# Horse shoes and horse shoeing: their origin, history, uses, and abuses/Chapter I

HORSE-SHOES
AND HORSE-SHOEING.
CHAPTER I.
The horse is justly considered, even in these days, when the application of steam power has to a certain extent limited some of his more important functions, one of the most tractable and serviceable living machines, viewing him as a motor, ever pressed into slavery by man, and consequently ranks high above all those ​creatures which have submitted themselves to domestication and toil for the benefit of the human species.
The varied uses to which he has been subjected, since taken from a wild state, and the willing and cheerful manner with which he has undergone fatigue, and performed duties which are, one would think, quite foreign to his nature, have all been owing to his combined and unequalled qualities of strength, courage, speed, fidelity, and obedience, as well as docility; and though his great value depends essentially upon a just disposition of these, yet more especially is it as a living machine, capable of moving or producing motion, and communicating it to inert masses at all times and in nearly all situations, that he is to be prized.
Where, and at what period of the world's history he was first brought into a state of servitude; whether at one or more points of the earth's surface man commenced to utilize his noble attributes, we know not. Certain it is, however, that some of the pre-historic races of the human family sought his aid; and the ancient Aryans, more than three thousand years ago, as we learn from the Riga-Veda, in their home towards the upper valley of the Indus, loved and bred the horse, harnessed him to their chariots with spoked-wheels, and made him assume the principal part in their greatest religious sacrifices.
The history of mankind abundantly testifies, that every possible use and application of this animal, whether in war, commerce, or pleasure, seems to have been anticipated by the most ancient peoples; proving the earliest sense and conviction of his immense importance to man. Those old-world nations which, long ages ago, most largely ​employed the horse, were the great centres of antique civilization; and it may safely be asserted, that, without him, the human race could not have reached its present state of refinement, or have been able to contend against the numerous obstacles to comfort and happiness which have surrounded it; indeed, it has been said, that next to the want of iron, the want of horses would have been, perhaps, one of the greatest physical barriers to the advancement of the arts of civilized life.
Doubtless, what might be termed the moral qualities of the horse, had largely conduced to make him so serviceable in all ages, but by far the largest share must be attributed to those of a physical kind. Strength, speed, endurance, and astonishing alacrity have endowed him with his most useful characteristics, and given him the pre-eminence over all other domesticated animals; and these qualities again depend upon a marvellous adaptation of the organs and textures of which he is composed to the most varied requirements.
Cuvier has somewhere said of the horse, that but for the space of bare gum between the incisor and molar teeth which affords space for the insertion and action of the bit, it would never have been subjected to the power of man. Far rather with truth may it be said, that but for the horse being endowed with a hoof which covers and protects the most beautiful and delicate of structures, and which being solid and a slow conductor of heat and cold, fits it for travelling in snow and ice during the winter of northern regions, and in the burning sands of tropical climates, he would scarcely have proved himself worth the trouble of domesticating. Means could have been ​employed to ride and drive him without a bit in his mouth, but no invention or device of man could have compensated for the absence of his solid, hoof-cased foot. From the earliest ages, the attention of horsemen and horse-loving nations has been directed to the conservation or perfectioning of those attributes which make this everwilling slave so worthy of our admiration and gratitude; and those horses which had the best conformation, and proved themselves fleetest and hardiest, were ever selected as models for breeding and purchasing. And curiously enough, though it was not to be wondered at, nearly every one of the ancient writers, when speaking of the horse, centre their attention on his feet; no matter how beautifully formed the other points of his conformation may have been, if his feet were defective, all was bad. The excellent horseman and gallant soldier, Xenophon, to whose extant treatises on the horse we are indebted for so much of what we know of equestrian matters in the ancient world, tersely specifies how essential even in his day, when the uses of this animal were more limited, it was that he have good feet, or there was no profit in him. He says: 'In respect to the horse's body, then, we assert that we must first examine the feet; for as there would be no use in a house, though the upper parts were extremely beautiful, if the foundations were not laid as they ought to be, so there would be no profit in a war-horse, even if he had all his other parts excellent but was unsound in his feet; for then he would be unable to render any of his other good qualities effective.'
And from the days of Xenophon to the present, when ​the uses of the horse have been so multiplied and so much more necessary for our business or pleasure, the truth of this advice has been daily receiving confirmation, until the aphorism 'No foot, no horse,' has become a painful reality in modern days, though it is but a re-echo of what was enunciated centuries beyond two thousand years ago.
For the manifestation of his strength and the due performance of his useful qualities, the horse must, therefore, rely upon the soundness of his feet, as in them are concentrated the efforts created elsewhere; and on them depend not only the sum total of these propulsive powers being properly expended, but also the solidity and just equilibrium of the whole animal fabric. So that it is wisely considered that the foot of the horse is one of the most, if not the most, important part of all the locomotory apparatus; and that all the splendid qualities possessed by the noble creature may be diminished in value or hopelessly lost, if through disease or accident, natural or acquired defects, or other causes, this organ fails to perform its allotted task.
Seeing, then, the great interest which attaches to this animal, in its being of all creatures most concerned with man in promoting a progressive and long-continued civilization, and to the means and appliances which the lord of the creation has from time to time brought to bear in increasing the utility (would I could say comfort and happiness!) of this devoted servant, I have entered on the present inquiry into the origin and early history of what is generally looked upon as a humble art; for the simple reason that it affords us a glimpse, or rather a faint idea, of an obscure occupation, a modest handicraft, ​increasing a hundred-fold the value of the horse, and testifies to what an apparently insignificant operation very much of our immense progress in civilization has depended. I refer to the art of shoeing, by which, in arming that portion of the horse's hoof coming in contact with the ground, and sustaining the whole weight, while it receives the full force of the propelling power, would (in our northern climate, at least) under the strain of loadbearing or draught, soon be destroyed, and the animal rendered useless, injury is not only averted, but the utility and power of the horse are largely increased.
An art which has exerted some influence on the destinies of man, and lent its aid to the restless wave of human action, deserves some notice from those who care to note the sources and influences on which improvement and increased communication have relied; and if this be a modest one, it is at least endowed with all the more interest in consequence of its being so closely related to the conservation of the best qualities of the noblest quadruped on earth.
