A question! Of history, and horsing!

[desperance]

So we read, in the records of the Frost Fairs on the frozen Thames, about carthorses and carriage horses hauling freight and noblefolk up and down the river; but would the horses have needed special shoeing (crampons!) to give them purchase on the ice? Or do we assume that the surface would have been either snowy or else churned up enough to offer a grip to normal horseshoes? Or would sacking over the hooves offer better friction? Or...?

(This question brought to you by the rather delighted realisation that on Mars, Christmas comes but twice a year.)