Saw this post ([What happens when you don’t trim your horse’s shoes](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/k0wn7m/what_happens_when_you_dont_trim_your_horses_shoes/)), and it got me wondering. How did/do wild horses deal with their continuously growing shoes? Are they ground off on rough terrain? do they break off on rocks? Is the crazy growth we see something that only happens in domesticated horses?
In: Biology
Wild horses don’t have shoes. The OP titled their post incorrectly – those would be the horse’s hooves, not their shoes.
Hooves just keep on growing, because they are made out of keratin (The same stuff your toe and fingernails are made out of.) Wild horses keep their hooves trim by walking on hard surfaces, bashing their hooves against rocks, etc. A human owned horse that only ever walks on grass and sand won’t be able to keep its own hooves trimmed, so the ferrier will file their hooves down when he changes the horse’s shoes.
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