I did it! DIY glue ons after farrier trims

[Pehsness]

All right. I just reset 4 3ds on my gelding. Wanted the octos but of course the supplier was out of the fronts in his size and of course I need them now, so I got 2 new 3ds and dug out the hinds I have. Thankfully they were only used once or twice so they should hold.

I did it the usual way but this time I got the setting spray. So trimmed, wire brushed and torched 3x, glue on tabs, foot in, sprayed, wrapped with plastic. I hope they set really well because we have a show on Sunday. I’m going to take his Fusion boots and beg to let him wear them if these shoes fail (it’s a schooling show). Fingers crossed they dont fail.

I wanted to try setting the shoe on and glueing each tab individually but I was afraid to try something new. I think I read the plastic wrap is an important step in helping the glue cure.

[Pehsness]

And the damn hind outside tabs didn’t stick. I didn’t dress the flares enough I guess. I always hesitate because I don’t want to lower the outside wall and unbalance the foot.

I reglued and re-wrapped and will hope for the best. Worst case he can go bare behind.

[Libby2563]

Ugh I really want to try this for one of my horses, but I am so intimidated. At our last appointment, my farrier mentioned another client trying it with total failure because she hadn’t prepped the foot well enough. That didn’t help my trepidation.

[Pehsness]

Oh no, just try it. Honestly it’s EASY. The prep isn’t hard, it’s just necessary. So you set aside adequate time to get it done.

It’s not going to be perfect the first, second or third time. But it gets easier, you build your tool bag, and you get quicker at it.

Starting with fresh shoes every time is helpful. Part of my problem with this application was trying to re use the hinds. But I’m on a budget so was trying to make do.

The first time I did it was a disaster. Total fail. It gets better.

[fivestrideline]

@Pehsness

Oh no, just try it. Honestly it’s EASY. The prep isn’t hard, it’s just necessary. So you set aside adequate time to get it done.

This. I find the cuffs WAY easier and more forgiving vs tabs. Superglue is also the least forgiving glue (common with tabs I think) and picking adhesives based on environment is key anyway.

Fresh shoes and a prepped hoof are key, I just sand the crap out of mine - not removing a ton but getting the outer dirt layer off. There’s a million tricks to going faster, reusing shoes, and saving glue, but I would skip those until you are confident with the basics.

The learning curve is very quick. And less hassle than boots IMO.

[Pehsness]

Speaking of tabs… has anyone tried a filler between the tab and hoof wall when one tab won’t stick? Just something to help with the aesthetics really. It’s on a hind foot.

[Pehsness]

I do wish I’d gone to cuffs but wanted to stick with what I know at the moment. I am going to experiment with the different options this fall. I think I’ve decided he just needs shoes for the summer season at the very least, when the ground gets dry and hard.

[Pehsness]

And, scratch that. He popped one hind off overnight and the other wouldn’t have been long. We’ll just go with fronts and see how it goes. I am going to touch up the tabs with another exterior bead of glue.

[gnu]

@Pehsness I’ll share my experience. First, I find the 3D’s to be too flexible, resulting in the superglue cracking and releasing the tabs w/in 10 days. The versa octos are much stiffer, and I’ve had those stay on for 9 weeks. fyi I was able to keep the 3D’s on long term by using a race nail in the quarter of each shoe.

Second, the heel tabs, likely due to the expansion of the hoof, break loose in the first two weeks. Thus I cut them off before applying, leaving 3 tabs on the inside and outside.

Third, I use the dremel sanding drum to lightly rough up the inside of the tabs prior to application, and use electrical tape to tightly hold the tabs while they set for 10-15 minutes. I have found that using the insta set when you apply the tabs results in a brittle connection which breaks free. After letting the glue set under the tape for 10-15 min, then apply the superglue along the tab edges and use insta-set.

Fourth, the fit is critical. If any dirt can get under the tab it will mechanically pry the tab loose. Over time I’ve improved my modifications, but still a work in progress!

I’m using these shoes on several thin walled TBs which live outside and event. I did not have as much success w/ the cuffs.

[Pehsness]

Yes, I do have hind octos, the fronts were just on backorder and I needed shoes asap for a show so went with the 3ds. I’m not surprised the hinds popped off, they weren’t in great shape.

I am not brave enough to nail anything unfortunately. I do wish I was!

Maybe I used the insta set at the wrong time?

[outerbanks77]

I’ve put my mare back into shoes for the season, and we just hit 4 weeks on her second set of shoes.

4 weeks was my goal for shoe retention. The horses were not turned out for a long time this spring, so I was reserving judgement until she went out, since most shoe losses last year were out in the pasture. Reports from BO when turnout started was that she ran and ran, and still all shoes are holding tight. I am thinking I’ll put on a fresh set next week, bringing it to five weeks. The only problem I had was one leather pads working its way out of the back of the shoe, despite being glued on.

