Plastic horseshoes

[Crazy4horses2]

Hi all! I have been pondering on the glue on plastic horseshoes, wondering if they truly are as great as they have made them out to be.

In all honesty I prefer to have my horses barefoot unless they absolutely need shoes, but when I seen the plastic shoes it tossed a thought into my head that it might be possible to have shoes without damaging their hooves.

So I guess my question is has anyone used them before? If so can you tell me how they worked for you, if you would suggest them or not?

I would really appreciate thanks!

[goodhors]

Not sure which brand you are looking at. Without a metal insert, plastic shoes offer no hoof support. Hoof tends to spread out with use. Some brands have almost no grip on grass, mud, other surfaces. Not all are able to be shaped to correctly fit the hoof, so may not really be helpful.

Have you checked the cost? Glue-on are expensive to purchase, so mark-up thru the Farrier having to get his investment back, can make them very costly. If you think to do them yourself, PLEASE invest in a VERY GOOD protective respirator to protect yourself. Fumes from the glue cause headaches, long term damage by breathing it in. We know one fairly young Farrier who got lung damage not using a respirator. Most of his practice was glue-ons, so he got a lot of exposure to fumes. Others tried to warn him but he ignored the advice. Not working as a Farrier anymore, not sure of his current health…

The glue-on shoe makers offer Clinics, DVDs with infornation and advice on how to be safe when using the products. Nothing to just jump into.

If you can do what you like with using a barefoot horse, that is great. But if horse needs more wear protection, better traction, consider getting horse shod. I do not think using shoes nailed on to “damage the hoof” when properly done. Hoof certainly will grow out to get nail holes gone when shoes are removed, no imperfections left to see then. Some of our horses have worn shoes year around for many years. They are sound, never been lame, ready for any task we want to do. Their hooves are not damaged, have no hoof issues. They get used hard, still no problems.

I like a good barefoot horse myself. But some uses of our horses let them go better when shod, like in the snow now. They have ice studs and snow rim pads to give grip on ice, prevent slipping with snowball build up. Other times when getting them conditioned, the 8 to 10 mIles of daily work would wear the hooves down to nothing on road surfaces. So they are kept shod for hoof protection. The practice of shoeing horses is not evil or harmful when correctly shod.

[luvmyhackney]

A shoe put on by a competent farrier does not damage a horse’s hoof. My pony goes from shod to barefoot with no issues. If you really don’t want shoes, just get boots.

[Crazy4horses2]

Well sounds like barefoot they will stay, and I never said using metal shoes are evil. I guess I should’ve worded that part better. Thank you for that information.

[Scribbler]

I use hoof boots when my barefoot horse needs a little extra protection. Much cheaper over time than glueons. I dont 100 % trust the holding power of any glue over six weeks of use!

[tinah]

A girlfriend used glue ons and epoxy when her rodeo horse pulled a chunk of hoof wall on the advice of her very good farrier. Pony was happily sound while his feet grew out.

[goodhors]

@Crazy4horses2

Well sounds like barefoot they will stay, and I never said using metal shoes are evil. I guess I should’ve worded that part better. Thank you for that information.

No you did not call nailing on shoes evil, sorry that I wrote it that way. However because so many previous barefoot preponents have talked about damaged hooves with shoeing, it kind of got you lumped in with them.

I want horse able to manage his job without worrying about his feet/footing, so he is shod or barefoot as needed. We never use boots. I don’t see the majority of boots working as successfully as nailed on shoes, when horse is used in a variety of ways during a shoeing cycle as our horses might get used. My trail ride friends complain about the variety of boots littering trails on organized rides. This is all brands of boots. They no longer get off to pick them up, eats up too much tIme and they are not happy carrying all those boots on to camp.

[Crazy4horses2]

I agree with the boots they are way too much trouble to deal with. I can understand why it made me look like a nail on shoe hater lol but I have no issues with them.

The horses we used for hunting would be shod before they went, but that was the only time they were shod throughout the year. I’ve also had to have a horse get corrective shoes before.

I guess when I mentioned damaged hooves it was more of a fear of the horse getting its hoof damaged during the time while wearing them, like somehow getting their shoe ripped off things like that. After seeing it happen so many times to friends horses it kind of steered me away from shoes and went to mostly barefoot. I guess they just didn’t have very good farriers…

anyway I’ve never heard of studded shoes before they must cost a pretty penny. I pretty much stay to areas where I don’t have to worry about shoes, but it does limit the areas I can go. That’s why I got interested in the glue ons, but after finding out the real facts about them they aren’t worth it. I don’t ride during the winter months it just gets too muddy and slick not necessarily snowy.

