Today I am going to share some specialty horseshoes from my collection. These are all products that can be attached to a regular horseshoe for special purposes. I currently have a bog shoe, a snow shoe, a lawn boot, and ice cleats.
The snowshoe I have is made of steel. They can also be made of wood or even rope and wood. The shoe I have is made for the horse to set their hoof in place, then a screw is tightened at the bottom so it clamps onto the horse’s shoe that is nailed to their hoof.
The metal cage at the bottom of this horseshoe would help distribute the horse’s weight on the snow to help them from sinking as far. This shoe could probably be used on muddy ground, as well.
The bog shoe (also called a mud or marsh shoe) works similarly to the snowshoe, in that it makes the hoof surface bigger to distribute the horse’s weight so it doesn’t sink down as easily in mud or even snow. This shoe is made of wood and steel. The hoof is positioned in the center of the shoe and a metal rod with a screw is tightened on it with a wing nut to hold the hoof in place. This particular shoe was patented December 8, 1891 by J.D. Dodge.
My antique removable ice cleats were patented July 6, 1880 by Chas. G. Hill.
These attachments have a large screw-tightened piece that helps it clamp onto the shoe. there are metal clears on this attachment that help give the horse traction on ice.
The lawn boot is a thick leather boot that buckles over a horse’s hoof and regular shoe. These boots were used to keep the horse’s hooves from churning up pieces of sod while pulling a lawn mower, back in the day when horses were needed to pull lawn mowing equipment on large estates.
The bottom of the boot, which is in contact with the ground.
Of course, this is just a small selection of what is out there. There are many different varieties and types of shoes and attachments that have been invented over the years to help improve footing or to better care for lame horses.