Wear of polymer horseshoes: a field investigation

A methodology to monitor wear behaviour of polymer horseshoes was developed and applied in a field investigation. Results show that wear is proportional to the distance run on hard grounds while other typical horse activities performed on softer grounds do not contribute significantly to degradation. Slight modifications of the shoe structure affect the distribution of wear on the shoe sole and may thus increase the lifetime. The method allowed one to quantitatively describe differences in wear behaviour among individual horses.