[CHT]

I use hoof boots for horses that only occasionally need the extra protection (for riding on rough trails for example). I find them useful and no trouble, but you may need to trim more often to ensure a good fit. I also sometimes shoe horses, but most are barefoot. I did have one lesson horse that went in plastic shoes in the summer, but we nailed them on, not glued. They had a mesh underneath, and packing…really improved his hoof health over the summers.

My understanding is that glue on shoes limit the natural expansion of the hoof (more than nails), and are only really useful for rehab type work.

[Crazy4horses2]

Has anyone used those snap on velcro shoes? I seen an add for them not too long ago. I guess they are “better” then the glue ons and nail ons but I don’t know about that. The add almost made them too good if you know what I mean…

[JLR1]

It’s my understanding that success of glue on shoes lies with the farriers skill. The best boots out there are Renegades.

[goodhors]

If you fear shoe getting pulled, have the Farrier put shorter clinches on the nails. Clinches then can more easily “unfold” to allow shoe to come off without taking hoof wall with it. That is how our horses are shod.

And a more experienced Farrier may be able to use fewer nails too, while shoes stay on fine. A couple of ours wear 4-nail shoes on a regular basis, with very short clinches, don’t lose shoes in work. Just because a shoe has 8 nail holes does not mean Farrier is REQUIRED to use all those holes for a quality shoe job! Ha ha

We use the drive-in pin studs for traction. They grip well everywhere. We go from dirt to pavement, gravel to cement, sometimes over big partly buried large stones. Our horses need to be able to think hooves will grip as needed going forward. Pin studs will leave marks on the stones, doing their job oF gripping. Borium gives too much ‘grab’ on hard surfaces like roads, sends hoof stopping shock on up the leg. Pin studs have a microscopic slip, does not create that shock up the leg. No one notices the tiny slip factor, not visible to your eye, just is easier on the leg joints and body over time.

[Crazy4horses2]

That’s very helpful information. The next time my horses are shod I’ll have them done that way. I can definitely say that completely made the worry disappear thank you!

[LarkspurCO]

I’ve used the EasyShoe for laminitic mare. At the time they worked very well, but the founder eventually got the better of her.

My warmblood also wore the EasyShoe (nailed) and they worked wonders for him. No more chronic sore feet. ’

I’ve since changed to the EponaShoe (nailed) and these are also hugely successful. He loves them and is going better than ever. We use mesh version:
http://eponashoe.mybigcommerce.com/eponashoe-mesh-pair/

The EasyShoe was just not quite supportive enough or stable for him (17.1 and 1500 lbs) and wouldn’t hold the gel pack or impression material for more than two weeks. Then rocks would get wedged into the gap under the frog.

[luvmyhackney]

@CHT

I use hoof boots for horses that only occasionally need the extra protection (for riding on rough trails for example). I find them useful and no trouble, but you may need to trim more often to ensure a good fit. I also sometimes shoe horses, but most are barefoot. I did have one lesson horse that went in plastic shoes in the summer, but we nailed them on, not glued. They had a mesh underneath, and packing…really improved his hoof health over the summers.

My understanding is that glue on shoes limit the natural expansion of the hoof (more than nails), and are only really useful for rehab type work.

The adhesive used with glue on shoes is able to contract and expand as well as resistant to moisture as long as they are put on correctly and when properly done stay easily for 6 weeks.

[Crazy4horses2]

One of the main reasons I asked about the plastic shoes is because I ‘think’ not 100% sure but, I think my mare started to rope walk with her hinds in early September.

I had been keeping videos of her training progress since early may more of a keepsake then anything because she has been nothing but a pasture pet for 12 going on 13 years and she was making incredible progress in such a short period of time.

Anyway I had looked at the last video that I took (well my husband took it I was leading her) and I noticed that she was putting her hinds almost underneath her while I was leading her around. I went back and reviewed the other videos of her walking, trotting even cantering and she wasn’t doing it but then I remembered that she had busted of a chunk of her hoof on one of her hinds (which I was watching her and it very closely making sure it wasn’t hurting her and it was growing out without making her toe in or out.) I did some research on it and it could’ve possibly just been that she was off balance because of the part of her hoof missing.

she is no longer waking like she had been but it was enough to send up a red flag for me, I haven’t seen her run or trot lately so it still could be affecting her at faster paces. her hoof has grown out nicely almost like there never was a chunk missing.