In a state of nature the hoof requires no protection. The solidity and toughness of its inferior border; the absence of artificial roads; nothing but the weight of the body to be supported; and the matter of which the horny case is composed never being subjected to any other influences than those which it is naturally adapted to resist, all tend to obviate any injurious amount of attrition in the roaming-at-will life of the feral horse. But in connection with climate, domestication alters, more or less, the conditions on which the horn depends for its integrity as an efficient protection to the highly sensitive ​and vascular textures it encloses. In eastern countries, where the climate is dry and the earth elastic and soft, and where the equine species is usually wiry and firm in its organization, with dense inflexible hoofs, an armature of any kind is seldom, if ever, required. Not unfrequently, however, we learn that the care and attention of the people who so employ horses is bestowed on the quality and resistance of the hoof; and as this has an important bearing on our inquiry, we will notice a few of the authorities who mention the fact. Thevenot informs us that the Persians cared little for shoes for their horses; the Ethiopians, in the time of Ludolphus, although they seldom rode, did not employ any defence for the hoofs, and when they had to travel over rough and stony ground, they dismounted and sat on the backs of mules, leading their horses in hand, so that these might tread lighter, and do their hoofs less damage. 'They do not defend their horses' hoofs with iron shoes; if they travel over rough and uneven ground, they lead them, and ride mules.' The same authority asserts that the Tartars, who ride so much, never shod their steeds. 'In the winter time, when, on account of the frost, roads are rough and hard, they cover their horses' feet with the recently flayed hide of cattle, if nothing else is at hand.'
A recent traveller in Abyssinia states that the horses ​and mules of that country are not shod. The wandering Mongols who roam between the Great Wall of China, the desert of Gobi, and the Russian frontier, with their flocks of sheep and droves of horses and cattle, do not employ shoes for their hardy but uncouth solipedes, according to the account of my friend and fellow-traveller, Mr Michie. Whenever a pony selected from a drove has become footsore from being ridden too long a time, the rider dismounts, a fresh steed is caught from the crowd, and the hoof-worn one is set at large again, to recover as it best may the loss it has sustained. So that a traveller often requires to change his invaluable steed when crossing these inhospitable wilds. But in this there does not appear to be any difficulty, as an exchange can be readily effected by paying a slight difference to the nomadic owner of a drove, who knows that by allowing the lame creatures to pasture quietly for a few weeks, they will soon have replaced the lost horn, and be as serviceable as ever.
It would appear, however, that horses are sometimes shod here, but they may only be Russian ones. Timkowski in travelling through this country, and when at a halting-place, writes: 'While the smith was shoeing our horses, a lama, who kept walking about, and seemed very attentive to what he was doing, suddenly mounted his horse and galloped away. It was afterwards discovered that this priest had stolen one of the smith's tools.'
Marco Polo, in the 13th century, travelling in Badakshan, says: 'The country is extremely cold, but it breeds ​very good horses, which run with great speed over these wild tracts without being shod with iron.'
The Tanghans, or Tibetan ponies Hooker saw in the Himalayas, are described as wonderfully strong and enduring. 'They are never shod, and the hoof often cracks and they become pigeon-toed.'
Horses are never shod in the Moluccas, or the Straits of Malacca. With regard to Java, Sir Stamford Raffles says: 'Horses are never shod in Java, nor are they secured in the stable as is usual in Europe and Western India. A separate enclosure is appropriated for each horse, within which the animal is allowed to move and turn at pleasure, being otherwise unconfined. These enclosures are erected at a short distance from each other, and with separate roofs. They are generally raised above the ground, and have a boarded floor.' The same kind of floor is in use at Manilla.
Lichtenstein remarks of the Cape of Good Hope horses, that, owing to their being accustomed from their youth to seek their nourishment upon dry mountains, they are easily satisfied, and 'grow so hard in the hoofs that there is no occasion to shoe them'.
Anderssen, describing some of his journeys in South Africa, says: 'On an after-occasion, I remember to have performed upwards of ninety miles at a very great pace, only once or twice removing the saddle for a few minutes. And be it borne in mind that the animals were young, ​differently broken in, unshod and had never been stall-fed.’
Dr Browne reports of the horses in Jamaica: ‘They are generally small, but very sure-footed and hardy, which renders them extremely fit for those mountainous lands; and their hoofs are so hard that they seldom require shoes; but this is the effect of the heat of the country and dryness of the land.’
Iron shoes are not used for horses in Japan, and Head, in his ride across the Pampas of South America, tells us that shoes are utterly unknown to all the South American country horses. ‘But even when unshod, the wear of their boundless plains, on which scarcely a stone is seen, is so insignificant, that to keep the hoofs of a proper length, they have even to be shortened by the hammer and chisel.’ Another traveller in that region asserts that the mule of the Peruvian Sierras, with its massy and wellrounded hoof, needs no shoes on hard or soft ground, in summer or in winter.
Clark says of the north of Sweden: ‘Neither the men nor their horses are shod, but go bare-footed. In some parts of Sweden, as at Naples, the hinder feet only of the horses are left unshodden; but here horses of a beautiful breed were put to our waggon, without a shoe to any of their feet, as wild and fleet as Barbs;’ and again, when entering Finland from Sweden, he writes: ‘The horses are, as usual, small, but beautifully formed, and very fleet. The peasants take them from the forests when they are ​wanted for travellers, and, with very little harness, fasten them to the carriage. In this state, they are without shoes, and seem perfectly wild; but it is surprising to observe how regularly and well they trot.’ Brooke, however, remarks, that ‘so dangerous are the wolves in some parts of Sweden that the peasants, on turning their horses out, generally tip their feet with iron, by which means of defence they are frequently enabled to beat off their ferocious assailants.’
It is well known that in many southern regions there is but little need for any attempt at shoeing. The littoral of Libya, and some parts of Arabia and Persia, furnish examples. In Tartary, whole tribes ride horses without shoes of iron, and in Senegal the French squadron of Spahis have no farriers, for the simple reason that they have no shod horses. In the East Indies, among some races shoeing is far from general.
