What did horses do before farriers?

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I just saw a post where a horse was abandoned for a number of years and it’s front hooves looked like the bottom of a rocking chair. I’ve also heard over the years about how farriers are necessary to a horses health. Now obviously horses have been around longer than the folks who take care of their hooves, so what did they do before people?

Did they have to scrape them on rocks or did they just have to wear them down by running? Just curious. Thanks!

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Anonymous 0 Comments

>did they just have to wear them down by running

Horses in the wild will run and on a surface rough enough to wear down their hooves. However a horse in a small enclosure with soft soil won’t wear down their hooves and so they get overgrown.

When humans started to make horses walk rough surfaces a lot and carry loads their hooves would wear down too fast, adding shoes adds protection and can improve traction.

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