@Yet_One_More_Idiot  
That sums up my opinion on any kind of body modification pretty well.

@BulletCat  
Or how about tattoos?
 
“I know what’d be a great idea - I’ll use sharp needles to inject all kinds of volatile chemicals into my skin to draw a pretty picture!”
 
Or piercings?
 
“You know what I’m missing? Having a chunk of hard metal inserted into or through my skin for no reason, which can get accidentally caught in all manner of ways on clothing, objects I’m passing by, etc; or the holes in/through my skin could become infected, but that’s okay because it’ll look awesome!
 
So, yeah… xD

@BulletCat  
You could say the same thing about any body modification.

>>but are horseshoes a step too far for our favourite filly?  
horse shoes are bad for just about any horse. get them booties if you want to protect their feet.

;grabs twilight; no no no no no no no no ;throws her back home; nnnnnoooooooooooope!

@Aedificatoris  
I imagine the traditional horseshoe would be a valuable reinforcement for hard-working ponies like Applejack or Big Mac, kinda like a simplistic steel-toe boot.

@Background Pony #5BB0  
Especially considering what parts are associated with glue making.

@Anon-a-Miss  
The irony of using glue on a horse…

@BulletCat  
One reason I can think of that nailed horseshoes would be logical to the ponies is that, whereas humans have a large foot to put a shoe around and secure it in place with strings/laces, a pony’s hoof does not stick out from the end of its leg and so a shoe would more easily just, well…slip off, if not secured properly.

Golly, that mare looks rrripped.

@Zergpony  
If you want to see exactly how sensitive the frog really is, watch this video. (Hint: not nearly as much as you may think.)

@BulletCat  
Walk on hot hard concrete or asphalt barefoot, or better yet gravel then get back to me. Metal flip flops would be WAY preferable. I have a piece of metal. If I could just attach this to my foot somehow I could stop hurting myself. Humm. What if I nailed it into place? Seems pretty straightforward to me.

The nails go through the horse’s hoof ‘wall’ basically it’s the hoof “nails” which is a fingernail like material that’s quite thick and tough and has no nerves. The frog which is the sensitive finger like center of the hoof hurts like you walking on gravel if a horse well walks on gravel if there’s not enough wall or if it’s torn up “seedy toe”. Pavement or concrete can also make the frog very sore , the shoes protect from that. Properly done horse shoes prevent injury and horses are more likely to loose a shoe than hurt themselves. The frog of the hoof is what equines use to pick things up in the series. Unless you’re pinkie and can use your tail or mane. The sensation should be similar to putting a needle through the white part of your finger or toenail. Odd, but not painful.

@BulletCat  
Beats me.

@PonyPon  
I know that. But how did someone think of nails rather than something like a shoe?

@BulletCat  
Hoof protection, obviously.
 
Imagine if you had to walk on your massive nails without anything covering them.

You have to wonder how this became a thing in Equestria. Like, did somepony just wake up one day and say: “You know? Today I feel like nailing a piece of metal to my hoof.” Moreover, how did it become commonplace? Did people actually look at that guy and say: “That looks so cool! I want to do that to!”

@LanceOmikron  
On the other hoof…
 

Oh, goodness, I thought she was in a pony gynecology chair at first!

The problem with conventional horse shoes is that they are bits of metal attached to the hoof by nails. While fine for normal horses, little ponies would likely find them hard on both flooring and bedding! For these reasons, I like to think that horseshoes are a relic, something that disappeared from common use centuries before (when the bedding was straw and floors were earth,) but kept around mostly as a recognizable symbol. In their place are more what we recognize as shoes, as evidenced by their occasional presence on the show. Furthermore, such things exist (look up “Hoof Boot” on wikipedia) in the real world:  

@Guardian Talon  
Nonsense. It was just like that when I got my ears pierced.

“Not at all. I’m just going to pound some nails into your hoof.” lol
 
Something you aren’t going to see a human version of. not without a dark tag at least.

@Ponylooker  
Now that I think about it, yeah, the farriers I knew in Wyoming were skinny little dudes too.
 
One guy was training to become one, but he had no patience or sense and damn-near got himself kicked in the face… Yeah, ol CB wasn’t the smartest guy around…

@gittonsxv  
Maybe they use horseshoes like slippers? You know, take them on and off when needed?

Of course not! I won’t feel a thing.