The oxymoron of "Modern shoeing"

Apparently there is an article in Horse and Hound this week all about modern shoeing - the title is "Shoeing for Performance" - presumably because "Shoeing for Lameness" wouldn't be quite so catchy.

I haven't yet read it but when someone sent me a text about it I was amused at the phrase "modern shoeing".  After all, one of the arguments used in favour of shoes is that "its been done since Roman times".

Now, although there is archaeological evidence that shoes were put on horses in Roman times, I've never found it persuasive as a reason for shoeing.  After all, the Romans invented lots of things - including novel ways of torture - that we now find repulsive and lots of other things - like central heating and plumbing - that we still use but have radically changed and improved.

"Modern shoeing" therefore to me is a bit of an oxymoron, since there is little fundamental difference between Roman horseshoes and those most widely used today.

Don't get me wrong - horseshoes have a use.  Jen blogged recently about the massive improvement in her horse, Saga, when he is shod by comparison to when he is barefoot.  She knows he has thin soles and has found it impossible to get to the bottom of why, so shoes are a practical way of helping his less than perfect feet still perform.

 However, let's also not forget that most of the horses who come here have feet which have been deformed by shoes - there is really no other way to describe it - and who have had months and often years of shoes making their feet weaker and more compromised.

As always, the picture is bigger than we think, and much more complicated!