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365 Days In Horse Country - The History of Horseshoes


Blog by Michael Stuart Webb | May 8th, 2013


365 Days in Horse Country – The History of Horseshoes


Horses have been wearing shoes for thousands of years.  Experts can’t seem to agree on exactly when the first metal shoe was first fitted, but they are pretty certain that the Romans used a type of hoof boot to protect their horse’s hooves.  They also know that by the time of the Crusades, iron horseshoes were the norm.

At some point during the Middle Ages, horseshoes became a good luck charm.  In some cultures, the shoe is hung on a door with the ends pointing up to catch and hold good luck.  In other cultures, the shoe points down so the luck will pour down into the household.  It’s important that the shoe used be found by the person whose home it graces.

Today, the horseshoe is a topic of controversy in the horse world.  Advocates of the barefoot method of hoof care, which calls for hooves to be trimmed according to the way feral horse hooves wear on their own, maintain that horseshoes are not necessary, and that they are in fact harmful to the horse’s feet because they are unnatural.  Those that believe in shoes for horses say they are necessary for protection.
 

Michael