Do all racehorses wear horsehoes?

Question

Do all racehorses wear horsehoes?

Answer 1

Yes, generally the shoes are lighter than most normal horseshoes, but with the wear and tear on their feet they need shoes.

Answer 2

Yes they do.

Answer 3

Racehorses wear racing plates, as opposed to shoes,  They are essentially the same thing but are made of aluminimum so that they are lighter.  Most racehorses will have a set of plates fitted about two or three days before a race and they will be removed, probably, the following day.

Some horses have poor hoof quality - sometimes due to bad nutrition in early life and sometimes down to a past infection, etc and these horses will wear glue on shoes because the hoof wall tends to crumble when a nail is placed through it.

A horse's hoof is like a human fingernail - there is no feeling in it unless you file too far down.

Answer 4

Not mandatory, but most do.