Why don't horses in the wild need horseshoes? Are horseshoes really a burden for horses?

Nowadays, young people like to watch the following types of stress-relieving videos the most. The first is to watch the crew "clean barnacles" from turtles, and the second is to watch people trim the nails of horses and put on horseshoes. According to everyone's response, after watching this kind of video, they often feel relaxed and happy.

Watching videos of horse hoof repair has become a popular hobby among young people today

However, while relieving stress, people often think about this question: horseshoes are essentially something made by humans and imposed on horses. So is it a burden for horses? Why don't horses in the wild need horseshoes?

Next, let’s take a look together!

U-shaped horseshoe used to nail on the horse's hoof

The Existence and Development of Horseshoes

Horses are one of the closest animal companions of humans, because humans have domesticated horses as far back as 5,000 years ago. During this long period of time, in addition to learning how to get along with horses, people have also learned how to make the most of them. Horseshoes are the best evidence of this.

Another name for horseshoes is horseshoes, and sometimes people also call them horseshoe nails. It is essentially an iron hoof-shaped object made by people, and then firmly nailed to the horse's hoof through certain procedures, making it a "shoe" on the horse's hoof and playing a role in protecting the horse's hoof.

Horses need shoes, too

According to archaeological discoveries, horseshoes appeared relatively early, and they were often seen in ruins dating back to the 1st century BC. Many scholars believe that horseshoes actually existed during the Celtic period and were widely used during the Roman period.

It is worth mentioning that the original horseshoes were not what we see now. They often appeared in the form of U-shaped clips or horse shoes. Take the U-shaped clip as an example. It is essentially a fiber or leather product that people use to wrap around the horse's hoof.

Early horseshoe from the mid-first century AD

Although these first-generation hoof protection equipment have a certain protective effect, they are easy to wear and difficult to fix, making them difficult to use in many environments. For example, smooth horse shoes made of metal can easily cause horses to slip when walking on wet ground, and it is difficult to find a "fulcrum".

Because of this, people later improved the horseshoe from the original "set-type" to one that was fixed with nails. In this case, the earliest archaeological evidence of horseshoes appeared in 1653, when archaeologists found an iron horseshoe with nine nail holes in the tomb of a Frankish king who died in 481 BC.

Most horseshoes today are fixed with 7 nails.

Later, with the development of agriculture and transportation, horseshoes appeared more and more frequently. In this process, the appearance of horseshoes and the number of nails on them also changed to a certain extent. In short, horseshoes became a very widespread existence under such promotion. In addition, horseshoes also played a huge role in wars.

Of course, although the horseshoe has undergone several improvements and the number of nails on it has been reduced as much as possible, it is still very heavy in essence, which does not seem to be a good thing for horses that like to "Run".

Iron horseshoes from the 11th to the 19th century

So, are horseshoes a burden to horses?

Are horseshoes a burden?

From the origin and development of horseshoes, we can see that it is something created by humans and imposed on horses. Therefore, many people think that the act of nailing horseshoes on horses actually violates the laws of nature, just like many people now put shoes on cats and dogs, which is essentially to meet their own needs.

This is indeed the case. Humans nail horseshoes on horses in order to make them serve us better. Why do we say that?

The master is shoeing the horse

Because horses played an important role in people's lives at that time, they had to undertake a lot of transportation tasks every day. Heavy goods may not be able to crush the horses in a short time, but carrying goods back and forth on the hard stone road is a torture for the horses.

Although the cuticle on the horse's hoof looks very thick and even needs to be trimmed daily, in fact, after the horse's hoof comes into contact with the hard ground, this thick cuticle will soon fall off, and the horse will not be able to walk normally without the cuticle. At this time, its hoof looks like it is still there, but in fact it has lost the ability to walk.

A deformed horseshoe without the protection of a horseshoe

In this case, people had to resort to the last resort of nailing horseshoes on horses to protect their hooves, allowing them to walk on hard roads for a long time and improve their endurance. In addition, the existence of horseshoes also helps horses to grip the ground more firmly when walking on smooth ground, so that they will be more stable during transportation or pulling carts.

As the horseshoe maker Watt said: horseshoeing is a sin because it will hurt the horse; but at the same time it is an inevitable sin because if horseshoes are not nailed on the horseshoes under human breeding, the horses will soon lose their hooves.

Horseshoes are the best solution in desperate situations

It is not difficult to see that the horseshoe itself exists to meet human needs. When the horse serves humans, it is not a burden. If the horse still lives in the wild and can gallop freely on the grassland, then the horseshoe is a burden to it.

It is worth mentioning that sometimes when people criticize horseshoes, in addition to pointing out that they are imposed by humans, they also believe that the process of nailing horseshoes will cause horses to feel abnormal pain.

The iron nail that penetrates the horse's hoof

For this point, it is necessary to clarify that the horse's hoof is composed of two layers, namely the hard stratum corneum and the living stratum corneum. The lower part is the hard stratum corneum, which is about 2 to 3 cm thick. This hard stratum corneum is essentially the same as human nails, or you can think of it as the protruding part of your nails.

Therefore, when people shoe horseshoes, they are actually grinding and hammering on the painless nails. In essence, the horse does not feel pain in this process, just like you do not feel pain when you use a tack to penetrate the protruding part of your nail.

Horseshoes don't actually hurt the horse's feet

At this point, many people may wonder, why don't wild horses need horseshoes when they can walk and run longer distances than domestic horses? Will wild horses without horseshoes face the risk of stratum corneum shedding?

Why don't horses in the wild need horseshoes?

First of all, because of the different living environments, the ground that the horse hooves of the two species touch is also very different.

There is a big difference between domestic horses and wild horses.

The roads that domestic horses walk on are mostly very hard, and sometimes there are some sharp pebbles, which can easily cause damage to the horses' hooves. However, it is different for horses living in the wild. They walk or run on soft grass more often. In this case, the friction generated by the former is greater, making the wear of the horses' hooves more obvious.

The rougher the contact surface, the greater the friction

Secondly, the burdens of life that the two bear are different. Domestic horses need to carry goods or even pull carts for their owners. In this process, they need to bear a significantly greater load. A large load means that they need to exert greater strength to run, which invisibly increases the friction.

Wild horses don't need to consider so much. They often have nothing on their bodies and just need to run happily in the natural environment according to their own wishes. In this case, the natural cuticle on the horse's hoof is enough for them to use, and even if it is worn, the cuticle can grow out quickly for their continued use.

Pony running happily on the grass

Of course, wild horses also have their own troubles. When they enter old age, they are not troubled by the shedding of their cuticles, but by the excessive growth of their cuticles.

This is because the soft grass has limited effect on the cuticle of the horses' hooves. In the past, they could rely on a lot of exercise to keep the wear of their hooves within a normal range. But when they get old and can no longer run, the growing cuticle becomes a "burden".

People will help ponies with overly long cuticles to "cut their nails"

You know, too thick a cuticle is not good for horses, because it is equivalent to running with "high heels". In this case, the running ability of wild horses will be significantly affected, and nature's "survival of the fittest" will play a role at this time, eliminating old horses from the population.

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