So we can easily understand, that in certain parts of the world, horses have been and can be made serviceable to a certain extent without employing an iron defence. If one may judge from the paintings of Ancient Egypt and the sculptures of Assyria, where we see the horse portrayed with great skill, and with that minute perception of his external form which seems to us even now very remarkable, no protection for the hoof was ever had recourse to, and no remains of anything bearing a resemblance to such an appliance have been found. And though these countries were acquainted with many arts, ​and had attained a comparatively advanced state of civilization, in which the horse played no insignificant part, yet in the absence of this craft, even with their favourable climate and soil, the use of this animal must have been but limited, compared to what it is in our own days. It is only when we reach the period in which the ancient Greeks begin to figure in history, that doubts and inquiries arise among modern investigators with regard to a real iron or other metal shoe being employed; and for nearly two hundred years, various writers have spared neither time nor patience in attempting to arrive at some definite conclusion as to whether or not the Greeks and Romans were cognisant of this art, or at what period it first became known.
With the spread of civilization, the demands upon the services of the horse became, doubtless, very much extended; and the diversity of climate, as well as of races, would lead one to suppose that greater wear and modifications, more or less wrought in the nature and consistency of the hoof, must at an early period have rendered some kind of defence absolutely necessary; and that this again would be mentioned in the writings of men who largely devoted their attention to the welfare of this animal. Nevertheless, the antiquity of shoeing, notwithstanding the well-directed labours of many learned men, is yet a subject admitting of considerable diversity of opinion, simply because of the absence of written documents, or records of a positive character, by which this art could be traced to its origin in any particular part of the world. True, there ​would not probably be much gain in finally deciding as to which race of the human family, or to what age, the successful utilization of the horse by arming its hoofs with a hard rim of metal is due; and it would, perhaps, be more satisfactory and instructive to trace briefly the progress of the art from its earliest known introduction into the social economy of civilized nations, up to the present time, than attempt to seek its inventors in the perplexing obscurity surrounding this subject. But, as before noticed, the interest which attaches to all that pertains to the horse, and particularly to the management of its feet, by those people who were among the first to discover the beauties and merits of that noble animal, and to press its strength, fleetness, courage, and endurance ​into their service, is a great inducement to review, in as graphic a manner as possible, all that has been said in relation to the existence, non-existence, or status of this art among them. And in this inquiry the poet, painter, and sculptor have some interest, inasmuch as the correctness or incorrectness of their delineations, when this apparently trifling detail comes to be treated, will depend. This will be exemplified hereafter.
It is a remarkable circumstance that, considering the mighty influence the horse has been called on to exercise on the destiny of nations and the progress of civilization from the earliest times,—at one period an important adjunct to luxury, as well as a mainspring of utility; at another, an essential element in the arts of peace, and a still more potent one in that of war,—the first written indication of horse-shoeing (as we now understand the term) is only found in the annals of a comparatively recent period. The knowledge of being able to defend from undue wear and injury such an important organ as the horse's foot, and by such an efficacious, yet simple means, one would think indispensable to those who, in primitive times, so largely employed horses, and sought from them such important services. Such is not the case, however, if an entire omission of the fact in their writings or on their monuments be received as proof; and though several authors of some weight have in recent years asserted that the ancients were acquainted with this art, and have adduced evidence which appears to substantiate their opinion, yet a careful examination of the times and the meaning of the texts has, in nearly every case, tended to lead others to the opposite conclusion.
​That shoeing was not known to Old Testament people, no one has yet, so far as I am aware, offered a doubt. Deborah (B.C. 1296) sings, ‘Then were the horse-hoofs broken by the means of their prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones;’ or, as it might perhaps more correctly be rendered, ‘Then did the horses’ hoofs smite the ground, and were broken from the haste of their riders.’ Isaiah (b.c. 760), in the grandly prophetic language in which he foreshadows the downfall of Jerusalem by the armies of Rome, mentions the hoofs of their horses and what was esteemed their best quality. He says, ‘Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind.’ And Jeremiah (b.c. 607), when foretelling the punishment of the Philistines, says: ‘At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots.’
It is in Homer (B.C. 1000) that we find some investigators contending for the first notice of a metallic footdefence. Among these appear Fabretti, Bourgelat, Montfauçon, Cuming, and a few others. In reality, however, it was Eustathius, who lived in the 12th century, who, in his Commentaries on Homer, first speaks of that poet mentioning horses as shod. In the ‘Iliad’ (Book xi., lines 150-2) occurs the passage noted by Eustathius:
πεζοὶ μὲν πεζοὺς ὄλεκον φεύγοντας ἀνάγκῃ ἱππεῖς δ᾽ἱππῆας—ὑπὸ δέ σφισιν ὦρτο κονίη ἐκ πεδίου, τὴν ὦρσαν ἐρίγδουποι πόδες ἵππων
‘Foot on foot, and horse on horse : While from the plain thick clouds of dast arose
Beneath the armèd hoofs of clatt'ring steeds.’
This it will be readily perceived is an error. The passage, literally rendered, ought to read something like the following : ‘Foot on foot and horse on horse, they perished forcibly while flying; and under them the dust arose from the plain, and the loud-sounding (crushing or thundering) feet of the horses raised it.’
The word is ἐρίγδουποι. Another translator of the Iliad renders this passage :
‘Horse trod by horse lay foaming on the plain. From the dry fields thick clouds of dust arise,
Shade the black host, and intercept the skies ;
The brass-hoof'd steeds tumultuous plunge and bound,
And the thick thunder beats the labouring ground.’
In another place (Book viii., lines 44-5) Bourgelat, Cuming, and others, found their opinion in favour of the Greeks having shod their horses at this early period, on the fact that Homer speaks of Jove's horses as
‘The brazen-footed steeds
Of swiftest flight, with manes of flowing gold.’
The translation of χαλχόποδ’ ῖππω is correct, and is rendered so by Chapman, an old versifier :
‘This said, his brasse-hou'd (brass-hoof'd) winged horse
He did to chariot binde.’
The ‘brass-hoof’ was undoubtedly used by Homer in a metaphorical sense to denote firmness and solidity, not ​a hoof shod with brass; it was meant to convey an idea of the really good qualities of the horn in those days, and which, not being garnished with a defence of brass or bronze, was ever in danger of being destroyed when of a weak nature. Besides, brazen-footed and solid or strongfooted (χρατερωνυξ) appear to be synonymous terms; thus (in Book xxii., lines 192-3) he sings of the time
‘When the solid-footed horses fly Around the course, contending for the prize.’
