why do horses need shoes? Is this a consequence of domestication? What about wild horses?

Question

I’ve never known any other animal apart from horses to need to be fitted with shoes. Why is this? And is this phenomenon strictly exclusive to domesticated horses? What about wild horses, then? If wild horses cope without them, why can’t domesticated horses?

In: 3395

Answer 1

To add to the many good explanations, not all horses need shoes. My workplace has a herd of domesticated ponies used for conservation grazing. They live fairly similar lifestyle to a wild animal, being kept in an open 30ha area of land all year round. A couple of them need their hooves clipping each year, but the natural lifestyle is generally enough to keep their hooves well-maintained.