We are concreting the aisle and our guy just gave us the “hey I can be there in two days” message. I’d like to put our initials in it but also something reminiscent of the reason I have this place - my main man, who did not fare well in a boarding situation so I bought a farm 
Unfortunately I don’t have any old shoes of his hanging around - is it possible to do a hoofprint? I’m assuming I’d have to make a cast or something. Are there any other creative ideas?
We used our cattle hot branding irons in each corner of the pad.
You can lightly push any horseshoe to make an imprint, even leave it there if set where nothing may slip on it.
You can write and draw with a big nail or sharp stick.
We always put the date on every pad, sometimes who poured it.
We have as a yard ornament a small concrete block with the ranch brand and 1928 on it, came out of an old concrete water trough.
Go to tractor supply or call your farrier for some old shoes.
A friend of mine added horseshoes in her actual floor and it came out amazing.
A new horseshoe or two plus etch in concrete Dobbin loved by Human Name
Unfortunately she is coming next week and lives too far away. We have one from the other goober (I can tell, the one branch is thin) but I really want this particular horse’s shoe. I know, I’m sentimental.
Usually I give them back to the farrier so she can make things and pieces of shoes - now I wish I held onto them. I suppose I could pull one but I don’t want him to go a week without!
You could pull one and just wrap his foot for a week, if having his actual shoe is that important.
Then he will be comfortable and you will have a shoe.
I can not see how it would work getting him to step lightly into the concrete to make a hoof print.
I can see attempting this going HILARIOUSLY awry.
So if you do try it, please please please video it.
(just pull his shoe, he will be ok)
Honestly, I’m cracking up thinking about it, tbh. I’m sure it could be done, but I’m not sure at what cost to the newly poured concrete.
You might get lots more hoof prints than you planned on.
It will be a good story.
But yes, please have someone recording it while you do it, so the rest of us can see the fun.
Any chance your shoer still has a shoe from your guy & could give back to you?
OR:
I have 3 sets of windchimes made from 2 of my past horses’ shoes.
I can tell them apart as TB had toeclips, TWH were nearly round.
She lives 4 hours away and won’t be back until next week. The timing isn’t perfect 
I can’t believe I’ve thrown away all of them, but I have done so many purges of crap. I’m going to look through some of my older trunks, maybe I still have one in there.
I can think of two techniques.
(1) This will be more work than you might want to do, but you can use your horse’s hoof to make an impression into a shallow pan filled with plaster. Just clean the hoof well first, and you control the hoof to do this impression. Allow the plaster to set. Then lubricate the plaster mold and fill it with another batch of plaster. When you separate the two you will have a duplicate of the horse’s hoof, and you can use that piece (lubricated again) to press into the new aisle concrete.
(2) forego the plaster and just make up a batch of concrete in a lubricated plastic square pan about 4 inches deep. As with option one, gently take your horse’s hoof and lower it into the wet concrete in the pan to make your impression. When the aisle concrete is poured, have that concrete block with the horse hoof impression set into the wet concrete to become part of the aisle.
But what if you waited until the concret was nearly set before you tried??
I am the type of person that would try this. …what could possibly go wrong!! 
Could you just do a little bit of a skim coat in a corner next week, so you can press the shoe in when you get it off the next time the farrier comes?
I just had my horses step lightly with one foot. Walk to the edge, pull a front foot forward onto the concrete and let them step down lightly.
Oh! I didn’t think of that, that’s a great idea! The farrier is coming next week, so I should be able to get a shoe. I was so fixated on timing I wasn’t thinking “just add some more concrete” LOL 
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