And again (Book xxiv., line 331), strong-hoofed mules are mentioned. The terms were used for many purposes, but never as an indication of shod hoofs. Homer made Achilles and Stentor brazen-voiced. Bulls, fabular stags, and horses, had solid or metallic feet. Thus Pindar(B.C. 520) tells us that Bellerophon was enjoined to sacrifice a strong-footed bull to the mighty encircler of the earth before subduing the winged horse Pegasus; and we find that the Grecian heroes who went in search of the golden fleece would all have been destroyed by the brazen-footed bulls, from whose nostrils flames issued, had not Medaea interposed and driven away these taurine monsters belonging to King Ætes. Virgil frequently mentions animals of various kinds with metal feet, and Ovid also alludes to them oftener than once. And an older authority than ​either of these, and next to Homer himself, the prophet Micah (B.C. 710), exclaims: ‘Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion: for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people.'
So that really there is no foundation for supposing that the words quoted bear any reference whatever to shoeing. Homer is very minute in some of his descriptions of horses, chariots, armour, and equipment, but there is nothing particular in his poem to lead any one to suspect that the steeds of his warriors were shod. Had they been so, or had he been aware of the art, we can scarcely doubt but he would have introduced some notice of it; entering as he does into so many particulars about horses, which were, next to man, the chief figures in his word-pictures. For instance, he speaks of the method of securing horses; Neptune's team was stabled in a cave
‘Twixt Tenedos and Imbro's rocky isle.’
After driving the brazen-footed steeds through the sea, skimming the waves of blue, Neptune takes them to his retreat, then
‘Loosed from the chariot, and before them placed  Ambrosial provender; and round their feet
 Shackles of gold, which none might break nor loose,  That there they might await their lord's return.’
As Homer's famous epic describes the misfortunes and the siege of Troy, occurring about twelve hundred years before our era, it is important that the words supposed to denote shoeing be properly understood.
​A passage from the Greek poet Tryphiodorus has often been quoted to support the argument in favour of Homer's brazen-footed horses being provided with shoes; and it has been asserted from this passage that shoes of a description similar to those now in use were known at the siege of Troy, because this poet, when speaking of the fabrication of the Trojan horse, mentions that the artist did not forget to put the metal or iron on the hoofs of that wooden machine, in order to make the resemblance more complete. It must be remembered, however, that Tryphiodorus flourished at some period between the third and sixth centuries of our era, when, as will be shown hereafter, this art was not unknown; and as the poem is of comparatively modern date, he may have introduced imaginary shoes to make his picture more complete, just as some of the modern translators of the Iliad have done, but without the slightest authority, to prove that these were in use at the time of the war between the Greeks and Trojans.
In his verses, however, I can find no proof of any such intention, nor any mention of an iron rim for the wooden horse's hoofs.
A literal translation of the original Greek is as follows: ‘Then at length he finished the work, the hoofs appearing not without brass, and shone forth, being covered with tortoise-shell.’ Dr Merrick, who furnishes a Latin and English version, renders the passage thus:
‘To deck each hoof and grace the artist's skill,
 The clouded tortoise yields her polished shell.
There has been nothing more advanced, so far as I ​am aware, to prove that the ancient Greeks were cognizant of hoof defences, as we now employ them, except the finding of a horse's hoof (of stone?) in the ruins of the Parthenon. In alluding to this, Mr Syer Cuming, who appears to have taken some interest in the subject, asks, ‘Does not Homer allude to shoes when he speaks of “brazen-footed horses?” (χαλκοποδες ἱπποι). Mr Cureton informs me that he has seen horse-shoes of bronze.’
And at a later period he writes, ‘Since the publication of my paper a few facts have come to light, which tend to prove in an eminent degree the assertion therein advanced, namely, that the horses of the classic ages were shod in a similar way to those of our own day. At the time the paper was produced, we had little to countenance the idea that the early Greeks protected the feet of their steeds with metallic shoes, beyond the bare fact that some ancient horse-shoes of bronze were known to be in existence, and the poetical mention of “brazen-footed horses” in the Iliad (viii. 41, xiii. 23). Within these few years, however, Mr Charles Newton, while Vice-consul at Mytilene, found among the fragments of the Parthenon, a horse's hoof with holes all around the inside, clearly indicating where a metallic shoe had been fastened, and it is quite unlikely that any such defence should appear upon a statue if a similar article had not been in actual use at the time.'
It must be confessed that the discovery of a horse's foot among the world-renowned ruins of the Parthenon, with what appeared to be holes all round the inside only, ​is no indication whatever that a metallic shoe had ever been fastened to it. Had such an article been used, the ancient Greeks would have left us more indisputable proof than a few holes only round the inside of the hoof of one of their statues. The holes were doubtless made for some other purpose, and it, is to be regretted that no description beyond this is to be found. This, however, will be referred to hereafter.
An allusion to hoofs of horses is frequently discovered in the Greek poets and writers of a later date than the days of Homer, but all negative the idea that they had any brass, bronze, or iron protection. Aristophanes (b.c. 427), for example, in his Comedy of the ‘Knights,’ makes the chorus address Neptune as the god ‘who loves the noise of the hoofs of horses and their neighing.’ Further reference to the noise made by the hoofs of horses will be furnished when we speak of the Romans.
The strongest evidence that shoeing was not practised among the Greeks of this period, is to be found in the great attention paid to the nature and durability of the hoofs by horsemen and others, and this testimony one would think perfectly convincing. Of these we may select Xenophon, the celebrated Athenian General, in whose eloquent writings enough will be found to satisfy the most incredulous in this respect. This celebrated cavalry officer appears to have carefully studied that animal's character and habits, and all the precepts he gives in his treatise on horsemanship are dictated with an amount of wisdom and humanity which has not, perhaps, been excelled since his day. The safety and comfort of that animal and his rider were ever before him, and his ​teaching was principally directed to make the horse particularly adapted for war, as the importance of cavalry was beginning to be perceived by the Greeks in their contests with that nation of horsemen, the Persians. He displays great judgment when specifying the proper form and disposition of parts which collectively make up the nearest approach to a perfect horse, and markedly shows to what a high degree in that distant age this kind of knowledge was cultivated; indeed, from his writing, we are led to infer, that in his time, and perhaps for long before, there were accomplished horse-breakers and public riding masters, as well as men who were excellent judges of horses' qualities.
