Horse shoes? Tied on not nailed?

[Nerva]

Interesting. Hoof attachments of various forms (Hippo Sandals) etc have been found far more often that one would expect if they were simply being used for temporary protection of the hoof. The method of attachment also varies from being simply tied on to metal clamps.

I have experimented with reproduction shoes of two basic designs, both based around the hippo sandal and found a number interesting things. The biggest problem I had was getting the damn things to stay on the hoof.

They can be secured reasonably well with leather tieing or a thin strip of mild steel bent and used as a spring clasp. They stay on fairly well while the horse walks up and down the yard except where the ground is broken and the horses hoof becomes unstable because of the stones underneath.

But try a canter or a gallop and these things become lethal flying missiles! Now I've even tried some basic nailing to try and keep these things on but to no avail.

I've also found the same thing when used on hacks on turf. After a couple of hundred metres or so the things get stuck and dragged off. I do intend to re-visit my home 'experiments' so if anyone has any better ideas...

Anyway, these shoes seem to have been in fairly common use, but given my experience with the I've yet to discover their true use.

[RUBICON]

Nice research Martinus, I agree.

My biggest concern was how confidence destryoing these shoes woudl be for a horses as I woudl imagine they woudl move around a lot not making for a secure fit and anything more than a walk would have been quite difficult.

Im just trying to think, most paths or open ground woul dhave been turf, fields, open plains...I m trying to think where rocky ground would have been encountered unless crossing a mountain pass....then in this case a slippery metal shoe would not give you any grip against such a surface or rocky surfaces...horses and or oxen would just slip.

Maybe they were just for animals with injured or cracked hooves?

[Nerva]

I'm not totally convinced on that one either Rubicon. It certainly makes sense that they would have used such a device to protect an injured hoof. The problem I have is that these shoes are commonly found.

If you look at common hoof injuries today, say laminitis. Hoof protection can do nothing for that, all you can do is lay the horse up and hope for the best. Say there is a puncture wound to the frog or hoof base, again the horse would have to be layed up.

Now, I guess the Romans may not have had that luxury of laying their mounts up for recovery so...

hold on here, I think I'm about to loose another argument with myself :oops: You know your probably right, the most obvious use for these shoes is probably right

[RUBICON]

You re right ..the more i think about it I cant see why and how they would use them.
Unless like many equestrian products these days, maybe these shoes were the first of dumb ideas for horses to be developed!

Maybe they were a preventative resource. Maybe the hooves were wrapped in lotion with bandages and then covered with such a shoe?

Maybe they were solely a medical product to protect a bandaged hoof?

As you say, as the romans couldnt 'lay up' a horse for a long period of time, maybe they simply treated the hoof, bandaged it, put a shoe on it and this allowed in most cases, for the oxen or horse to continue marching?

[Nerva]

Eureka!!!

I've found the reason for the use of these kind of shoes. Take a look at this modern example:

http://www.alaska.net/~jbrown/2005Photo ... gHorse.jpg

[RUBICON]

D D D D

[Eleatic Guest]

Three more sources:

David B. Kaufman
Horseshoes in Antiquity
The Classical Journal, Vol. 26, No. 8. (May, 1931), pp. 619-620.

A. D. Fraser
The Roman Horseshoe
The Classical Journal, Vol. 27, No. 4. (Jan., 1932), pp. 289-290

A. D. Fraser
Recent Light on the Roman Horseshoe
The Classical Journal, Vol. 29, No. 9. (Jun., 1934), pp. 689-691.

[Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs]

Very interesting speculations. Having just returned from Germany visiting museums I have seem many of these shoes.The most I saw were at a cavalry post. There they said the shoes were tied on. On the examples I saw I believe there were two of the "eyelet"-type rings for securing them.
When I get home I'll see if I can get some of my pics posted so you can see what I saw.

[ambrosius]

Historicula\\n[quote]Hipposandals - From the British Museum:
“Nailed horseshoes were known but rarely used by the Romans. Much more common were iron hipposandals, a form of temporary shoe that could be fastened to the hoof for use on metalled roads and easily removed when not required. Hipposandals were probably intended for draught animals: horses, ponies or mules. Because the animal's hoof exerted great pressure, they had to be made from thick metal. The underside was often given a tread to increase the animal's grip on the surface of the road.â€

[Gaivs Antonivs Satvrninvs]

The style of shoes shown previously were much earlier. The ones I saw were early 2nd C. Also consider Roman roads were cobblestone,right?

[ambrosius]

The style of shoes shown previously were much earlier. The ones I saw were early 2nd C. Also consider Roman roads were cobblestone,right?

That's right, nailed horseshoes came later. But hipposandals
would still continue to be used for draught animals on roads.

Ambrosius/Mike

[Eleatic Guest]

Is this correct? Are British Museums abundant with Roman horseshoes (as distict from hipposandals)?

I do not know the place of origin of the type of horseshoe with which we are familiar, but it was widely used by the Romano Britons of Imperial times. Quite possibly the Romans adopted this style from the Celts of Gaul or Britain. Almost every museum in England contains specimens which were discovered in association with Roman remains dating from the first century of our era onwards. They are small and more rounded than the modern horseshoe. All examples that I recall are thin, and the metal is forged into a wider band than we find in use today. They differ essentially from our shoes in being destitute of calks to prevent the foot's slipping, but they resemble ours in having two or three nail-holes on either side. A lashing of any kind - even wire - is here out of the question, as it would have been worn away in short order by friction. It thus becomes apparent that the Romans used at least two varieties of shoes that were attached by nails to the hoofs of horse or mule.

SOURCE: A. D. Fraser: The Roman Horseshoe, The Classical Journal, Vol. 27, No. 4. (Jan., 1932), pp. 289f.

[John Conyard]

Entering this with some trepedation, I think it's fair to say iron horse shoes can move around abit within the soil due to frost action etc. and can be hard to date.

I think you could make a case for nailed horse shoes been around for a while in northern Europe, to help stop hooves splitting in wet conditions. Romans would certainly have used them.

The hippo sandal does look like something used for medical problems.

[mcbishop]

Is this correct? Are British Museums abundant with Roman horseshoes (as distict from hipposandals)?

Quite the opposite. I have been right the way through the collections of the Hadrian's Wall Museums (Housesteads, Corbridge, and the Clayton Collection, which is mainly Chesters) and they are conspicuous by their rarity. Finding horseshoes in a soundly datable Roman context is even harder. It is notable that the cavalry burials from Krefeld were IIRC unshod.

Nike Bishop

[Eleatic Guest]

OK. Yesterday I stumbled in the Historisches Museum der Pfalz in Speyer over this horseshoe! The piece is dated to ca. 273 AD when an Alemmanian party returned after a razzia into Gallia to the Rhine, but lost their booty (the Schatzfund von Hagenbach) when crossing the river.

How de we interpret THIS find :?: