Horseshoe And Horse Collar During The Middle Ages

287 Words2 Pages

The horseshoe and horse collar were both implemented during the Middle Ages in Europe for agricultural purposes. The horseshoe is a shoe for a horse made of a narrow band of iron in the form of an extended circular arc and secured to the hoof with nails . It protected the horse’s hooves from becoming soft and breaking due to the soft, damp, and cold ground of northern Europe . Additionally, it aided the horse in getting traction while on the damp and soft ground. The horse collar is part of a horse’s harness that pads a pair of curved metal or wood, called hames, and is around its neck and shoulders, which is connected to whatever it is pulling. It is used to distribute the load around a horse's neck and shoulders when pulling a wagon or plow. …show more content…

Higher productivity resulted in a larger supply of food, increasing the population, which increased by 50 million from 800 to 1300. Horseshoes and horse collars are still being used today. The heavy cavalries of the later years adopted the horseshoe and would not function without it. Without the existence of horseshoes and horse collars, medieval Europe would not have been as prosperous as it was before the arrival of the bubonic plague. It made it possible for one horse pulling a heavy plow to work as much land in a day as a pair of oxen, which lead to higher yields per acre and greater prosperity in Europe during the Middle Ages, making it a hub of cities and economic