Xenophon's instructions are well worthy of a place in every treatise on horses and horsemanship, and as his chief experience was no doubt derived while following the profession of arms, and during his command of the cavalry in conducting and covering the glorious retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks from the interior of Persia, abundant opportunities must have presented themselves to justify him in afterwards urging on the attention of those who had the care of horses, the most scrupulous circumspection in the preservation of their hoofs; thus strongly indicating that shoes were not in use.
In advising as to the good ‘points’ to be sought for in a horse, he employs the clearest terms to express his meaning. ‘A person,’ he says, ‘may form his opinion of the feet by first examining the hoofs; for thick (or strong) hoofs are much more conducive to firmness than thin ones; and it must not also escape his notice whether the hoofs are high or low, as well before as behind; for high ​hoofs (that is, concave or hollow-soled hoofs) raise what is called the frog (χελιδούα) far above the ground; and low ones tread equally on the strongest and weakest parts of the foot, like in-kneed men, or like cripples among men, who limp on parts which were never intended by nature to support them. Simo says that horses which have good feet may be known by the sound; and he says this with great justice, for a hollow hoof rings against the ground like a cymbal.’ It is somewhat strange to find Markham, in the 17th century, laying stress on this sounding property of a good hoof: ‘If a horse's hoofs be rugged, and as it were seamed one seam over another, and many seams; if they be dry, full and crusty, or crumbling, it is a sign of very old age: and on the contrary part, a smooth, moist, hollow, and well-sounding hoof is a sign of young years.’
Xenophon continues: ‘As attention must be paid to the horse's food and exercise, that his body may be vigorous, so must care be likewise taken of his feet. Damp and smooth stable-floors injure even naturally good hoofs; and to prevent them from being damp, they ought to be sloping; to prevent them from being smooth, they should ​have irregularly-shaped stones inserted in the ground (or be paved), and close to one another, similar to a horse's hoofs in size; for such stable floors give firmness to the feet of horses that stand on them.’ In alluding to grooming a horse out of doors, he continues: ‘The ground outside the stable may be put into excellent condition, and serve to strengthen the horse's feet, if a person throws down in it, here and there, four or five measures full of round stones, large enough to fill the two hands, and each about a pound (?) in weight; surrounding them with an iron rim, so that these may not be scattered; for as the horse stands on these, he will be in much the same condition as if he were to travel part of every day on a stony road.
Isaac Vossius observes on this passage, that Xenophon speaks of iron shoes ωερι ιωωιχης, where he directs the hoofs of horses to be protected with iron ωεριχηδωαι σίδηρου. This is the iron hoop to bind the stones. He also says that in an old manuscript of the Greek Hippiatrics in his possession, which was illustrated with paintings, the marks and traces of the nails that pierced their hoofs were plainly seen. No reliance can be placed on this author's statements, unfortunately, for marks on a hoof in an old drawing are no great proofs of shoeing; and besides, the strange construction he puts on Xenophon's words, furnishes another instance of how little he could be received as an authority on such a subject. He was remarkable for believing the strangest inconsistencies, and almost anything but the truth; which caused Charles II. to say of him, ‘This learned divine is a strange man; he believes everything but the Bible.’ ​The Greek warrior adds: ‘A horse must also move his hoofs when he is rubbed down, or when he is annoyed with flies, as much as when he is walking; and the stones which are thus spread about strengthen the frogs of the feet.’ In another book he repeats the suggestion as to the improvement of the feet by this kind of pavement, and adds, ‘He that makes trial of this suggestion will give credit to others which I shall offer, and will see the feet of his horse become firm.' The word Στρογγύλους, here employed to denote firmness, has evidently the same signification as the Latin word teres: that is, something smooth, round, and of a proper shape, indicative of strength, soundness, and durability.
It is curious to note a similar expression in use at the present day among the Arabs of the Sahara. ‘The hoof round and hard. The hoof should resemble the cup of a slave. They walk on hoofs hard as the moss-covered stones of a stagnant pool. The frogs hard and dry. The frogs concealed beneath the hoofs are seen when he lifts his feet, and resemble date-stones in hardness.’
Furthermore, Xenophon says: ‘Those horses whose feet are hardened with exercise, will be as superior on rough ground to those which are not habituated to it, as persons who are sound in their limbs to those who are lame.’ In the same work, when treating of the duties pertaining to a commander of cavalry, he dwells on the necessity of attending to the horses' feet: ‘You must pay attention to their feet, so that they (the horses) may be in a condition to be ridden even on rough ground, knowing ​that when they suffer from being ridden they become useless.’ He also, in the treatise on horsemanship, speaks of the water used to wash the horses' legs as doing harm to the hoofs by, I suppose, softening them, as the spirit of his teaching was to keep them hard and dry. He makes no mention whatever of any defence for the horses' feet; though he notices the fashion of defending the legs of soldiers by embattai or leggings (εμβΑται), and in passing them under the feet, he says, they might also serve as shoes. These may have been used in cases of emergency for horses, but nothing is said on this point. He specifies horse-armour and its value: ‘Since, then, if the horse is disabled, the rider will be in extreme peril, it is necessary to arm the horse also with defences for his head, his breast, and his shoulders. But of all parts of the horse we must take most care to protect his belly, for it is at once a most vital and a most defenceless part; but it is possible to protect it by something connected with the housings. It is necessary, too, that that which covers the horse's back should be put together in such a way that the rider may have a firmer seat (than if he sat on the horse's bare back), and that the back of the horse may not be galled. As to other parts, also, both horse and horseman should be armed with the same precaution (so that the armour may not chafe).’
In a treatise on hunting, ascribed to this author, in speaking of the horse, it is remarked: ‘Before the task is accomplished, he falls, the hoofs worn off.’ And in another work he incidentally relates that certain people of ​Asia (Armenians?) whom he saw, were in the habit of tying sandals, or rather, drawing socks over the feet of their horses when the snow lay very thick on the ground, to prevent their sinking too deeply. ‘The horses in this country were smaller than those of Persia, but far more spirited. The chief instructed the men to tie little bags (Κυρ Αναβ) round the feet of the horses, and other cattle, when they drove them through the snow, for without such bags they sank up to their bellies.’
