Horseshoe

When the horse is working on hard ground, the horn parts of the hoof wear out quickly. If the hoof is damaged, the horse experiences pain, begins to limp, or even refuses to step on his sore leg. Forging allows you to protect the hooves from wear and protect them from traumatic impacts on hard ground. In winter, horseshoes equipped with spikes improve the adhesion of the hoof to the ground and prevent slipping. Special types of horseshoes ( orthopedic horseshoes) are used in the treatment of various diseases of the horse's limbs. Cattle also need orthopedic horseshoes.

The first devices were woven in the form of a stocking or shoe made of bast, reed , leather, plant fibers. The hooves were mounted above the corolla under the brush with ropes or straps. These shoes were fragile, reinforcing them with ropes or straps caused dermatitis . The plantar surfaces of the hooves of livestock were coated with resin.

The Romans used metal plates, mostly oval, with hooks, arches, ears or rings to protect the plantar surface of the hoof, to strengthen the plate on the hoof with a rope or belt. Such plates for horses were called hipposandals , for mules - mulosandals , for bulls - bososandals .

The horse shoeing method was first used by the Gauls around the 4th – 3rd centuries. BC e.

In the Middle Ages, they learned how to fasten metal horseshoes with special nails - black eyes .

In Russia, forging began to develop at the state level after the Decree of Peter I of 1715 : “In Moscow and the provinces, to find good blacksmiths , to take two people to every province and instruct them to teach Russian blacksmithing ...”. In 1732, the first horse-riding school in Europe was opened in the village of Khoroshevo near Moscow .

A standard horseshoe is made from mild low-carbon steel . Modern horseshoes are quite plastic, and can easily be adjusted on the anvil in both hot and cold conditions. The width of the medium-sized horseshoe canvas is about 22 mm, and the thickness is 8 mm. The upper, plantar, surface of the horseshoe canvas is almost always flat, the lower one can be either flat or another profile, for example, semicircular or with bevels - a counter - cove .

In the front ( hook ) part of the horseshoe, there is usually an upward-facing lapel - a metal petal, which contributes to a more firm fixation of the horseshoe on the hoof. Horseshoes for the hind hooves are often equipped with two lapels located on the sides in its anterior third. On the lower surface of each of the horseshoe branches, a nail track is made - a groove in which the horseshoe nail heads are recessed. On winter trotting horseshoes, a nail track is usually absent. There are nail holes in the track, usually 4 on each branch. In the heel of the horseshoe often there are threaded holes for screwing horseshoe spikes. A catching plate spike ( grip ) on modern horseshoes is rare.

The horseshoes for the front hooves have a rounded shape, for the rear hooves they are slightly more elongated, which corresponds to the natural shape of the front and rear hooves. Horseshoes of many manufacturers have differences between the right and left, which is marked by branding on the horseshoe: the mark is placed on the outer branch. In this case, the outer branch of the horseshoe becomes a little longer than the inner and slightly steeper curved.

Special purpose horseshoes, including orthopedic ones, designed to compensate for certain hoof deficiencies or treat horse disease, can have a wide variety of forms, including a rather unexpected one.

Historical:

• hipposandals
• eastern

Modern:

• standard
• lightweight (race and trotters)
• coal
• winter
• plastic
• aluminum
• orthopedic (medical)

Standard horseshoes are manufactured in the factory according to GOST 5408-77. In accordance with the size of the hooves, horseshoes of 11 sizes are produced according to the standard ^[1] .

Horseshoe nails are produced by machine. There are more than ten types of horseshoe nails, each of the types has several, usually six, basic sizes.

The Russian and foreign numbering of horseshoe sizes is significantly different, which often leads to confusion.

• Uhnal
• Horseshoe in heraldry
• New Plymouth - a city in the USA, "the largest horseshoe in the world"

• L.V. Belovinsky . Horseshoe // Illustrated encyclopedic historical and everyday dictionary of the Russian people. XVIII - beginning of XIX century / ed. N. Ereminoy . - M .: Eksmo, 2007 .-- S. 496-497. - 784 p.: - ill. with. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-699-24458-4 .