What were lawn boots?

In the days before tractor mowers, large properties would use an equine - often a pony or donkey - to pull the lawn mower or grass roller. Unfortunately, horse hooves tend to make nice little divots on your well kept lawn (I remember being told never to ride across the soccer field...) So, they would put leather shoes on the pony to "soften" their hooves and prevent the damage.

Of course, these eventually evolved into modern hoof boots that are sometimes used instead of shoeing a horse.

(Or, of course, you can just let them mow it this way).