A This is an excellent question; there has been a lot of debate lately about when a domestic horse needs to be shod. Wild horses and burros usually have very strong feet with excellent hoof walls and good shape. This is partly due to natural selection and perhaps a bit to genetics.

Mostly, the hoof shape we’ve come to know as natural, or associated with wild horses, is a result of environment and exercise. Most wild horses live in very dry, rocky, desert-like areas, and they often travel 10-20 miles a day just to get feed and water. This probably has a positive effect on hoof structure and shape during the first few years of development and has a tremendous impact on the strength and shape of the hooves of adult horses and burros.

After you remove a horse from the wild, the feet will change over time. Some characteristics might stay the same for life, but certainly hoof shape (toe length, toe angle, etc.) and the characteristics of the frog will change if the horse is kept in a stall, pen, or even a large pasture. It is hard to encourage 10 to 20 miles of travel a day on hard ground even if your horse lives in a pasture with hundreds of acres