This is the only mention made of a garniture for the feet of horses by the renowned author and soldier, and I am not aware of any recent writer mentioning this contrivance in the uplands of Armenia. It may be remarked, however, that in Kamschatka the dogs employed to draw sledges or catch seals wear socks provided with small holes to allow the claws to protrude. These may to some extent not only protect the feet from injury, but also help to guard against sinking in the snow. Arctic travellers have likewise availed themselves of these appliances for their dogs.
The only Greek writer before the Christian era, after Xenophon, who alludes to a defence for the feet of animals is Aristotle (B.C. 340). In describing the camel's foot, he writes: ‘The foot is fleshy underneath, like that of a bear; wherefore, when camels are used in war, and become footsore, their drivers put them on leather shoes (ΥΠΟΔΕΟΥΣΙ Καζβατιναις).’ They were probably most frequently ​made of raw hide or coarse cloth (as Ludolphus tells us the Tartars used cow-hide for their horses' feet), passing round the feet and up the legs, like a laced boot. They will be noticed hereafter as solea.
Polydore Vergil (A.D. 1550), in his ‘De Inventoribus Rerum,’ informs us that the Thessalians were reported to have been the first who protected their horses' hoofs with shoes of iron. ‘Hos quoque (Peletronios, qui Thessaliæ populi sunt) primos equorum ungulas munire ferreis soleis cœpisse ferunt.’ This author, whose Latin was generally more elegant than his descriptions were faithful, does not give his authorities for this statement, which is unsupported by any proof of its correctness. In all likelihood, as Mr Pegge observes, he has misled himself by referring to Virgil, where that poet asserts that
‘The Pelian Lapithæ
Invented bits, and mounted on the back;
Broke horses to the ring, and made them spring
Under the arm'd, and proudly pace the round.’
Vergil made a mistake, or allowed himself to be deceived, when he described these primitive people of North Greece as the inventors of horse-shoes.
‘Not yet dead, But in old marbles ever beautiful,’
we will find our suspicions as to the inaccuracy of those who assert that this people provided an armour for their horses' feet, more than confirmed.
It must be remembered that the Greeks were the first true interpreters of nature. To this their physical organization, their climate, but, perhaps, most of all their religion, concurred to develop those principles of beauty that induce man to select from nature the forms and combinations which give the highest and most endurable pleasure.
The creations of these people, who, according to Pindar,
‘Strew'd o'er their walls, their public ways, The sculptured life, the breathing stone,’
now that two thousand years have passed away, yet, and will ever, command the admiration of refined taste, speaking, as they do, to our imagination and understanding, while carrying with them the greatest beauty of proportion, the utmost simplicity and truth in design, and blending a harmony with a purity and regard for nature such as has never been surpassed. We recognize in their sculptures of horses that intense and astonishing expression of life, which none but the greatest artists are capable of bestowing on their imitations of nature, when teeming with vitality and action. Theocritus, two thousand years ago, was enraptured with these chisellings:
‘How true they stand, and move, and quite appear Alive, not wrought! What clever things men are!’
The horses of Thessaly are there depicted as they exist at the present day, even to the characteristic large heads and thick necks.
To say that they are exactly portrayed in every anatomical detail, is to declare nothing but the simple truth, and is sufficient for our object. And yet the very ​closest scrutiny of the horses' feet in these marbles with a practised—might I add a professional—eye, leads to the unhesitating conclusion that they are exact copies of nature in every respect, but nature never adorned or protected by an iron or bronze furniture. So true do they appear to real life, that we can almost fancy the animals in their spirited movements have chipped their hoofs at the sides (or quarters); and they are of a shape and perfectness which one seldom sees in hoofs that have been shod for any length of time.
These unrivalled relics of antiquity offer additional proofs that metal shoes were not in use. The ancient Greeks were very careful in representing the different costumes worn by the riders of these horses, even to the fashion of their foot covers. Not only this, but they had their marble statues adorned with metals in many instances, which again were not unfrequently gilt. ‘For the fragments show that the weapons, the reins of the horses, and other accessories, were in metal, probably gilt.’ The horses appeared to have had bits in their mouths, and the holes yet remain at the commissures of the lips wherein they have been fixed; but no evidence is to be found that any metal was attached to the hoofs. In a bas-relief of Castor and Pollux in the Townley gallery of the British Museum, instead of metal bridles for the two horses, red paint appears to have been used. No paint, however, is to be discovered on the feet of any horses to indicate that shoes were worn.
In the Temple collection (case 56) in the British ​Museum, among bronze fragments of a statue and sacrificial implements, is a very perfect hind foot and pastern of a horse, from Magna Græcia. This is unshod, and from the shape and general appearance of the hoof, there can be no doubt that the original of this model had never been submitted to this badge of servile subjection, as old Gwillin has been pleased to designate the modern horseshoe. And among all the relics to be found in this and other museums, nothing can be discerned that the most lively imagination would transform into a horse-shoe, as employed by the ancient Greeks. Weapons there are without number, articles belonging to religious and domestic requirements, armour and spurs for riders, armour and bits for horses, and in the British Museum are also two excellent specimens of muzzles for horses. Xenophon informs us that, in his day, the groom put on the muzzle (κημος) when the horse was led from his stable to be groomed or exercised; indeed on every occasion when he had no bridle on his head or bit in his mouth, to prevent his doing any mischief to other horses or to men. While it prevented the horse from biting it did not interfere with his breathing.
A civilized nation which prized the horse so highly, and so largely employed it in war and in the public diversions, could not but display its wisdom in providing everything for its comfort and well-being; but it appears that the Greeks did not understand extending its utility by preventing undue wear of the hoofs and consequent lameness. All the paintings on vases and elsewhere represent the horse with nude feet. ​The climate of Greece, it must not be forgotten, is dry, and favourable to the hardness and durability of horses' hoofs; so that solipedes brought from the north or west, where their journeys would be of a limited character without shoes, may there acquire sufficient strength and cohesiveness in the horny box covering the inferior extremity of the limbs, as to perform a certain amount of labour with no defence.
