Do Horses Need Shoes?

I was tending to our horses out on the pasture with my son the other day.

We were doing the general jobs, cleaning and brushing and sweeping the stable.

One of the less common jobs, though, was changing their horseshoes, which occurred to me needed doing.

As I said that we needed to do it, the first thing my son asked was whether horses really needed shoes.

What was wrong with their hooves, after all?

Well, I’d always put horse shoes on my horses, but I decided to look into it.

So, do horses need shoes?

It mostly depends on what your individual horse is doing. Horses mainly wear shoes in domestic settings to protect their hooves from damage. Horses that work on tough ground like concrete or tarmac will wear their hooves down more quickly than horses that live in fields. 

The simple answer then is that your horse needs horseshoes if it’s doing a lot of work on very hard and flat ground.

It may not if you only walk it on a pasture, or on nature trails.

That said, there are still other reasons you might fit a horse with horseshoes, so let’s look into it.

Are horseshoes really necessary?

There are many perfectly good reasons why your horse might need shoes.

That said, there are also many horses that do not need shoes.

It’s really down to what sorts of activity that horse does.

The main reason people attach horseshoes is to protect the hoof from damage from tough surfaces.

If your horse spends a lot of time walking down roads and concrete paths, then shoes are likely the best option.

They also add traction in difficult conditions, such as rain and mud.

The horseshoes here provide stability and grip, and can even be used to help in frozen conditions.

Horses falling over is always a huge danger to both the rider and the horse, so in the right conditions, extra traction is essential.

Other than that, they are sometimes added to improve the horse’s balance.

Some horses suffer with quite poor balance due to physical abnormalities, and corrective shoeing can help to offset this.

These shoes are typically specialized, unlike regular horseshoes, but the principle is the same.

There are also a variety of medical conditions horses suffer from which might mean they need to wear shoes.

Hoof and foot conditions such as laminitis, arthritis and ringbone can compromise the strength of their legs and feet, and horseshoes help, again, to offset this.

Horseshoes keep the horse comfortable and let them get back to work.

But is attaching a horseshoe painful?

Do horseshoes hurt the horse?

It’s hard to think of the process of adding horseshoes to a horse’s foot and not imagine it causes pain.

They are nailed in from underneath.

But does it actually cause pain?

The simple answer is no.

Horse’s hooves have virtually no nerve endings, meaning that they have very little sensation in their hooves.

Even when a nail is hammered in to keep the horseshoe in place, it does not register for the horse except as an annoying tapping.

That said, anyone attempting to attach a horseshoe should know fully what they are doing.

It remains a skilled and delicate process, and if done incorrectly, it could hurt or injure the horse.

So, if your horse needs horseshoes and you’re unsure how to do it, you should ideally hire a farrier to do it for you.

Can you ride a horse with no shoes?

Again, the answer depends on a lot of individual factors.

First of all, how stable and strong is the horse?

If it has any history of issues with balance or anything of that kind, horseshoes may be a good idea.

Consult with a vet if you’re unsure.

Other than that, think about the trail you’re riding.

Is it mostly a natural, grassy or dirt path?

If so, your horse may not need shoes.

If the path you take goes down a lot of paths with concrete or roads—in other words, anything designed for human use—then horseshoes are probably a good idea.

As I said, the harsh concrete will slowly wear down your horse’s hooves.

For trail riding and longer rides, whatever the terrain, the general advice is that horseshoes are needed.

You’re likely to come upon rocky or otherwise harsh terrain at some point.

Even the nature of the fact that you’re likely walking for a very long time means it’s best if you apply horseshoes.

It’s all about individual needs.

Decide what’s best for your horse and if it’s likely to have problems with its hooves.

Whether or not a horse needs shoes is really dependent on that individual horse, then.

What it’s doing day to day, whether it has any medical or corrective need to wear horseshoes, or if it’s getting older and needs the extra support.

The important thing to remember is that horseshoes do not hurt the horse if applied correctly, so you’ve nothing to worry about there.

Just consider everything your horse does, and figure out if shoes are best.