Why do horses wear horse shoes?

Question

At my horse riding school some have some and others don't.

What are they for?

Answer 1

horses wear shoes for the same reason that you wear shoes... to protect their feet.  some horses have more sensitive hooves than others... sometimes horses will have a strong tough hoof and others have a more brittle hoof.  If you have a horse with a sensitive hoof that tends to crack and break or if the horse has had hoof problems like abscess or laminitis or something like that, then the horse will probably need to wear shoes to protect the hoof from any damage.  Some horses go their whole lives without shoes because their hooves are strong enough.  It also depends on how much work you're asking the horse to do... if you have a jumper, it will likely need shoes more than a pony-ride pony would need shoes.  Shoes are just something that we use to help our horse friends... in the wild, horses never wore shoes and never had their feet trimmed by a farrier or anything... their hooves grew out and wore down and tore off and grew more, much like our fingernails.  Some people have more sensiditve or brittle fingernails... some peoples nails break easily and some people have to cut their nails frequently because they grow so easily.  It just depends on the person, just like it depends on the horse.

Answer 2

they protect the horses feet..especially if they are being ridden on pavement or gravel rodes.

Answer 3

to protect them....mainly from laminitis which is usually a death sentence when they get it...see barbaro

Answer 4

Different horses wear shoes ( and different ones ) for several reasons. The Saddlebreds at our stables wear shoes. Our academy/lesson horses wear slightly heavy shoes on their fore feet. Our big national shoe horses wear shoes and plates, wear you can't even seee the bottom ( or sole) of the hoof. The weighted shoes are to help the horses pick up their feet higher, for more action.

A lot of hooves a fragile, and need shoes. Shoeing horses originated from the Middle Ages, when horses were kept in barns with much and creature infested areas. People put shoes on the horses to keep the bottom of the hoof from rotting away, is how the legend goes. However, now a days, if you have horses that are turned out or are kept in poor, wet conditions, bacteria can get between the shoe and the hoof and start to eat away at the hoof. That is why regular maintenace and hoof care is extremely imperitave. If a horse's hooves has lost its white line, it has lost  one of it's barriers against bacteria.

Many shoes may have borium on the bottom of them, or borium nails. On my road pony at home, I have road shoes, and borium nails. Borium is a substance ( metal) that is harder than steel, aluminum, and the road surfaces. It grips the road and keep a horse from slipping around. Other borium shoes are clumps of borium melted on the surface of the shoe. We use this for our draft horses at home; my pony's shoes are small and hard to put on such a small surface.

There are all kinds of shoes. They all have different reasons.

From

If you expolore this site, you can learn sooo much about shoes.

Answer 5

They protect the Horses Hooves from debris when walking. Their feet are very fragile.

Answer 6

Some horses wear shoes due to hoof problems & their feet may crack. If horses have alot of rocks or hard surface they will probably need shoes. If they work hard they will need shoes.