Owing to the fact that horseshoes are both a game and a good luck charm, most people know what horses’ “shoes” look like. Exactly why they sport these semicircles of metal (or other materials), however, isn’t quite as widely known.

Why Some Horses Wear Shoes

The simplest answer is that horses wear shoes for the same reason we do—to protect their feet from getting injured due to rough terrain and/or overuse. Horse hooves are admittedly a lot more durable than human trotters: The hoof wall, which covers the top of the hoof and forms a rim around the bottom, doesn’t have any nerves or blood vessels. Horses can safely walk on their own four hooves, wearing down their hoof walls as they go. For wild horses, this process typically happens at a good, gradual rate as they traverse natural terrain.

But, as Horse & Country explains, domesticated horses perform a variety of functions across a variety of surfaces—and there’s a variety of reasons why many need shoes. For some, especially those that pull carriages or bear other loads, their hoof walls might wear down more quickly than they can grow back, which horseshoes can help prevent. Others might need horseshoes for traction if they’re frequently exposed to icy, wet, or muddy surfaces.

But even though cows can usually function fine au naturel, their hooves still need maintenance: They should be trimmed roughly twice a year, though it depends on the cow.

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A version of this story originally ran in 2022; it has been updated for 2024.