GluShu, anyone?

[walktrot]

Anyone familiar with the GluShu? My farrier emailed that she went to a demonstration on Saturday and is wondering about trying them on my horse. He is 26, a Paint, pasture boarded and still in great condition. He arrived in Maine from Iowa in 2001 somewhat skinny with long toes. The breeder sold him to “some guy” who neglected him and the horse landed at a sale. We put him in New Balance shoes, fronts only, to help with breakover. He also needed a 2 degree pad per the vet for his pastern angles. He has a lump on the front of his left knee that is outside the joint capsule and never has been a problem. But now that is getting older that knee is getting stiffer. We tried Avanti shoes a couple of years ago and they made a huge difference in his way of going.

The farrier is interested in this shoe because she can move the breakover around more than with regular shoes. She has been shoeing him since he arrived in 2001, so I have ultimate confidence in her. She is well-known in the farrier and vet circles. She used to do a lot of work with vets on really bad hoof injuries. She will talk to the vet before we make any decisions.

My biggest concern is mud. I looked at the website and it is an interesting concept. If anyone has experience, good or bad, your comments will be helpful.

[Bluey]

Interested also, since our farrier has been considering it for our younger horse.
We didn’t go there because he may be shown yet in a few weeks, decided to wait to try those after that.

We had pulled shoes off during these past months off serious training and were considering starting with those first, but time was too short for a trial period.
Seems that he may be one that needs some protection if ridden harder and those glue-ons seem like an interesting option.

Let us know what you decided and if using them, how that works out?

[pluvinel]

If you are interested in glue-on shoes, I suggest trying the SoundHorse shoes
https://soundhorse.com/

The shoe was developed and patented at U Penn’s New Bolton Center.

They don’t advertise much as people with horses with poor hooves seem to find their way to their products. In talking to them, the biggest issue is farriers (un)willingness to adopting the technology.

[walktrot]

pluvinal, thanks for that link. I will pass it along to the farrier and so she can do a comparison. The Avanti shoe is good because the breakover is easier but doesn’t move.

His feet are actually pretty good now. A few years ago he had a 1/4" tiny little ding on the left hind. We figured it would just grow out, it was that tiny. No… About 3 cycles later it started cracking, very shallow, very small. The only time you could see it on the bottom was when it was trimmed. I put him on biotin and his hoof walls and soles are thicker and stronger.

[Saidapal]

I had a friend with a little arabian who for some unknown reason stopped growing his feet. She used the glue on shoes for about a year with excellent success until his feet started growing again. She was in Florida, so not so much mud but sand. They stayed on for her. I can’t remember how often she had them re-glued, but I don’t remember anything bad.

[S1969]

@walktrot

My biggest concern is mud. I looked at the website and it is an interesting concept. If anyone has experience, good or bad, your comments will be helpful.

What part of mud is the concern? That the shoes will come off, or that the breakover point will be an issue in mud?

From my experience with glue on shoes - it has more to do with the application than anything else. If applied correctly to perfectly prepared hooves, the shoes are really hard to get off, including at the time you want to reset them. But, moisture in the hoof and/or any kind of debris, etc, can be a problem with adhesives.

Not sure if these are any different, but your climate and barn conditions might impact the success. And/or you may have to carefully manage the leading up to the day of application.

[walktrot]

It’s the coming off part. We have the usual spring mud season which can get pretty bad, usually a fall mud season, and then there are ad hoc mud seasons when it rains for a few days straight. There is also an area I wish the BO would work on that stays deep and sticky unless we are in a dry spell - like today…

Fortunately we have a good facility including running hot water, plenty of lighting and mats on a concrete aisleway. I’ll be doing the dirty work. The bathroom and large classroom/office are heated, but I doubt the BO would go for us shoeing in there when the weather is cold. I can hope, though, we’ve been there for 20 years.

[ParadoxFarm]

We have an OTTB who has REALLY bad feet. He last raced in December, and we got him home in February. So he’s starting to grow out some, but the old hoof is still really crappy. We put on GluShus. I actually blogged about the process here: https://paradoxfarm.blog/2020/07/12/…ets-new-shoes/

Now, I will say that at about 3 weeks, one shoe came off. We had to reglue it. Then a week later, the other fell off. We since reglued that one. So, I’m still not sure in the long run how well I like them. If they last longer than the 3 weeks, I’ll be okay with it. I like the fact that there is a “real” aluminum shoe in there. It may just be a learning curve to getting the shoe on correctly to make it last. We’ll see in the next few weeks. I do like the concept.

[walktrot]

PF, thanks for that information, I’ll pass it on to the farrier.

He is on a 6-week cycle. So far it sounds like the hoof has be absolutely squeaky clean so you can see your reflection in the sole. Otherwise the adhesive may not perform as intended. The aluminum shoe is an interesting concept. He has lost every aluminum shoe we have tried, usually at about 4 weeks. I have never been able to figure it out.

I checked out your blog. He looks great during that longe lesson. Anything else you can pass along will be appreciated.

[S1969]

@walktrot

He is on a 6-week cycle. So far it sounds like the hoof has be absolutely squeaky clean so you can see your reflection in the sole. Otherwise the adhesive may not perform as intended. The aluminum shoe is an interesting concept. He has lost every aluminum shoe we have tried, usually at about 4 weeks. I have never been able to figure it out.

