Hoof Lessons from Medieval Horses

Shoeing problems are as old as shoeing itself. Horse shoes are an invention of European farriers in the early Middle Ages. The medieval horse was the car, tractor and tank of its day and was kept in stalls to be ready at short notice when needed. Lack of exercise and urine-soaked floors weakened the hoof structure and as a consequence the horse could not respond well to its rider’s demands. Farriers learned that a rim of iron nailed to the bottom of the hoof wall gave the horse more versatility over a variety of terrain, without having to be rested for lameness or put out to pasture to recuperate.

However the new custom of shoeing horses also had serious drawbacks. Amongst the hundreds of paintings and prints created by two German artists, Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) and his student Hans Baldung Grien (1480-1545) we find several detailed studies of domestic as well as wild horses. Without intending to, these two artists provide us with accurate and revealing images of the condition of the hooves of European horses 500 years ago. For example, Dürer’s woodcut “Italian Duel” (1518) shows a toppled horse with raised heel shoes, the very same shoes that might be used by any contemporary farrier.

In Dürer’s “Knight, Death and the Devil” (1513), the knight in the foreground rides a shod charger showing, interestingly, typical pathological changes that often occur in shod horses.

 From lack of abrasion and correct trimming, one can see that all four feet have grown long, especially at the heel. Long toes and high heels have a “slowing-down” effect on the biomechanics of hoof-take-off and are also an impediment to elastic hoof landing. The charger’s hind feet also show characteristic stress lines on the hoof wall, which are the result of repeated concussive forces on the peripheral hoof wall. A shod hoof cannot absorb shock efficiently; this stress is manifest as warps in the hoof wall. Also observe how the pathologically long dorsal hoof wall has pushed the coronary band upward. This is a likely sign of the coffin bone inside the hoof being tilted away from its natural position, adding mechanical stress to joints, ligaments and inner hoof structures. The horse which Dürer so accurately sketched would have moved with a shorter than natural stride due to the tall hoof wall. Its stride would have been further hampered by the rider’s actions demanding high neck carriage, leading to a stiff back and disengaged quarters. In contrast to the Knight’s charger in this woodcut, one can notice that “Death” is riding an old unshod nag. Although partially obscured by the charger, we can see its head, neck and all four feet. The horse seems in poor condition, yet it has by comparison much healthier hooves: The fronts are a good example of how natural abrasion and trimming have shaped the hoof wall and heels to allow for efficient breakover and hoof landing. The coronary bands are straight, and there are no stress lines on the hoof wall. Ironically ‘death’s’ horse has better hooves that the Knight’s shod warhorse!

Hans Baldung’s wood cut “Bewitched Groom” (detail, 1544-5) shows another common problem resulting from improper trimming and shoeing: the horse is depicted from behind showing the heel bulbs clearly.

 As with the Knight’s charger in Dürer’s previous woodcut, the heels of this horse have also been allowed to grow too tall. In addition, we can see signs of contracted heels: the heel bulbs appear to be pressed together (most prominently on the left front) and there are grooves between the heels of all four feet. These grooves are likely to extend deep down the centre of the frog harbouring painful fungal and bacterial infection. Contracted heels are the result of poor trimming and shoeing. It leaves the horse with much reduced shock-absorbing capabilities affecting the whole limb. The mixed fungal and bacterial infection, aka thrush, is the result of the frog being disengaged from the ground and unhygienic housing.

In Hans Baldung’s “Conversion of St. Paul” (1505-07) three feet of the rearing horse show signs of forward flaring and hoof capsule distortion. Note the dorsal hoof walls of the standing hind foot and the left front. Both toes are flaring forward, indicating that there is excess hoof tissue at the tip of the hooves. This is the result of either poor trimming or long shoeing intervals or both. Such hooves do not support the coffin bone effectively, but instead put a lot of stress on the laminae connecting bone to wall and hamper breakover. The horse’s right front toe has already self-trimmed by breaking off beyond the rim of the shoe.

It would seem that Hans Baldung had a special interest in wild horses because he made a series of beautiful woodcuts showing wild horses from the forests and hills of Alsace. In “Fighting Horses” (1534) he shows an interesting oblique view of a fallen wild horse’s hooves at the bottom right of the picture. These feet are shaped by natural wear to have short toes and heels. The quarters are scooped, the bottom rim of the entire hoof wall is rounded, and the soles are concave. These characteristics give the foot good elasticity. The hooves are shaped to give optimal support to the coffin bone and connected structures of the horse’s limbs. The shape of the wild horse’s hooves is a result of the conditions under which it lived in the ancient forests of Europe (just as the form and health of the the domesticated horse’s hooves are the result of its shod and domesticated lifestyle). These 500 year old woodcuts allow us to observe hoof trimming and shoeing problems—such as hoof capsule distortion, slow breakover, shortened stride stress lines, thrush and contracted heels—faced by farriers of the Middle Ages. Today’s farriers deal with the very same problems. Do we manage horses’ hoofs any better today? Poor circulation, reduced shock absorption and lack of abrasion between shoeing are problems inherent in the practise of shoeing; they often lead to the pathologies observed above. For shoes to be nailed flush to the bottom perimeter of the hoof, the farrier prepares a flat surface prior to shoeing. The farrier will not scoop the quarters, but instead will flatten the perimeter of the sole and all of the bottom edge of the hoof wall. Such trimming deprives the foot of much of its elasticity; the rigid shoe nailed to this flat surface further reduces the natural expansion and contraction of the hoof. Perhaps it is time to reconsider nature’s lead. There are no longer wild horses roaming free in Europe’s forests. But what Dürer and Baldung inadvertently observed in unshod medieval horses is still possible today: healthy natural hooves achieved through modern barefoot hoofing trimming techniques and appropriate management and exercise.

Claudia Waldmann