Hi all, I am wondering have in the way of emergency items to pull a shoe. Either stuff you keep in your trailer of items you take with you on the trail. I do have a boot I can use if I need to pull a shoe. Any suppliers that you recommend to purchase the items?
Are you using plain metal shoes, either steel or aluminum?
If so, you’ll need something to cut the clinches. Now, if you can grab the end of the clinch a little with pliers and twist, that’s my preferred method. That will break them off closer to the hoof wall than you would be able to get with trying to cut them yourself. Once the clinches are cut, then you just need some way to pull the shoe off. You can use shoe pullers if you want, but I’ve had to get creative since I use Eponas and most shoe pullers don’t work too well with them. I’ll sometimes use a big flatheat screwdriver to pry it off, being careful not to bruise the sole or ruin the wall. The claw end of a hammer can also be useful if you can get it up under the inside edge of the shoe.
Of course the best way is to use crease nail pullers to pull each nail, but sometimes you can’t grab a nail or too, especially with Eponas if the horse really wears the toe down, or metal shoes if you ride on pavement a lot.
You’re best bet is to ask your farrier to show you how he would like you to do it, and then see if he will let your practice.
i use crease nail pullers and shoe pullers. i agree that some of the equipment may vary depending on the type of shoe you usually use.
there really isn’t much to pulling a shoe and really, if you’re in a position to have pull one on a trail, chances are half the job has already been done for you.
the tools are a bit heavy to carry with you in a saddle pack but definitely something to keep handy in the trailer.
I got my list from 2jakes and my farrier after my farrier had to come pull a shoe on my BO’s horse, not his client, on his off day when BO was out of town and her farrier decline to come. Shoe clip was jammed up in horse’s hoof & had been since the day before without the barn sitter doing anything.
So I asked 2jakes and my farrier what I needed. I had a “nail puller” that I had purchased years before but I needed a hammer and rasp and the little wedge thingie (I forget the name) to get shoes off. Since that time several years ago, I’ve pulled off more shoes for that BO, but never had to do my horses.
I got my tools from ga farrier supply company up in Jasper Ga, but most farrier supply companies all carry the same implements. All my tools are too heavy to take on a trail ride, but there’s one tool that others use. i forget the name of it. But there have been threads on coth about it
I found a teeny claw hammer that had other tools built into it. Hard to describe, but I found it at Marshall’s for about $7 in the men’s gift/outdoor accessories section. It’s about 6" long and has a little heft to it, made of stainless steel. It fits in a trail pouch easily. Haven’t used it yet, but the claw could be used to twist off the clinch heads and lever the shoe off. We keep a few shoeing nails with it in case it might be possible to just add a new nail and keep the shoe in place. A good strong hoof pick can be used to help lever off a shoe, and pliers are very useful to both pull and help cut clinches.
I found some very similar on eBay under “hammer multi tool”
Our trailer has a Clinch cutter, a hammer, a nipper and a clincher. The clincher has been used the most to tighten a loose nail before the shoe is toasted. :winkgrin: A cold chisel can be used instead of a clinch cutter but it’s awkward to hold and use. But in an emergency with an extra pair of hands it’s doable. :yes:
All that is needed is a pair of shoe pullers, and an old rasp with a handle.The clinches can be buffed off with the finish side of the rasp , off then the shoe pulled. It is a good idea to ask your farrier next time out to how you how to pull one and let you do it once, because there is some technique required.
Don’t bother with buying crease nail pullers because they only work if the shoe is fairly new and there is still enough nail head to get a hold of.
I found a teeny claw hammer that had other tools built into it. Hard to describe, but I found it at Marshall’s for about $7 in the men’s gift/outdoor accessories section. It’s about 6" long and has a little heft to it, made of stainless steel. It fits in a trail pouch easily. Haven’t used it yet, but the claw could be used to twist off the clinch heads
THERE IS NO WAY TO TWIST OFF A CLINCH that was clinched correctly in the first place. Decent clinches are very small and lay quite flat against the hoof wall. There is nothing to twist. Besides if you could twist off a clinch, the twisted end may graze the sensitive tissues inside the foot as you pulled the shoe anyway. .
and lever the shoe off
. Maybe. with luck Shoe pullers work better, or a very cheap hoof "nipper"such as is sold on Ebay for 30 bucks and are useless as nippers anyway but They do pull shoes OK.
We keep a few shoeing nails with it in case it might be possible to just add a new nail and keep the shoe in place.
Not a good idea if the person has not been taught how to drive a horseshoe nail. Great damage can be done if it is driven badly.
Thanks for the input. I have a rasp and a shoe puller (both to big and heavy to take on the trail. I can see why people use boots because you avoid the whole situation. My horse is an OTTB and we love to Gallop. I haven’t yet found hoof boots that stay on at a Gallop (OK well we’ve only used easy boot epics). She also sometimes overreaches and that tends to wreak havoc on boots.
I carried - for two 50 mile endurance rides - the minimum equipment I (as a private farrier) felt I needed for emergency trail repair: a small clinch cutter, a small farrier hammer, and a small nipper. After having one episode of having to remove a twisted shoe by hand on a training ride several miles from home - this being a few years into my 11 year endurance career - I was determined not to be left in the lurch again.
