Hold a bar of aluminum in your hand and strike it on an anvil or hard surface and then do the same thing with a piece of steel. Aluminum dissipates sting much better than steel, and the horse will respond by moving smoother. An added benefit is that by reducing sting, we will reduce hoof damage caused by the horseshoes. Every time a shoe vibrates, it damages a little hoof wall. By using a lighter material for our shoes we can use a shoe that has more flotation.
Flotation is the amount of weight a shoe can support on the ground.
A barefooted horse has a great amount of flotation . The whole foot is on the ground supporting the weight, but adding shoes reduces flotation unless a shoe with a wide web is used. There are many ways to describe a pretty moving horse, but one definition is a horse that appears to move without using any effort. A pretty moving horse seems to glide over the ground without even touching it. By keeping a foot on top of the ground instead of in it, we can reduce the amount of effort the horse expends, therefore making the horse a prettier mover.