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?
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Horses hooves are like dogs claws, they naturally wear down with use.
If a horse in the wild has to deal with grass, rocks and grit it’s hooves will wear down at a normal rate, if a horse is used for riding on roads or tracks, it can cause the hooves to wear down to the point where it hurts the horse, so a farrier will keep the hooves trimmed and nail shoes to them to keep them safe
A lot of wild horses will suffer with hoof issues but you won’t notice it until you walk through the woods and find the remains of a horse that has died of starvation because it can’t walk to find enough food/water.
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