21
Sep
Take the same mustang out of the wild and stall him like any other horse and he will also need hoof protection. Or you can glue on horseshoes instead of nailing them which some horse owners feel is more humane.
Shoes offer protection and stability and often can provide relief from some kinds of lamenessin some instances navicular disease can be made less painful with proper corrective shoeing.
What do wild horses do without horseshoes. Wild horses and their cousins like Przewalskis horse zebras and wild asses do not need shoes even though they often live in harsh punishing rocky environments. This is because they were formed by a natural co-evolution with their environment over hundreds of thousands of years. While injury or living in an unsuitable environment can cause a wild horses feet to be damaged thus risking that individuals.
Wild horses usually tend to travel constantly covering great distances but do so at a slow pace - in that case the hooves are naturally worn in a smooth gradual and even manner. Domesticated horses however often travel at a much faster pace and do so in inconsistent bursts separated by periods of complete idleness which makes the wear unnatural and destructive to the whole structure. Wild horses dont need horseshoes unlike domestic horses.
Domestic horses may also wear shoes to stop the weight of their human riders damaging the hooves. It is a form of protection where the downward pressure on each step goes into that metal plate and not the surface of the hooves. The reason wild horses can exist without shoes is twofold.
Firstly they do not work as hard or as often as a horse with an owner. Therefore they wear away their hooves slower than the hooves grow. Secondly they do not have anyone to look after their well being so if they have an injured frog or another situation where a shoe would be put on an owned horse they have to deal with it.
Not all horses need shoes some do very well with just a trim. Shoes offer protection and stability and often can provide relief from some kinds of lamenessin some instances navicular disease can be made less painful with proper corrective shoeing. Some horses are fine without shoes.
I have a large eventing pony who is barefoot and her feet are in great shape. Keep in mind even if your horse doesnt need shoes it will need to be trimmed every 58 weeks depending on the horse. Horses in the wild arent pulling carriages or plows and therefore dont need the additional protection against wear on their hooves from the extra exertion.
Additionally horseshoes on horses is actually a BAD idea if that horse is going to be running on pavement or cobblestones because of the harder impact and shock from the metal on stone. Its simply something we developed in order to. Wild horses dont need horseshoes due to the environment and terrain they live in.
In the USA the majority of wild herd live out West where the landscape is more arid and rough. Because of the long distances the herds travel as well as their hooves being worn. Sliding plates are used exclusively on the hind feet of reining horses to help them perform those super-impressive sliding stops where the horse hunches back on his haunches and skids to a halt with his hind feet sliding along the ground.
Ordinary shoes create more friction with the dirt and thus put more concussion on the horses legs also not allowing for the same amount of slide. Wild mustangs obviously do fine on rough rocky terrain without shoes but they are well conditioned to that environment. Take the same mustang out of the wild and stall him like any other horse and he will also need hoof protection.
Do horses like their horseshoes. I dont know that theres a good way to answer that. Ive never seen a horse.
Wild horses dont need horseshoes because they genetically have hard tough hooves through natural breeding. They also harden their feet naturally when traveling and they arent used for a specific purpose that would require a specialized shoe. Wild horses have naturally more durable feet.
Through the evolutionary process horses with sound feet survived. There are options besides traditional horseshoes if your horse is suffering from sore feet. You can put hoof boots on your horse for temporary protection only while riding.
Or you can glue on horseshoes instead of nailing them which some horse owners feel is more humane. Those who are against shoeing horses feel they can often do more harm than good. A horse with a damaged or brittle.
The old proverb from the 18th century No foot no horse still rings true today as without healthy hooves the horse is unlikely to remain sound. The foot performs vital functions. It supports the weight of the horse absorbs shock provides grip and helps pump blood up the horses leg so we must look after the feet properly.
Horseshoes are designed to protect horses hooves the same way shoes protect our feet. Horseshoes were popularized as horses became domesticated as a way to protect the horses hoofs in inhospitable climates. Many breeds of horses were not bred with hoof strength in mind leading to weaker hoofs in some breeds.
However in normal condition horses do not need horseshoes and can go without. Horseshoes seem to have been invented in the Middle Ages in Europe to keep the feet from falling apart when knights horses had to live for months in slop-filled tie-stalls while the castle was under siege. At that time the modern study of Anatomy and Physiology did not exist yet so there was no way to study what the shoes did to hooves and legs.
Horses today are high-priced performance. Wild horses walked and grazed continuously over a wide range of terrain that had never been plowed or paved. Their hoofs were worn to a smooth even hard state and the continual stimulation of the sole of the foot caused it to become thick.
Domesticated horses usually do not graze over any distance to forage for feed. They live on irrigated land arena footing and stall bedding walk on.