This is general stuff, your mileage may vary considerably due to the
individual beast, his environment, the skill of the attending farrier
and a bunch of other stuff.

Most light horses are classed as "short footed", meaning they are shod
with as short a toe as possible in order to maintain maximum efficiency
at any gait.  All else being equal, short toes translate directly to
less effort to get from here to there.  "Short" can mean anything from
three to four inches of dorsal wall, depending on the size of the horse.
A smallish TB might have a three-inch foot; a big dumblood, four.  If a
hoof looks disproportionately long compared to the horse's body, it's
probably too long.

A fresh shod horse (within a week or so) will have shiny clinches,
clinches flush with the wall, freshly pared exfoliating sole and frog
("fresh" looks slick and moist, not rough and dry) and the shoes will
NOT be shiny.

After a two or three weeks, the shoes ARE shiny, the clinches are dull,
and the exfoliating sole and frog are starting to appear a bit rough.

After four of five weeks, the heel clinches may be starting to lift away
from the wall, the sole and frog may be rough, and the heels will be
beginning to overgrow the shoe if the horse was shod tight.

After six or seven weeks, all the clinches will likely be lifted away
from the wall, lifting a branch may reveal a loosening shoe, the frog
and sole will look ragged and the horse will look "long."

After eight or nine weeks, the clinches will be lifted, one or more
shoes may be loose/missing, the horse will be laboring at any gait and
probably stumbling when fatigued.

If the horse is lucky, the shoes will all fall off at six weeks.