The hipposandal (Latin ''soleae ferreae'')
by Dr.

Hiltrud Strasser Dr. Hiltrud Strasser (born 1943, Leipzig, Germany) is a German veterinarian, who has worked for many years on the anatomy, physiology, pathology, and rehabilitation of horses' feet. She has published papers and books on this topic since the 1980s. ...

is a device that protected the

hoof The hoof (plural: hooves) is the tip of a toe of an ungulate mammal, which is covered and strengthened with a thick and horny keratin covering. Artiodactyls are even-toed ungulates, species whose feet have an even number of digits, yet the rum ...

of a horse. It was commonplace in the northwestern countries of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...

,Recent Light on the Roman Horseshoe, The Classical Journal Vol. 29, No. 9 (June 1934)
/ref> and was a predecessor to the horseshoe. The necessity of protecting the

horse hoof A horse hoof is the lower extremity of each leg of a horse, the part that makes contact with the ground and carries the weight of the animal. It is both hard and flexible. It is a complex structure surrounding the distal phalanx of the 3rd digit ...

was recognised by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and written about by

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Greek mercenary armies o ...

.The History of Farriery
Irish Farriery Authority An early form of hoof protection was seen in ancient Asia, where horses' hooves were wrapped in rawhide, leather or other materials for both therapeutic purposes and protection from wear. Elsewhere, various methods were employed to trim the hoof into a hollow form and give it as much hardness as possible. Gradually, protection items started to appear, first with the ''soleae Sparteae'', a sort of leather

hoof boot A hoof boot is a device made primarily of polyurethane and is designed to cover the hooves of a horse as an alternative to, and occasionally in addition to, horseshoes. Hoof boots can also be used as a protective device when the animal has ...

, later improved into the ''soleae ferreae'' that featured metal studded soles similar to contemporary military boots. The hipposandal, which appears in the Celtic-Roman area north of the Alps around the mid-1st century AD, was the next step in the development of hoof protection, where the sole of the boot was made of metal. It included an oval-shaped cup of thick metal that enclosed and protected the hoof, complete with a fixation system. The device was fastened to the hoof by metallic clips and leather laces. Like the ''soleae Sparteae'' and ''soleae ferreae'', the hipposandal increased ground adherence of draught animals, thereby giving them better traction, and protected the hoof on rough ground. To further improve traction, the bottom of each hipposandal was grooved. There is speculation that the

Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

were the first to nail on metal horseshoes.McBane, Susan ''A Natural Approach to Horse Management'' London:Methuen 1992 p. 57–60 The nailed iron horseshoe first clearly appeared in the archaeological record in Europe in about the 5th century AD when a horseshoe, complete with nails, was found in the tomb of the Frankish King

Childeric I Childeric I (; french: Childéric; la, Childericus; reconstructed Frankish: ''*Hildirīk''; – 481 AD) was a Frankish leader in the northern part of imperial Roman Gaul and a member of the Merovingian dynasty, described as a king (Latin ''re ...

at Tournai, Belgium."Horseshoe." Encyclopædia Britannica. 15th ed. Vol. 20. 2005. 651-51. Print. In Gallo-Roman countries, the hipposandal appears to have briefly co-existed with the nailed horseshoe.British Museum
/ref> In 2006, Channel Four's history programme ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'' featured an episode where hipposandals were recreated and tested; however, they were reported to have been uncomfortable and unsuitable for long journeys.Horseshoes in Roman and Post-Roman use
Carla Nayland

References

Further reading