Do Centaurs Wear Horseshoes?

While fiction depends on "it's make-believe," I can't turn off over ten-years of education and critical thinking. This shows in my writing.

Mundus is a fantasy world with European fairytale elements – wizards, dragons, gingerbread houses. However, I'm a bit of a cultural magpie. If something catches my fancy, I'll grab it.

Centaurs are part of mainstream fantasy due to works like The Chronicles of Narnia and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Centaurs are a visually stunning icon - fast, free, and dangerous in battle.

Of course, my brain had to go and ruin a perfectly good action sequence. Would centaurs need to wear horseshoes? If Mundus was to have centaurs, I needed answers.

Oddly enough, I did not just Google 'do centaurs wear horseshoes.' It actually didn't occur to me to check until I started working on this blog. I used an insane combination of anthropology, veterinarian knowledge, and gut-feeling.

Simple answer. Yes, centaurs could wear horseshoes. They'd probable even pioneer the concept.

Now, I've seen some web articles arguing that centaurs would avoid horseshoes. A noble race that denies the traps of industrialization. Yeah, I call horse hockey. Assuming they have human-ish brains, centaurs would use tools. They need them.

You see, horses eat raw greenery – no tools or thumbs needed. Ever think that Centaurs might not be strict vegan foragers? Human diets are tricky, and even a raw food diet isn't a simple matter. However, humans have the advantage of having omnivore feet. Hooves are for running away - not stalking, climbing, tumbling, or swimming.

If centaurs want to evolve past wandering from meal to meal, they need to protect their feet. They have thumbs, brains, and a 'herd' support group. Tools and other technology are the natural outcomes.

Hoof picks, rasps, and files would start in wood and stone. While centaurs probably don't mine ore, they would definitely pick up metal from other races. From there, it's a matter of time until some genius or drunk idiot gets a friend to nail traction plates on his/her hooves.

In the real world, there is a large debate on the long-term health of shod versus barefoot horses. Joint health, bad maintenance, disease prevention, local terrain, back and forth they go. However, it's humans doing the arguing and medical studies – not the actual shoe wearers.

Centaurs would only bother with horseshoes if it gave them an advantage. A nomadic hunter on the plains might not see the need for the extra work. However, a farmer working on rocky or abrasive ground could save him or herself a cracked hoof. Shoe types could be refined because the wearer can talk about what they need.

Ta-da, centaurs designing and wearing horseshoes.

I have an answer and an argument that would make a d20 player weep. However, the real fun is in the 'story seeds' I found while researching.

1. The first shoe fitting and failed prototypes
2. Centaur lifestyles that require shoes – city dwellers, ranchers, military
3. Commercial hoof salons (think ladies' night out and glittery polish)

Sometimes the long way is the better way.