Paul Louis Courier, who translated Xenophon's treatise on horsemanship, was so pleased with his method of managing the feet of horses, that during the very brief campaign in Calabria in 1807, while with the army corps to which he belonged, he rode horses without shoes, and, as he believed, with advantage. In a note he adds: ‘The ancients did not shoe their horses; this is evidenced in all the writings and monuments they have left us, and we cannot be astonished that the people who, in so many different countries, do not know the use of shoes, should not yet have introduced them. The Tonguses, as well as the majority of the Tartars—the best and the most indefatigable horsemen in the world—scarcely work at all in iron; and for that reason it is impossible for them to shoe their steeds. The Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope have little horses which are never shod, according to Sparmann. And M. Thunberg has made the same remark in the island of Java. Another traveller assures us, that at Mogador, and the west coast of Africa, all the horses journey without shoes, and Niebuhr says the same for those of Yemen. Pallas has seen the horses of the Kalmucks, which have small and extremely hard hoofs, ​ridden without any shoes, and the Cossacks' on the banks of the Jaïk, he adds, are never shod.’
Of the evil effects of prolonged marches, and consequent excessive wear of the undefended hoofs in the Greek armies, we find casual mention now and again in the early historians. Diodorus Siculus (B.C. 44) in one of his volumes, when describing the victories of Alexander, states that ‘the hoofs of the horses, through ceaseless journeying, had been worn away, and the matériel of war was used up.’
And Cinnamus speaks in the same strain of the war in Attalia. ‘He ordered them to await the rest of the army in Attalia, and to look after the horses, for a disease to which they are liable had attacked their hoofs, and had done serious hurt.’
In the account which Appian gives of the victory achieved by Lucullus over Mithridates, King of Pontus, at the siege of Cyzicum (B.C. 73), we find that Mithridates sent part of his cavalry back to Bithynia, such as were useless, feeble from want of forage, and footsore or lame in consequence of their hoofs being worn out (και χαλευοντας εξ υποτριβης).
This description has been differently given by H. Stephanus (edit. Stephanus, 1592, p. 221), and this has ​given rise to a serious mistake. His translation is as follows: ‘Equos vero tum inutiles et infirmos ob inediam, claudicantesque solearum inopia, detritis ungulis, aversis ab hoste itineribus, misit in Bithyniam.’ No such words as solearum inopia occur in the original text; they are an interpolation by the learned translator without the faintest authority, and have led several writers of note to believe that horse-shoes were then in use: whereas the contrary may be inferred, for the horses, it is explicitly mentioned, were lame by the attrition of their hoofs; which implies that horses were not shod. Montfauçon was led astray by this addition to the original account. He writes: ‘There are certain and undoubted proofs that the ancients shod their horses; thus much Homer and Appian say;’ and Fosbrooke remarks that ‘an iron horse-shoe is mentioned by Appian; so that the conclusion from Xenophon's recommendation for hardening the hoof, that the ancients did not shoe beasts of burden, is too rash.’
Subsequent to the Christian era, we find Arrian (A.D. 200) comparing the human body to a pack-ass—οναριον εωισεαγμένο, and speaking of a kind of shoe for that animal: ‘Οταν εχεινο οναριον η, ταλλα γίνεται χαλιναρια του οναριον, σχημαατια, υωοδηματια, κριθαι, χορτος. Some translators have rendered υωοδηματια as ‘ferreæ calces;’ but Didot, in his new Collection of Classical Greek authors, translates it as sparteæ calces: ‘Si asselus est corpus, cetera freni erunt aselli, clitellæ, sparteæ calces, hordeum, fœnum.’
Artemidorus, in his Interpretation of Dreams, about ​the same period as Arrian, also speaks of a horse shod with a sock or shoe, υωδημα, which was probably made of spartea, like the above.
I find on a silver coin of Tarentum, now in the British Museum, and struck, it is surmised, about B.C. 300, a curious representation of a horse and two men, which might, at the first glance, be supposed to be connected with our subject (fig. i).
fig. i
The horse is beautifully delineated, and admirably represents the breed then famous in this part of Magna Græcia. A groom or boy, nude as the horse attendants are generally represented on ancient Greek vases and sculpture, is seated on the horse's back, and strokes his ​mane as if to soothe him, while another individual, also nude, holds up one of the fore feet, as if to apply a shoe. The attitude is very striking, and it would be interesting to discover why such a group should be represented on a coinage.
It may be observed, however, that there is no instrument in the hands of the dismounted figure whereby to fasten on the shoe, if such be his vocation, and that his attitude is not a very convenient one. This is, nevertheless, the posture assumed on the continent of Europe, and generally all over the East, by the workman who arms the hoofs, but then there is another person to hold up the limb. In this example he may be only trying on a shoe; though the figure on the horse's back would not add to the facility with which this operation might otherwise be performed. I may mention that I have seen and heard of troop horses which, though otherwise tractable, would scarcely allow themselves to be shod unless a man were seated on their backs, stroking their ears and necks in the manner shown on the Greek coin; and Cæsar Fiaschi, in the fifteenthcentury, recommends for horses that will not be shod quietly, that ‘mots plaisants’ be used, and ‘faire mettre un cavalier sur le dos.’ It has been suggested that a stone is being removed from the sole; but without shoes it is almost, if not quite, impossible that a stone could lodge in the foot. Might he not be fastening on a temporary shoe or sock?
Beyond the illustration this affords, we have no evidence of shoeing among the Greeks; and, after all, this may be only an allegorical representation, or a reference to some mythological subject.
* ↑ De Re Equestri.
* ↑ Voyages, vol. ii. p. 113. Paris, 1684.
* ↑ Joh. Ludolphus. Hist. Æthiopic, vol. i. cap. 10. 'Ideo nec ungulas eorum soleis ferreis muniunt: si per aspera et salebrosa loca eundum fit, eos ducunt, ipsi mulis insidentes.'
* ↑ Ibid, in Commentario, p. 149. 'Tempore vero hyemis, viis ob gelu asperis et duris, corio boum, etiam recenti, si-aliud non suppetat, pedes equoruni suorum involvunt.'
* ↑ Mansfield Parkyns. Life in Abyssinia, vol. ii. See also Baker, Nile Tributaries in Abyssinia. Proc. Roy. Geo. Soc., 1866.
* ↑ Travels through Mongolia to China, vol. i. p. 188.
* ↑ Narrative of the Travels of Marco Polo. London, 1849. p. 234.
* ↑ Himalayan Journals, vol. ii. p. 131.
* ↑ History of Java, vol. ii. p. 319.
* ↑ Travels in Southern Africa, vol. ii. p. 27. London, 1812.
