Easycare Versa shoes

[KyrieNZ]

Hi

Being in New Zealand I’m a little behind the times. A friend just told me about Easycare Versa shoes and I would love to hear more opinions/experiences with them.

Thanks

[walkinthewalk]

My, experience with them was with my severely foundered horse and the residual effects of the founder.

Can’t say enough good about them! From my experience, I 200% recommend them! My horse later developed low Ringbone bone. The shoes did such a great job of reducing concussion, it would have take an experienced horse owner to recognize he was off a little.

At the time Joker was alive (I lost hi. To colic last year:(. I had a therapeutic farrier who really knew her stuff.

She put a pliable packing over Joker’s sole, a pliable poly? type pad was secured to the Versas, the. She nailed them on. Joker had really thick hoof wall so she only needed two copper nails on each side.

He was also in ~4 acres of pasture, so the shoes saw quite a bit of a workout. Joker was reset every five weeks and the shoes lasted for three resets. Likely could have got at least one more reset but the farrier did not want to chance the nail holes stretching to where the nails wouldn’t hold.

We tried gluing them on once. The shoes were absolute h-e-l-l to get off, so it was always nails. Joker only threw a package once when we had had a lot of rain, the grass was slick and he was feeling full of himself. I actually watched him hook a front shoe with his hind hoof (He was a Walking Horse with a long reach).

I hope this is helpful:)

[barnesthenoble]

I love them. I primarily use the Versa octos but have also used the grip glues and the regular Versa lights with tabs welded on or direct glued. They are unbeatable in terms of price and convenience in terms of glue ons. There is a learning curve and I definitely suggest making some modifications (bring breakover back, grind the back a bit so it’s less square) vs just applying them right out of the box. But I have multiple horses going very comfortably in them, for much less than it cost to keep them in glue on gloves or other glued boots. I can easily get 3 resets out of them with a little bit of dremeling on the tabs or welding new ones on.

I am a total convert!

[2bayboys]

@barnesthenoble can you post a pic of the modifications you made?

[barnesthenoble]

Sure, I’m at work now but will get some pictures tonight and dig through old pics to see if I have any. The most common modification I make is to grind a steeper/longer bevel into the bottom of the shoe to move breakover back.

[KyrieNZ]

Has anyone used those with wedges?

[barnesthenoble]

Yes, I actually have a horse in them right now who has rockers in front and wedges behind. The tabs are looking a little worse for wear after 5 weeks, but they’re still hanging on well and will be reset this weekend. I didn’t get the chance to get pictures last night but I promise to provide some today!

[barnesthenoble]

Here’s a picture of the rockers in front and wedges behind. Note that these are 5/almost 6 weeks in. Tabs look a little worse for wear but horse still yahoo’s around and they haven’t moved. Forgot to get pictures of the underside mods I usually make but will hopefully remember tomorrow. ‍:fog: