Why Do Horses Wear Shoes?
[ 2006-05-31 10:23 ]
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 All animals with hooves in the wild are
able to take care of their own feet. If the hoof becomes too long,
herd animals, such as horses, know it's time to move on to new
ground. As they travel to another area, they wear their hooves down
on the abrasive earth. Once they have trimmed their hooves down,
they stay in the new area until their hooves need another trim. Wild
horses know when to move and when to rest, so that their feet stay
in the "comfort zone".
If wild horses can take care of their
own hooves, why do we need to put shoes on our riding horses?
Horses, like people, need to wear shoes for one reason-protection.
The ground is very abrasive and wears the hoof down if it is not
protected. Once we take horses out of the wild, they are not able to
take care of their own hooves by traveling from one place to
another. We may ride our horses on different types of ground that
wear down the hooves at different rates. The type of work that we
ask our horses to do may wear down their hooves faster than they can
grow back naturally.
It was not long after the horses were
tamed and used to help humans do their work that ways to protect the
hoof became important. Native Americans made moccasins out of hides
and tied them around their horses' feet. If Native Americans had
enough horses, they would rotate them, so that some horses would be
ridden and some could rest and have their hooves grow longer. Today,
farriers help protect horse's feet by choosing the right kind of
shoe for the type of work required of the horse.
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note:
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abrasive: 有磨損力的
tame: 馴養(yǎng)
moccasin:
北美印第安人穿的平底靴
farrier: 馬蹄鐵匠
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(英語點津Annabel編輯)
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