Hoofing It

[Samloyal23]

Okay, I have two races in my campaign, Minotaurs and Fauns, that have hooves. I'm thinking they should wear horseshoes instead of boots. Realistically speaking, would a sentient race with hooves bother with shoes at all? What are the actual benefits of shoeing a horse? If we put iron shoes on these characters, would they be enchanted as magic boots or magic horseshoes? Technically, I think they can wear magic boots, but I just think that would be aesthically wrong...

 

[xigbar]

Well, for starters, I'd allow a hoof version of any magical boot you'd allow in your game. Shoeing a horse makes it have more traction at higher speeds, and prevents harm to the rest of the "foot." It also gives soem guy an opportunity to screw around with a hammer, which is always fun.

 

[Sekhmet]

My centaur uses Horseshoes of Speed.

Horseshoes are necessary for domesticated animals (but not for wild animals). In the wild, horses travel great distances (up to 50 miles a day) in search of food and water, which contributes to a great deal of hardening of the hooves. In domestication, hoof hardness is usually less than 1/3rd that of wild horses, so shoes were invented to overcome such problems. The hard work a pack or riding animal is put through (in comparison to a wild counterpart) is more demanding of a hard hoof, also.
Interestingly, the horses we breed for domesticated purposes have been selected with little regard to hoof strength, because of the existence of horseshoes.

Your minotaur/faun/satyr/what have you will probably not have grown up in a city, but if he had, you can bet he'll need to be shod. You can find a farrier in just about any stable, and he can shoe your character.

Edit: For your second question, give them a bit of fluff and make them enchant horseshoes instead of regular boots. Just for funs.

 

[Samloyal23]

Okay, I'm thinking any of the enchantments listed for either boots or horseshoes should be usable by hooved PCs. A hooved person wearing boots, even magical ones, is not going to be graceful, I think it lowers their maximum dexterity modifier by 1 for movement and AC purposes. So it will affect things like Tumble but not Pickpocketing. Not to mention it just looks silly on a berk and will likely get him beat up for looking foolish when he goes to the Minotaur bar for some ale...

 

[Loonook]

Horseshoes can be used, but there are also soft almost 'horseboots' that were used by those who didn't necessarily have a lot of ironworking. Horses who are kept with the appropriate level of calcium and proper care can go without shoes in most territories. Unless you're dealing with a large amount of cobblestones, concrete, etc. most horses can get away without true horseshoes.

They have advantages in battle (they add to the natural slashing ability of a hoof if sharpened) but can lead to damage to the hoof if inappropriately shoed included founder, a severe case of laminitis, a damage to the encapsulated covered bones. Founder will fully lame a horse to the point of needing to be put down.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[Ashtagon]

Horseshoes were developed alongside paved roads. In the wild, the terrain that hoofed animals travel on is typically quite soft, at least in comparison to bare rock. Just about every man-made road since Roman times was at least equal to bare rock in terms of hardness, which would potentially injure just about any hoofed animal after an extended period.

Edit: Apparently, horse shoes were developed in response to the fact that domesticated horses tend to travel in short bursts of high speed (as opposed to slowly walking and grazing all day), which is more damaging on hooves. In addition, European climates tended to be wetter, which also resulted in more damage to the hooves. That said, stony surfaces aren't much good either. The ideal surface is basically dry grasslands.

Personally, I would have no problem with allowing enchanted horseshoes. You could even give them weapon enchantments to boot, so to speak.

 

[frankthedm]

My centaur uses Horseshoes of Speed.

Did anyone at the table notice the rules seem to indicate those were just for animals?

Horseshoes of Speed
These iron shoes come in sets of four like ordinary horseshoes. When affixed to an animal’s hooves, they increase the animal’s base land speed by 30 feet; this counts as an enhancement bonus. As with other effects that increase speed, jumping distances increase proportionally. All four shoes must be worn by the same animal for the magic to be effective.

Faint transmutation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, haste; Price 3,000 gp; Weight 12 lb. (for four).

 

[SkidAce]

I wouldn't want horse shoes nailed to my feet if I was a hooved race like a minotaur. I suspect our race would have developed horse like boots that could be pulled on, like real world cowboy boots.

That way I could take them off after a long day and also not worry about breaking the tiled floor.

p.s. would also help to sneak if I could take them off.

 

[Sekhmet]

I wouldn't want horse shoes nailed to my feet if I was a hooved race like a minotaur. I suspect our race would have developed horse like boots that could be pulled on, like real world cowboy boots.

That way I could take them off after a long day and also not worry about breaking the tiled floor.

p.s. would also help to sneak if I could take them off.

Hooves are made of the same stuff that finger nails are, and have no nerve endings. The most they can feel during the nailing process is a little bit of pressure.
In regards to sneaking, any hooved creature will have a penalty to Move Silently on hard surfaces, with or without being shod.

[MENTION=1164]frankthedm[/MENTION]
Yes, they noticed. I was playing a Centaur Druid, and the group conceded that because I wanted to give up caster and spell levels to have some fun as a Centaur, they didn't really mind giving me an additional 30' move speed. They also agreed that, because Haste effects do not stack, it didn't matter too much anyway.

 

[Loonook]

Hooves are made of the same stuff that finger nails are, and have no nerve endings. The most they can feel during the nailing process is a little bit of pressure.
In regards to sneaking, any hooved creature will have a penalty to Move Silently on hard surfaces, with or without being shod.

Up until the point that someone screws up a shoe... Oh and then all hell breaks loose.

I am not an equestrian. I worked on a horse farm for years, shoveling manure, tending horses, currying, walking, lunging, rasping the occasional hoof while also cleaning the hoof, giving massages (yeah, apparently people assume I know how to give massage to any species because I can massage people? ), racking hay, pouring grain. I've seen horses get hot-hoof/laminitis leading to founder. I've seen horses that operate quite well with riders and NO shoes. Most 'skilled' farriers (the guys who shoe horses) are starting to move away from the horseshoes of old and into more temporary/no-nail secured shoes. From horse boots (once used for orthopedic issues in lieu of corrective horseshoes) to the strict 'no shoe' groups, most horses don't need horseshoes.

Maybe you remember going on summer vacation or just spending time at home during the summer if you were lucky like me and occasionally lived in a warm clime . You walk around, your feet will develop calluses, and you develop strength in the foot.

A horse's hoof is just a complex version of your own nail attached to the phalanges. They bear their weight on the legs and, if left to the wild or nice variant but non-soft surfaces will allow for a shoeless horse. Now horses should have protection over certain surfaces (sharp pebbles for example) to protect the frog and other pieces of the foot. Some of the illnesses of the hoof (abscesses, laminitis, thrush, white line) are caused by poor conditions in the stall or generally poor conditions and lack of movement in cold and/or wet bedding/ground that needs to be cleaned.

Now let us think of a sentient creature who feels that pain and can state it (or even take care of it themselves). For two-legged hoofers? Hell, that is an easy one, cleaning themselves just like I would with a horse. A scraper, clean it out, apply appropriate substances, relax.

For note yes, use horseshoes for the bellicose, or those who live in areas or cannot easily take care of their hoof. If they can? They're probably using something along the lines of this:

There are versions of this allegedly predating the shoe. You can get better tractions through hobnailing the boots, and allows for the floors not to get scuffed up by giant pieces of metal dragging across them.

Of course, my biggest question about a Centaur is how do they wipe...

Slainte,

-Loonook.