What Is a Horseshoe?

What is a horseshoe?
As the name implies, a horseshoe is a shoe for a horse. Basically, it is a man-made item (traditionally made of metal) that joins the horse’s hooves to protect them from wear and tear over time. A horseshoe is nailed through the wall of the helmet to join it to the palmar surface of the helmets.

The hoof wall is similar to human toenails but much thicker and larger than even the longest toenails. In other words, just like cutting our toenails is painless, horses don’t experience pain while they are “stunned.”

Why are horses “down” in the first place?
The horses were domesticated for the first time thousands of years ago, somewhere around 3,000 BC according to most estimates. As indispensable as an asset such as horses turned out to be, different types of horse owners, such as farmers, riders, and riders, soon realized that the legs of their horses were worn out before they could grow properly.

This was definitely bad news, because with so much riding and pulling, especially on uneven terrain, the wear of the hooves affected the gait, balance, and speed of their horses; It even caused lameness to some extent. To address this serious problem of gait, horseshoes were invented.