Ask the Marshall

When did the practice of horseshoeing begin, and what was the purpose of doing so? Pat McManus Cave Junction, Oregon Horseshoes date back to the domestication of the animals in Asia, a few thousand years ago. Around 800 B.C. at the beginning of the Iron Age in Central Asia, people began riding horses rather than using them exclusively as beasts of burden. The purpose of horseshoes is to protect the hoof wall from chipping or cracking. An early form of hoof protection used by the Asians was r