The horse's hooves seem to be sturdy, but after a long journey, the outermost layer of keratin will still fall off. Horses have a hard time walking because of the loss of this natural "shield". In order for their mounts to continue to take on the heavy lifting of transportation, humans have thought of adding a protective layer to the horse's hooves.
At first, humans used simple shoe covers made of straw, which had the effect of cushioning friction. But when the horse is running, this primitive horse's palm is still very easy to fall off. Later, in ancient Greece and Rome, U-shaped horseshoes made of leather or metal appeared, which were stronger than straw sandals, but still not very ideal.
It wasn't until around the 1st century AD that the Celts in northern Europe finally made a breakthrough when they invented the nailed horseshoe, which was actually the prototype of the horseshoe. This type of horseshoe also has tines nailed to the bottom to increase grip on wet ground.
After that, the horseshoe quickly spread to the south and was extremely widely used in ancient Rome.
Horses lived in forests and had multiple movable toes similar to those of modern rabbits. About 30 million years ago, in the Oligocene, the Earth's climate cooled and vast forests faded into low, herbaceous vegetation.
This was a huge survival challenge for the animals in the forest at that time.
In the face of such environmental change, animals have only two choices: either stick to the forest or adapt to the new grassland ecology. The ancestors of the horse chose the latter. At the same time, carnivores such as cats and canines have also come to the grasslands, putting great pressure on herbivores to survive.
In order to run faster in the open grassland, the horses have been naturally eliminated for millions of years, and their toes have fewer and fewer toes, eventually leaving only one toe on each hind leg, and the vestigial second and fourth phalanges remain on the front leg.
This highly refined single phalanx allowed the equine to finally adapt to the grassland.
In fact, this unique horseshoe structure is the result of the evolution of horse nails. It allows the horse to run at full speed, but loses the ability to steer flexibly. In the evolutionary tree of horses, there was a transitional stage of three-toed horses, but they could not escape the fate of extinction.
Made of bones, connective tissue, and, the horseshoe is an ingenious impact-absorbing device. It lays the foundation for the speed and strength of the horse, and also determines the important position of the horse in the history of human development.
Over the centuries, the design of the horseshoe has matured. By the Middle Ages, a full-fledged horseshoe appeared in Europe, which consisted of iron sheets covering the horseshoe and fastening it with 7 nails. This design provides all-round protection for the horse's hooves.
Later, modern horseshoes tended to be lighter, and the number of nails was reduced to 4-5, but the coverage area was increased, which was more suitable for the actual shape of the horseshoe. These horseshoes are designed with comfort in mind as well as functionality.
The original invention of the horseshoe was to protect the horse's hoof from severe wear and injury after a long period of running on hard surfaces. In fact, it does prevent the cuticle of the outer layer of the horseshoe from peeling off to a large extent. Not only that, but the design of the tines at the bottom of the horseshoe can also enhance the grip of the horse's hooves on wet ground, making the horse more stable and less prone to slipping.
Therefore, as the "second skin" of the horseshoe, the horseshoe not only has a protective effect, but also can improve the use function. This is undoubtedly of great significance for humans to domesticate and utilize horses.
The difference between wild horses and domestic horses is mainly due to the difference in their living environment.
Wild horses roam the vast savannahs all the time, and their hooves are only in contact with the soft grass most of the time, so they wear very little. Most domesticated domestic horses need to walk and work on hard roads, so the hooves will inevitably be subjected to greater pressure and friction, and the wear and tear will be more serious.
When a horse's hooves wear down to the fleshy layer, the domestic horse will feel pain. The horses' hooves are amazingly self-healing, and they seem to know where not to stay for a long time, and which roads are too hard, and they will actively avoid them.
In contrast, domestic horses must unconditionally obey their masters, and no matter how bad the road conditions, they cannot choose to escape.
In addition, wild horses' hooves can grow naturally, while domestic horses' hooves require artificially cast horseshoes for protection. This is because wild horses run a lot every day, enough to adjust their cuticles through wear, while domestic horses are relatively inactive, and if their hooves are too long, they will deform and curl, affecting their movements.
It can be said that horses in the wild have healthier hooves, which is a gift from their living environment and is also derived from the excellent inheritance of genes over multiple generations. The hooves of domestic horses have become completely dependent on human care and have lost the ability to self-regulate.
As an artificial product, there seem to be pros and cons to the impact of horseshoes on horses.
There's no denying that the horseshoe acts as a great protection. Without it, the horse's hooves would have been smoothed out by the friction of the hard pavement. The horseshoe is like a pair of specially made shoes that prevent the hooves from coming into direct contact with the ground.
It not only protects the cuticle, but also reduces the burden on the horse itself.
Similarly, the pointed spikes at the bottom of the farrier enhance the horse's adhesion to the ground, making it safer for the horse to walk on wet and rainy ground, which is also not available in wild horses.
However, the horseshoe is a foreign object after all, which will more or less form a constraint on the horse's free running. Horses with an arrogant temperament and accustomed to running freely may think that horseshoes are a burden. What's more, the extra weight of the horseshoe will also increase the horse's energy expenditure.
Of course, the invention of the horseshoe was essentially to serve human needs, not horse preferences. Humans domesticated horses, and with them an obligation to protect them after they took on their responsibilities. If there is a mechanism for exploitation, then we should also aim to minimize the suffering of horses, rather than simply exploiting them for profit.
The invention and improvement of the horseshoe is a microcosm of the process of human civilization. It embodies the vision of human beings to adapt and conquer nature through technological means.
Before the advent of horseshoes, humans relied on horses for transportation, warfare, and even production. Horsepower fueled tremendous progress in ancient societies, and humans domesticated wild horses to their own use.
The production of horseshoes relieves the problem of hoof fatigue after the horse is burdened. It allows for increased service time and weight-bearing capacity for horses, and it also allows humans to better drive these dynamics.
Of course, in this mutually beneficial relationship, we cannot ignore the feelings of those who are being exploited. Whether horseshoes will become a burden for horses, and how different wild horses are from domestic horses, are all questions worth reflecting on.
The reality is that without the domestication of humans, there would be no horse as a species. They disappeared on a long evolutionary path and became yet another ancient fossil. Horses and people are a community with a shared future, and we have the responsibility and ability to make this connection even better.