I have recently researched teh use of horse shoes and discovered this photo of an actual shoe but am at a loss how it was tied to the hoof. Does anyone have a diagram or visual information which will resolve this?
I understand they were used on rough ground but would the cavalry stop to put these on and for how long?
I assumed that these hardy horses would cope with the terrain?
At a guess, a strip of linen or leather tied around the hoof and through the hooked/looped ends may hold it...?
Hmm, i'd heard of them being tied on but it doesn't sound very reliable does it?
It really doesn' look like a cleat used on slick or icy surfaces, but one possible use of this item might have been to protect a horse's hooves from caltrops with which an enemy could sow the ground in order to disable your cavalry by laming its horses.
I'm in agreement with Arthes and tommy303, though I would hazard that instead of linen they used damp strips of leather that would have tightened when dried, holding the shoe more snuggly in place. (Have you read anything about them actually welding the shoe on?)
It's also possible that the shoe was used in an attempt to keep gravel and other small stones from getting lodged near the frog (the tender underside of the hoof), and thus protect the horses from going lame. (And possibly also to keep the hoofwall from spliting) If used in this way, I can only speculate that their riders would have taken the time to put them on before going over rocky/difficult terrain.
I just imagine how tight these shoes would have been? Using wet leather that woudl tighten would irritate the pastern on such journeys causing even more health issues.
I do like yoru suggestion of welding or if I think you are suggesting hot shoeing so the shoe fixed to the sole but infortunatley burning teh frog would be an issue here as teh shoes are flat plated!
Possibly, but I was under the impression that the shoe would have been tied along the outside of the hoofwall, avoiding the pastern/fetlock area all together.
No, I was not implying any hot welding. More along the lines of reshaping the upper portion of the shoe to the hoof wall, either by hammer, or by forging one end and then beating the other into position.
Good point! reshaping i imagine would weaken shoe contunually hammering it?
i just think, horses are so 'aware" of their feet and stability that I cant picture it being a comfortable exercise or confidence building one with the hoof moving around unless they were wedged in so tightly maybe.
That's my understanding. Though it may be that they would initially size the horses hoof, like ferriers today, and then afterwards use leather/linen to allow for a snug fit when in use.
I would agree! I can only hope that the bottoms of these shoes weren't entirely smooth, otherwise the horses could end up sliding down hills and such on intermident surfaces.
I imagine that, the same as the boots used for horses today that these would have been a temporary measure to protect a hoof that has been damaged or has already been mentioned split. Mustangs today go over the roughest ground with no shoes and have no problems. The horses used by the Romans and their auxillaries would have been just as tough.
Lawrence
No problems?
Are we to assume that teh hardy maustang doesnt suffer from bruised soles?
Is there nay information that supports that horses in the wild survive tough ground or is it that we just assume they cope because thay have to?
Personally I dont believe wild horses do. There soles are just as easily prone to modern day/domestic horse issues. when we remove our horses shoes for a break we forget they run on grassed paddocks, they are not turned out on rocky ground.
I believe that the average life span of wild horses is 6-7 years? Not sure if that figure leads me to believe they cope?
One of the other things to keep in mind is the inconsistency of hoof strength even in horses of the same breed. While Mountain Ponies traditionally have stronger hoofs then say Thoroughbreds that doesn't necessarily mean they don't suffer from Wall Separation or other forms of Hoof Wall Disease like White Line, only that their surroundings and genetic selection make it less likely.
Shoeing is a way to prevent that damage from occuring in the first place, not just to remedy an existing problem. Besides, a horse which comes down with any of these problems in the middle of a campaign is virtually useless, so I would assume precautions would be taken.
I read that these sorts of iron shoes were for draft horses, not cavalry, as they were for use on stone roads.
In a much older article from the American Journal of Archaeology (Vol. 6, No. 4. Oct. - Dec., 1902, pp. 398-403.), William Bates discusses fourth century B.C. Etruscan Horse shoes found at Corneto in ancient Etruria. While obviously outdated as a source, the findings do indicate an “earlyâ€
Those look like painful shoes for a horse: the middle spike surely would push up into the frog of the hoof and cripple the horse. Perhaps they're just ceremonial?
Historicula: I just noticed the Virginia flag: where in Va are you? Our group just had Lupercalia, and we have a monthly fabrica coming up next week, to which you're welcome.