Clean and dry. The dry is the hard part for much of the year. My farrier uses a hairdryer, but still it is hard. If your farrier is a 2 person team it will be easier; once the foot is ready for the shoe it cannot be set down again.

My farrier used a different adhesive but I had many cycles when he had to crack the shoe off the hoof at 6 weeks. It wasn’t easy. But, if not prepared properly they can fall off within days.

In our case, a few cycles of glue ons were worth the hassle. Back to nail-ons now, but I would do glue again if I had to.

[walktrot]

Thank you! I have short hair but it air dries. Farrier’s hair is even shorter. I know it’s somewhere…

This is a pretty quiet horse so he should be okay. I’m always there so I should be able help out. Horse has this quirk, though. He picks up the foot he wants worked on next. No rhyme or reason, no pattern, whatever strikes his fancy, I guess.

[CHT]

We have a horse who wears Sigafoos for the mud seasons (glue on) as he is prone to pulling off regular shoes and doesn’t grow enough hoof for new nail holes. They have worked fantastic and he hasn’t lost or bent one yet. I am told a key is to make sure the glue cures properly, so we keep him in for the night the day he gets them on, and the farrier uses glue that changes colour as it dries.

[kashmere]

I haven’t used GluShus specifically, but some general gluing things that can really help:

• use a butane torch to dry the hoof extremely well
• get the dorsal wall where the glue is to be attached quite roughed up - and make sure all the dust is wire brushed away (the torch can be helpful here, too)
• acrylic glue is much more forgiving of imperfect applications and moisture-filled environments

[pluvinel]

@CHT

We have a horse who wears Sigafoos for the mud seasons (glue on) as he is prone to pulling off regular shoes and doesn’t grow enough hoof for new nail holes. They have worked fantastic and he hasn’t lost or bent one yet. I am told a key is to make sure the glue cures properly, so we keep him in for the night the day he gets them on, and the farrier uses glue that changes colour as it dries.

The “Sigafoos” shoes are the SoundHorse shoes that were patented by UPenn New Bolton Center

[walktrot]

This is great, thanks to each of you! It was not that long ago that glue-on shoes were sort of a joke. They fell off shortly after the farrier left. Sounds like significant improvements are leading to success. Our farrier doesn’t consider a change unless she is confident it should work. She is very detail-oriented, stops and thinks at every step. Adding all of the above will help the decision process. A dry hoof seems to be crucial, not just a clean hoof.

He is in great shape for 26. BO finally took me horse shopping almost 20 years ago and we snatched him up when he stepped off a trailer from Iowa. We will do our century ride next year. BO has promised us a huge party. I’d like to do the Century Club “official” dressage test but it will depend on that knee. There are a few occasional hints that it’s bit stiffer, but a long easy warm-up loosens it up. As does pasture board which keeps him moving.

I have to boast. I’ve shared him with 100s of kids in lessons and summer camps for 19 years. They all love him. They can’t wait to tell me when they have ridden him. He has been a painted Paint, looks great in multicolored handprints on all that white and glittered hooves. He had lightning bolt on his white face one day. Loves jumping and galloping in fluffy snow. Did a skijoring clinic and loved every minute. My “surrogate granddaughter” got started on him and is an excellent dressage rider. He nailed dressage tests with a young woman who planned on showing him until she moved to a unique job at the Portuguese national stud. A few adults afraid of horses touched one for the first time. He has revealed a social side, likes to say hi to total strangers.

The best part of sharing him has been therapy riding and hippotherapy lessons. He knows before the rider mounts. Totally chill. He’s had kids and adults with autism and Down syndrome, traumatic brain injuries, cerebral palsy, MS, and mental health challenges. He helped a petrified student in a small-animal vet tech program overcome her fear of horses to get her certificate. I got teary the day a woman with severe MS, no mobility, said she felt like she was in her own body.

I promised him happiness and comfort. Thanks for sharing with us!

[Bluey]

Interested also, since our farrier has been considering it for our younger horse.
We didn’t go there because he may be shown yet in a few weeks, decided to wait to try those after that.

We had pulled shoes off during these past months off serious training and were considering starting with those first, but time was too short for a trial period.
Seems that he may be one that needs some protection if ridden harder and those glue-ons seem like an interesting option.

Let us know what you decided and if using them, how that works out?

[pluvinel]

If you are interested in glue-on shoes, I suggest trying the SoundHorse shoes
https://soundhorse.com/

The shoe was developed and patented at U Penn’s New Bolton Center.

They don’t advertise much as people with horses with poor hooves seem to find their way to their products. In talking to them, the biggest issue is farriers (un)willingness to adopting the technology.

[walktrot]

pluvinal, thanks for that link. I will pass it along to the farrier and so she can do a comparison. The Avanti shoe is good because the breakover is easier but doesn’t move.

His feet are actually pretty good now. A few years ago he had a 1/4" tiny little ding on the left hind. We figured it would just grow out, it was that tiny. No… About 3 cycles later it started cracking, very shallow, very small. The only time you could see it on the bottom was when it was trimmed. I put him on biotin and his hoof walls and soles are thicker and stronger.

[Saidapal]

I had a friend with a little arabian who for some unknown reason stopped growing his feet. She used the glue on shoes for about a year with excellent success until his feet started growing again. She was in Florida, so not so much mud but sand. They stayed on for her. I can’t remember how often she had them re-glued, but I don’t remember anything bad.