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

FWIW, I have encountered on the order of 2500 horses in the last 25 years, and maybe 5 of them required shoes for foot health reasons.

Horses that spend a lot of time walking on concrete will wear them.

Some types of show horse will have them for a number of reasons.

Domesticated horses do great without shoes, except in a few specific circumstances.