Some horse owners have little more than a passing acquaintance with those things  that are nailed onto the bottoms of their animals’ feet. The shoes are there (they hope) when they pick up the hooves to clean them, and once every six weeks or so they write a check to the farrier. Such owners might not be remiss in their horses’ care and management, but if they would take the time to learn about the various types of equine footwear, they would be better able to make informed decisions as to which shoes suit their horses best, and which farrier should put them on.

Why Do Horses Wear Shoes?

Not much about horseshoes and horseshoeing has changed over time. Most horseshoes are still those horseshoe-shaped pieces of metal with holes to accommodate the thin nails that secure them to the hoof. But why do horses need shoes in the first place, and how did the traditional shoe shape and attachment method evolve?

Horses wear shoes mainly for the same reason you do–for protection. says Dave Werkiser, an American Farriers Association certified journeyman farrier (the AFA’s highest level of certification). Werkiser is from West Chester, Pa., and he’s been shoeing horses–mostly jumpers and dressage horses–for 20 years