For various reasons I've found myself wondering if any other creature aside from horses and donkeys has been fitted out with metal "shoes" the way we do with them. Reason being, equines have these single-toed hooves, and that's why the U-shaped shoes work for them. But the vast majority of hooved mammals are artiodactyls, meaning they have an even number of toes. Cloven hooves, in other words. How would that affect things?
Well, first of all,
yes, there is such a thing. There have been shoes made for cattle, mainly oxen. How do you deal with them having two smaller toes instead of one big one? By making two shoes for each foot, natch. They wind up looking a little like quotations marks.
2 comments:
That Is a bit of a strange thing to wonder about but what you discovered about metal shoes being not just for horses is fascinating. You're right they do look like quotation marks.
It was weird to learn that when caterpillars enter the chrysalis phase, their entire body first turns into a liquid, soupy substance which then reforms into the butterfly.
Well, one thing led to another. Horses are the primary mount, or at least were before motorized vehicles became common. But like I said before, most ungulates have two-toed hooves. Including camels, which people do ride, but through desert sands so it's a different situation.
It is quite strange that caterpillars break down into liquid during that stage. I mean, don't their organs have to keep working?
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