* ↑ Lake Ngami, p. 339
* ↑ The Civil and Natural History of Jamaica, p. 487. London, 1756.
* ↑ A Ride Across the Pampas, p. 387.
* ↑ Travels in various countries of Scandinavia. London, 1838.
* ↑ Travels in Sweden, p. 19.
* ↑ Megnin. Ferrure du Cheval, p. 8.
* ↑ Among the principal writers who have occupied themselves in this investigation may be mentioned the following:— Raphael Fabretti. Syntagma de Columna Trajani. A. Winckelmann. Description des Pierres Antiques Gravées, p. 169. Florence, 1760. I. Pegge. Archæologia, 1776. Beckman, History of Discoveries and Inventions, vol. ii. London, 1797. Bourgelat. Essai Théorique et Pratique sur la Ferrure. Huzard. Théâtre d'Agriculture, vol. i. p. 630. Paris, 1804. Bracy Clark. An Essay on the Knowledge of the Ancients respecting the Art of Shoeing the Horse. London, 1831. T. D. Fosbrooke. Encyclopædia of Antiquities. London, 1840. An anonymous writer in United Service Magazine, 1849. C. H. Smith. The Naturalist's Library, vol. xii. p. 128. H. Bouley. Dictionnaire Vétérinaire, vol. vi. Art. Ferrure. H. S. Cuming. Journal Archæological Association, vol. vi. xiv. F. Defays. Annales de Méd. Vétérinaire, p. 256. Brussels, 1867. . P. Megnin. De l'Origine de la Ferrure du Cheval. Paris, 1865. La Maréchalerie Française, Paris, 1867. Nickard. Mémoires de la Soc. Nationale des Antiquaires de France, 1866.
* ↑ Judges v. 22.
* ↑ Isaiah v 28.
* ↑ Jeremiah xlvii.
* ↑ Iliad, book v. 785.
* ↑ Olymp. xiii.
* ↑ Ibid. Olymp. iv.: ‘His furious bulls, whose nostrils bright Flames of consuming fire diffused, Battering the ground with brazen tread.’
* ↑ Æneid, book vi. 803.
* ↑ Heroid. ep. xii. 93: Metamorphosis vii. 105: Apollonius, iii. 228.
* ↑ Chap. iv. 13.
* ↑ Iliad, xiii. 41-5.
* ↑ Tryphiodorus, by Merrick. Oxford, 1742.
* ↑ Journal of the Archaeological Association, vol. vi.
* ↑ Ibid. vol. xvi.
* ↑ Οι γαρ παχεις πολν των λεπτων διαφέρουσιν εις ενποδίαν. επειτα ονδε τούτο δει λανθάνειν, πότερον αι οπλαί εισιν νφηΧαι Γ/ ταπεινοί, και έμπροσθεν, και όπισθεν, Γ/ χαμηΧαΙ. α! μεν γαρ υψηΧαϊ πόρρω από του ΙαπεΖον εχονσι τον χεΧίΙονα καΧουμενην, αι δε ταπιιναί ομοίως βαίνουσι τύ τε ισχνροτάτω, και τω μαΧακωτάτω του ποίος, ωσπερ οι βΧαισοι των ανθρώπων.—ΠΕΡΙ ΙΠΠΙΚΗΣ, Ed. Leunc. p. 932 .
* ↑ Simo, an Athenian, mentioned by Suidas and cited by Pollux, was, according to Pliny, the first who wrote on horsemanship. Some reference to him is made in a fragment of Hierocles, which is inserted in the De Re Veterinariâ of Simon Grynaeus. Basil, 1537.
* ↑ The Perfect Horseman, p. 129. London, 1655.
* ↑ Hipparchicus, p. 611.
* ↑ Dumas: The Horses of the Sahara.
* ↑ Hipparchicus, c. xii.
* ↑ Sturz, Lex. Xenoph. Cynegeticon.
* ↑ De Cyri Min. Expedit., p. 228.
* ↑ See Beiträge zur Phys. Oekonomie der Russischen Länder. Berlin, 1786. Captain Cook's Last Voyage, and the later Voyages of Arctic Explorers.
* ↑ Hist. Animal. lib. ii. p. 850.
* ↑ Lib. ii. cap. 12.
* ↑ Archæologia, 1776.
* ↑ Georgics, iii. 115: ‘Frena Pelethronii Lapithæ gyrosque dedere Impositi dorso, atque equitem docuere sub armis Insultare solo, et gressus glomerare superbos.’
* ↑ Olympic Ode, VII.
* ↑ Idyll xv. 83.
* ↑ Lectures on Science, vol. iv. p. 104.
* ↑ Dodwell, Travels, vol. i. p. 339.
* ↑ Description of the Collections of Ancient Marbles in the British Museum. Part IV. page 26. London, 1830.
* ↑ Xenophon, Hipp., chap. v. 3. Pollux, i. 202.
* ↑ Traite de Xenophon sur l'Equitation. Panthéon Littéraire.
* ↑ Diod. Siculus, lib. xvii. cap. 94, p. 233. Edit. Weissilingii. 'Equorum ungulae propter itiaera nunquam remissa detritae et armorum pleraque absumptae erant.'
* ↑ Edit. Tollii Traject. ad Rhenum, 1825. Lib. iv. p. 194. 'Caeteras copias manere in Attalia et equos curare jussit, nam malam cui est obnoxium equinum genus plantes pedum acciderat, graviterque efficerat.'
* ↑ De Bello Mithrid. p. 371. Edit. Tollii.
* ↑ Antiquité Expliquée, vol. iv. p. 50.
* ↑ Ency. of Antiquities. London, 1840.
* ↑ Commentar. in Epictetum, lib. iii.
* ↑ Tarentum, the modern Taranto, an ancient town of Italy, in the kingdom of Naples, is built on a small island, in The Gulf of Taranto, near Brindisi. It was founded B.C. 700, as a Greek colony, by Lacedæmonian Parthenii, the descendants of a people noted for their love of horses and excellent horsemanship. This city was one of the most flourishing and powerful of Magna Græcia, and was distinguished for its luxury and splendour, as well as for its encouragement of the fine arts. For a long time it resisted the Romans, but at last submitted to them, B.C. 272. The above drawing is twice the size of the coin.
* ↑ Maréchalerie. 3rd French edit., cap. 29. Paris, 1563.