Carrying that stuff lasted only two rides. As minimal as it was, it still ended up being way too heavy, clunky, and taking up too much valuable space in the saddle packs. I reduced the carried tools to just the nippers and a boot. That lasted for only two or three more rides, then I stopped carrying the nippers as well. I went to merely carrying a ultra light slipper boot, and kept the farrier tools at my trailer in camp, with an extra set of tools for any away vet checks.
Lesson learned. The weight overrode any rare chance of actually needing the tools on the trail. Never once, in the remaining 11 years, did I ever need tools on the trail, either training or in competition, for myself or to help another competitor.
My suggestion? Use bell boots to prevent accidentally grabbing a shoe, make sure your farrier trims and shoes to reduce the overreaching problem and puts in good, tight clinches, and carry a trail boot. Keep a farrier hammer, clinch cutter, and a set of nippers, or a shoe puller, in your trailer, and another set for your away vet check bag.
If you really REALLY feel the need to carry something, make it a farrier hammer and a clinch cutter. The most important thing will be to remove the clinches in order to free the shoe which you can then pull off with your hands.
Some of the bigger feed supply places, like Tractor Supply, will carry your common everyday cheap-grade, yet serviceable, farrier tools. Or you can order them online from a farrier supply.
I bring my farrier husband and his leatherman. :yes:
He has pulled a couple with a leatherman but it wasn’t pretty. He does have an old pair of nippers and a rasp that he stuffs in the pack saddles also.
All you need is a fencing tool. It has a hammer, a puller, and a nipper/clinch cutter all in one handy tool. DH carries it in his saddle bag along with a hind shoe and a front shoe in a most common size, aught or 1, a broken off rasp, and a film cannister of nails. It has come in handy more times than I can count. Never know when you’ll pull a shoe out on the trail and need to put it back on.
Yes, I can and have rasped the clinches. But sometimes the clips are so tight that I need that little wedge thingie. The one with a little hammerhead on one end and the wedge that can fit under the clip on the other side. i forget the name. I made sure I watched my farrier take that shoe and clip out of the BO’s horse so that I could do it. When horses lose 1/2 a shoe and then step on the clip, sometimes the other clip is so tight against the hoof, The wedge thingie is needed to get it pulled out from the hoof.
[QUOTE=cloudyandcallie;6362569]
Yes, I can and have rasped the clinches. But sometimes the clips are so tight that I need that little wedge thingie. The one with a little hammerhead on one end and the wedge that can fit under the clip on the other side. i forget the name. I made sure I watched my farrier take that shoe and clip out of the BO’s horse so that I could do it. When horses lose 1/2 a shoe and then step on the clip, sometimes the other clip is so tight against the hoof, The wedge thingie is needed to get it pulled out from the hoof.[/QUOTE]
It’s called a clinch cutter. 
mtn trails - do you have a link to a photo of one of those fencing tools? I’d love to see one.
[QUOTE=Patty Stiller;6360372]
THERE IS NO WAY TO TWIST OFF A CLINCH that was clinched correctly in the first place. Decent clinches are very small and lay quite flat against the hoof wall. There is nothing to twist. Besides if you could twist off a clinch, the twisted end may graze the sensitive tissues inside the foot as you pulled the shoe anyway. . . Maybe. with luck Shoe pullers work better, or a very cheap hoof "nipper"such as is sold on Ebay for 30 bucks and are useless as nippers anyway but They do pull shoes OK. Not a good idea if the person has not been taught how to drive a horseshoe nail. Great damage can be done if it is driven badly.[/QUOTE]
Gee thanks Patty. You make me feel all warm and fuzzy. The OP asked for emergency shoe pullers. Like I said, I found this but have not used it (we carry it for mounted Search and Rescue.) If the clinch has been buggered up already, this tool would help. Beats the crap out of sticks and rocks if you’re on the trail with a half-pulled shoe and DH took a farrier class at Cal Poly about 100 years ago so he can replace ONE nail–very, very carefully.
In a perfect world, I’d open my saddle bag and pull out a fully equipped certified farrier with lots and lots of letters after her name. Why didn’t I think of that in the first place?
[QUOTE=gothedistance;6362687]
It’s called a clinch cutter.
mtn trails - do you have a link to a photo of one of those fencing tools? I’d love to see one.[/QUOTE]
Here you go:
^ Cool! Thanks for the link!
In a pinch, I can pull a shoe with a rasp and a hammer. Rasp off the clinches, use the claw end of the hammer to pry off the shoe.
Please be careful to be pulling the nails and shoes evenly, and with steady pressure. With all the various methods, odd tools, and tools that “work, sorta” to get nails removed, I would worry about twisting the horse’s ankle in the process. Then horse is more sore and lame than he started!
I would second GTDs suggestion to carry your Farrier tools in the trailer, to have handy if a shoe is causing a problem. They just are really clunky, unbalanced, trying to fit in your saddle pack or bag. Unwieldy to let the horse wear them for a long ride or all day.
I would go with the clinch cutter over rasping the clinches off. Some horses have VERY thin walls, so rasping into it could cause a weak hoof problem later. I have never tried pulling shoe nails with a fence tool. Maybe the better quality DeWalt model would work more successfully than the cheap model fence tools I have scattered around the farm. They don’t grip really well for pulling. I will have to give that method a try, next time a horse needs their shoe pulled here for new ones.
An inexpensive pair of shoe pullers is a great investment. Length gives you a lot of leverage to ease off the shoe, without much twisting of the lower limb in getting the shoe up and off the wall.
