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At a time when the work horse was subjected to heavy work such as pulling heavy loads, the adherence of his hoofs to the ground was a condition for the effectiveness of the animal machine. Horse shoes didn’t vary in the Middle Ages, the horses being shod systematically with corrugated outer rim and fixed crampons shoes. Horse shoeing diversified considerably from the Renaissance and enjoyed its greatest variety in the nineteenth century, at a time when horses were selected to meet specialized stains. Hauling horse had shoes preserving them from injuries caused by the stones in the riverbeds; military horses were equipped with mobile spikes. In the field of civil traction, shoes often remained solid but the search for efficiency led inventors to propose highly innovative systems which were lighter and enhanced adherence. The transport companies that developed in Paris in the second half of the nineteenth century, and for which shoeing was a major economic and security issue, promoted innovations in this technical field. The horse shoe of Charlier, a variation of the shoes proposed by Lafosse during the XVIIIth century, enjoyed some success in the late 1860s. It was made of a thin metal rod embedded in the rim of the hoof, allowing the contact of the horn of the hoof with the ground while limiting its wear. Before being adopted, this innovation provoked controversy and conflict between the most influential veterinarians of the capital.