Copper horseshoe nails

[stb]

Anybody ever tried these? I have an Appy gelding with truly terrible feet. He has a bit of a club. Soft and crumbly feet, some WLD, and a past history of founder and chronic abscesses. He is the proverbial “gift horse”. I started with a new farrier, who put him in Razer pads and shoes on his fronts. He says the copper nails will help with the WLD. Apparently the copper permeates the hoof.

I’m anxious to see how this works. This horse needs all the help he can get. His feet have improved in the year he’s been with me, but they have a long, long way to go.

[mfleming13]

I had copper nails in my horse’s feet for a while, my farrier had them and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I didn’t notice a difference, but my horse’s don’t have WLD, so it may help your guy more.

[Sparrowette]

Never heard of it, and don’t know of any research regarding copper nails for hoof issues, but Copper Sulfate is used in the aquarium industry to treat numerous maladies. Some species of fish and inverts will die at specific consentrations. Possibly someone thought the nails would leach copper and kill the WLD?

Is there any research about using this in horses?

[MyKindaFlower]

My farrier just switched to them. He did not say that they would help with white line disease but did mention that he wanted to swtich to them because of copper’s antimicrobial properties. That and he thought they looked nice. I must admit, those tiny little copper spots do look nice on Gracie’s feet. They’re noticeable even when her feet are muddy.

[keh]

My farrier started using these over the winter. I asked him & he said they’re being touted for their antimicrobial effect…he said this as he rolled his eyes. My horses have fairly normal feet, so I haven’t seen anything one way or another.

[EmilyM]

i know people that use copper anklets to keep scratches away. so this sounds smart to me.

[myhorsefaith]

@keh

My farrier started using these over the winter. I asked him & he said they’re being touted for their antimicrobial effect…he said this as he rolled his eyes. My horses have fairly normal feet, so I haven’t seen anything one way or another.

Mine too… then I made some smart@$$ joke about horses having to hide their hooves from copper thieves…

[kelsey97]

@keh

My farrier started using these over the winter. I asked him & he said they’re being touted for their antimicrobial effect…he said this as he rolled his eyes. My horses have fairly normal feet, so I haven’t seen anything one way or another.

Ditto.

[csaper58]

Are these nails solid copper or regular nails that are copper plated?

Solid copper is very soft, I can’t imagine it being strong enough to drive into a hoof.

[stb]

Copper plated, I believe. Solid copper would be too soft. I will let y’all know how they work.

[keh]

I wanted to add (I can’t believe I’m typing this) …neither Money Pit #1 nor Money Pit #2 has lost a shoe with the copper nails. KNOCK ON WOOD!!!

[Victorious]

We also switched to copper nails after a truly terrible year last year with hoof problems. Winter is always better than summer, so time will tell if they work or not. But they are sorta fancy looking!!

[cllane1]

My farrier has started using them, but I think it’s just because he either got some on a promo or they were out of whatever he usually gets; he is skeptical of any healing qualities, as several have mentioned. My horse has had them for two shoeing cycles now, and I haven’t noticed any kind of difference other than that his hooves are now twinkly! But as with several on this thread, my horse doesn’t have any WLD/abscesses/etc., so who knows–figure it can’t hurt, anyway. I do like the sparkle though!

[stb]

I do have a physician friend that was telling me that her teaching hospital has started to use copper for bedrails in the hospital. Apparently they have a decreased rate of inpatient infections when using them. My farrier told me that the nails are very expensive, 4 to 5 times more than regular horseshoe nails. He usually charges more for them (didn’t for me because of a previous scheduling snafu he felt bad about) but says that they have been effective in the past.

[findeight]

@csaper58

Are these nails solid copper or regular nails that are copper plated?

Solid copper is very soft, I can’t imagine it being strong enough to drive into a hoof.

Yeah, ditto. It’s got to be copper plated or an alloy. Unalloyed copper is too soft to hold anything on a horse’s foot. I wonder how much copper needs to be in something for any medicinal benefit? A quick dip in the plating tank for a <mm thick coat might look good but not have enough to do anything even if copper itself is effective…which is anecdotal anyway.

[LarkspurCO]

No copper nails for my horse. I’m holding out for GOLD.

[tazycat]

I found a site that sells the copper horseshoe nails. There copper coated not solid copper.

[Kolsch]

Copper plated nails have actually been around for a long time, if you either knew how to do it, or knew the number of the guy who would do it for you. I had a horse in them about a decade ago.

Did it help? Maybe. For sure they don’t oxidize like regular nails, so there’s none of that black around the nail. That’s nice.

There are also copper shoes on the market too.

Oddly enough, if you use a product with enough copper sulfate in it, there will sometimes be a slight copper “plating” visible on the horseshoe. Usually I see it on the hoof side of a freshly removed shoe.

[csaper58]

@Kolsch

Copper plated nails have actually been around for a long time, if you either knew how to do it, or knew the number of the guy who would do it for you. I had a horse in them about a decade ago.

Did it help? Maybe. For sure they don’t oxidize like regular nails, so there’s none of that black around the nail. That’s nice.

There are also copper shoes on the market too.

Oddly enough, if you use a product with enough copper sulfate in it, there will sometimes be a slight copper “plating” visible on the horseshoe. Usually I see it on the hoof side of a freshly removed shoe.

Hmmm…I was wondering if this is how the nails are being plated. Copper Sulfate crystals used to be sold as root killer and was used as a hoof soak to kill white line disease and thrush. It would turn the shoe copper color.

If you ever use copper sulfate, be very careful, it is toxic and can cause sever eye damage if it splashes into the eyes.

[TheJenners]

perks up and gets interested… Hmmmmmm