FIG. 5.
The shoe containing a groove (Fig. 6), which we shall see later, made its appearance in Germany in the fifteenth century. From this time, according to our present knowledge, ceases the period of the Roman horseshoe. Its influence, however, lasted a great deal longer, and has even remained until our present day.
FIG. 6.
Its successor became partly the Arabo-Turkomanic and partly the Southwest European horseshoe.
For the descendants of the Numidian light cavalry, the Roman and old Spanish horseshoe was evidently too heavy for their sandy, roadless deserts, so they made it thinner and omitted the bent-up rim, because it prevented the quick movement of the horse. For the protection of the nail heads the outer margin of the shoe was staved, so as to form a small rim on the outer surface of the shoe, thus preventing the nail heads from being worn and the shoe lost too soon.
FIG. 7.
FIG. 8.