidence and trust!

Ichabod, Ichabod by Cowboy Photo

Well despite my protests to Donal that modern Blacksmiths don't shoe horses he insisted he wanted to make a horseshoe....in fact he made quite a job of it on His first go at it to. #horseshoebend #shoeing #horseshoes #hotmilkforge #blacksmithproject #irishblacksmith (at Hot Milk Forge)

Great question! The short answer is that while shoes are nailed on, and if a shoe is removed (or the horse “throws” it, which means that the shoe is jerked off or falls off for one of various reasons) then there are holes left over from the nails, yes. Sometimes pieces of the hoof are also pulled off with the shoe, such as if the shoe gets lodged somewhere and is pulled off with force, because the hoof material is usually much more fragile than the nails. BUT, they aren’t permanent at all :) This is because the horse’s hoof capsule is constantly growing, like a fingernail. In the wild, the constant growth is counteracted by a wild horse’s constant movement, as they travel miles and miles per day foraging for food. The horse shoe nails are placed in the hard outer hoof wall (if a farrier or blacksmith makes a mistake and nails through the sensitive interior of the hoof, the horse can be very badly hurt; this is sometimes called “hot nailing,” though with a trained farrier it’s a rare error). Because the shoe prevents the hoof from wearing, the hoof wall grows out over the course of several weeks, until the horse’s feet are considered “long” (again, think of your fingernails, which you probably trim as they get longer). When the horse’s feet are long, the farrier comes and removes the shoes, then cuts and files back the “long” part of the hoof capsule. In so doing, the part of the wall that has the nail holes is generally trimmed off altogether, or in a shorter cycle where the horse’s hoof hasn’t grown as much, the trim at least results in the old nail holes being well out of the way of where the new ones need to go. Depending on how fast the horse’s hooves grow, which depends on the individual horse, time of year, the horse’s diet, and the owner’s willingness to let the feet grow noticeably long before the shoes are removed and “reset,” this shoeing “cycle” lasts between five and ten weeks. Also, a quick note that this cycle is similar for horses that are not shod. Because their hooves are also growing faster than they can generally wear them off through movement, given the lifestyle of a domestic horse versus a wild one, they generally need trims at the same interval even if they aren’t wearing shoes. It’s very common for people to “pull the shoes” and only trim their horses during, say, the winter, or another season when they’re not riding/working them as often or at all. Versus keeping them shod “year round.” I hope this answers your question! I shared some more information about hooves here.