why do horses where horseshoes?

Answer 1

Why do people wear shoes? 1) to protect their feet 2) to correct some problem with their foot or the way they walk.
Horses are no different. The hooves are a thicker version of your finger nails and can wear quickly or be damaged on hard surfaces. The metal horse shoe protects the hoof from the wear and tear of walking on hard surfaces like concrete, gravel and roads, it also protects the hoof from splitting. The second reason for shoes is to correct some fault in the horses hoof or stride. Some horses are a bit pigeon toed and can bang one leg on the other causing themselves pain and injury so a (properly trained) farrier will modify the horses shoe/s to changing the way it walks so that it isn't clipping itself with its hooves. Similarly some horses don't stand or walk with their hoof flat on the ground and cause excessive wear to part of the hoof and sometimes injuries. Once again the farrier goes to work and modifies the shoe usually build up one side so that the horse is forced to put its hoof down flat and walk properly.
Generally horses on soft terrain such as paddocks don't need shoes unless they have problem feet so you are most likely to see shoes on horses kept in stables / suburban environments.

Answer 2

Not all horse's wear shoes. You may get your horse shod(shoes on) for a number of reasons. Most commonly it's because of the hoof being unbalanced. The coffin bone may be rolling upward or downward causing lameness in a horse. Some horses are tender footed and need shoes for whatever type of riding or pasture condition they have. Alot of people will also get sliding shoes for their horses that compete in reining or cow horse events.
Some farriers even practice natural trimming where they trim your horses hooves to where they are balanced but don't have to have shoes.

What ever the situation, talk to a reputable farrier about what's best for your horse. Always keep your horses hooves trimmed and shaped. Giving your horse a balanced diet will keep his hooves healthier and may prevent foundering or any other sort of lameness.

Answer 3

We put horseshoes on the horses because, just like our shoes, they help to protect the horse's hooves from cracking or splitting

Answer 4

Not only does it protect their feet, it also gives them some protection from the hard ground, such as with show horses. Race horse shoes provide some..albeit little..grip, and some shoes are corrective, to relive stress on a joint, tendon or bone, or to correct or adjust a certain way a horse moves: like a Tennessee Walker.

Answer 5

to protect their feet if they are out riding, some horses that have tough feet do not need shoes... street riding and gravel riding is best to have shoes on and if their feet crack or break or are sensitive they need shoes.....also sometimes if one hoof is deformed or shorter they use the shoes to correct/balance out the feet....also shoes are used for therapudic shoeing with laminitis ..also protection for tenderfootedness...also to help because some get absesses if one leg is longer and it prtoects the frog...horses kept in a herd should not have back shoes and will kick the others and can cause some serious damage....hope this helps...smile

Answer 6

The added weight of a human on the horses' back puts extra stress on their hooves. Horseshoes stop horses from cracking their hooves, which are made from the same stuff as human fingernails.

Answer 7

Riding style:

There is shoes that help the balance footing. Just like there is different shoes for humans for different sporting events (baseball, basketball etc). Each give a specific result for that particular event.

Some help with non sliding, some help with sliding.

I put shoes on my youngest gelding to help his feet as he is naturally tender footed. (Where hard ground and rocky quite hurts him).

I put shoes on my horses when I show them as well to help with any chipping and over wearing down at the heal or toe.

Also, vets/farriers also do corrective shoeing to help angle the hoof wall, help decrease or increase wearing down and to help injuries.

Answer 8

Horse hooves are like extra heavy duty fingernails, and they are susceptible to cracking and splitting, which can become a serious problem if the "frog" - the inner, VERY tender part of the hoof become exposed to wear. As most of us know, a horse with a foot injury is in serious trouble. By the way, Appaloosas, a breed developed by Native Americans, have particularly solid hooves which don't usually require shoes, or Equine Blingblings, as I like to call them.

Answer 9

many reasons. if they are tender footed. corrective, to fix a problem, theraputic reasons, to make the horse more comfortable, riding on the street, or rough or rocky terrain, performanc reasons etc. These are just a few of the whys that we put shoes on our horses.

Answer 10

To protect their hooves from damage since the blacksmith trims them they are vulnerable to injury if a horse walks on hard ground such as concrete or stone.