Here are a few things I think are helping my success:

• The horses wore down the corrugations in the pasture last summer, so less torque on the shoes in turnout.
• Switched to Duplos that have metal reinforcement, so less flexing as compared to the Versa Lites.
• Got a hoof buffy tool to up my hoof prep game. I thought I was doing good hoof prep before, but the I do think the buffy is making a better surface.
• Splurged on the Duplo welding table, which is giving me more solid welds, which were sometimes a failure point last year.
• Welded tabs just a touch farther forward, since glue never seems to stick as well to the rear of the hoof wall. I think this contributed to the pad exiting the back of the shoe, but I redid it with extra glue and so far so good, and haven’t had the same problem on the other three.

I am still rocking with super glue (Bob Smith Industries extra thick). So far I have used the Wolf-Busch tabs this year, but am going to do the next set with Stealth cuffs to try to get a cleaner look for show season.

Superstition: have extra prepped shoes on hand. Horse will inevitably lose a shoe when you don’t have a replacement ready to go.

My last investments were a rotating bench vice ($60 from Harbor Freight), and a corded 4.5" angle grinder for shaping shoes. Both of these, a long with the welding table, are making the shoe prep process a lot faster and easier.

[Pehsness]

I’m curious about the welding. Is that a way to be able to reset shoes, cut off the old tabs and weld on new?

These shoes are holding well. I think I’m going to keep touching up with glue beads along each tab and jist keep them on as long as possible.

Thanks to the poster who said to cut off the 4th tab - I’ll be doing that from now on.

[outerbanks77]

Yes you could do that. I’ve only used shoes that do not have tabs pre-attaches. It allows more shaping and choice of tabs as needed.

[Demerara_Stables]

I joined the club! Hideous, but they’ve been on since 2:30 today through a jump school and turnout so I guess I did something right.

Both easier (in the prep) and harder (in the glueing process) than I thought. Only went through 3 tips and didn’t leave too much glue on the ground.

[JumpWithPanache]

I just stumbled on this thread and am seriously considering making the jump to glue-ons for one of my guys (the one in my profile pic). He foundered in fall of 2022 and through careful management came back sound and is now in light work, to include showing in the local Adult Pleasure Horse (hunters) division. Apparently he was tickled pink to be back in a show ring last weekend, lol. Anyway… I have a set of Scoot Boots for him which protect his thinner soles but doesn’t provide him much/any actual support and comfort. I very much want to keep his compromised 23 yr old feet out of nail-on shoes, but with more support than Scoots while being ridden. The other issue I have is that he interferes ever so slightly sometimes, which can result in rubs from the heel strap studs against the opposite fetlock.

Question for the group. We are in the Virginia Beach area and alternate pretty rapidly between muddy and dry ground conditions with more very humid days than not. It seems that the cuffs with acrylic glue would be the better recommendation for this sort of climate, right? How many resets are you getting per pair for a horse that’s 24x7 turnout in light work?

Thanks! I’ll be chatting with my farrier today to see his thoughts about me applying glue-ons after he trims (we’re on a 5 wk schedule).

[Demerara_Stables]

You can reset the glue ons but my understanding is that getting the glue off of them is a b*tch. One of my horses is in nail on composites (versa grip) and we get 3-4 resets on those. They are the same material as the glue ons, so I imagine they’d wear the same. I think the best way to remove glue for a reset is with a dremel. It will just depend on how much work you want to put into it.

[Heinz_57]

@Demerara_Stables

You can reset the glue ons but my understanding is that getting the glue off of them is a b*tch.

Acrylic isn’t terrible - ideally, you want to peel the cuff OFF the glue, leaving the glue on the foot where it’s pretty easy to sand down (and acrylic bonds back to itself really well, so you don’t have to take it ALL off). My last application was particularly sloppy because I ran into weather/time constraints, and when it came off I ended up with a fair amount of glue left on the shoe vs the foot. It was mildly annoying, but I was able to peel pretty much all of it off the shoe itself and reset it without any trouble. It’s much easier to peel the cuff and have the glue stay on the hoof if it’s not all over the outside of the cuff too

I can’t speak to urethane, I went straight to acrylic after playing with the superglue/Octo applications.

@JumpWithPanache Depends on what shoe you’re looking at - I would expect to be able to get at least a couple rounds out of a set in normal conditions on a horse that doesn’t have really odd wear patterns or feet that are changing shapes.

[Festivity]

Yes, getting the epoxy glue off the shoe is a pain but it can be done. You can also heat weld new tabs on instead. I’m not great at heat welding yet. Fortunately easycare seems to be aware of this issue and has come up with the glue one shoe which uses a cuff that snaps into the shoe cuff so that in theory the glue stays in the mushroom cuff and that is easily replaceable. I’m on 3 resets of the versa grip shoes and it’s the cuffs that get the most abuse. I’m going to try the glue ones either today or tomorrow and I can report back on how they work. I’ve heard of endurance riders getting 5 resets out of a set of easycare shoes.

[Demerara_Stables]

For $40 a pair I’d rather not spend 2 hours getting the glue off or buying the equipment and heat welding a new cuff on, but I don’t have any spare time laying around so maybe that’s different for someone else. 🤷

[fivestrideline]

That’s where I ended up. If I’m lucky and pull the shoe off the glue instead of mostly the glue off the foot, I’ll reset. But it’s a PAIN and so much easier to just put a fresh set on.

FWIW, easy care will take used shoes back and recycle them!